LONDON, 9 May 2004 — Ten-man Chelsea held out for a 1-1 draw at Manchester United yesterday to seal second place in the Premier League and a guaranteed slot in next season’s Champions League.
Chelsea were cruising after Danish winger Jesper Gronkjaer scored in the 19th minute and keeper Carlo Cudicini brilliantly saved a penalty from United’s Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy just before half-time.
But a 73rd-minute red card for Chelsea’s German defender Robert Huth was followed four minutes later by a goalkeeping howler by Cudicini which handed van Nistelrooy an easy equalizer.
United poured forward but Chelsea hung on for a draw which ensured they finish second behind champions Arsenal. Chelsea have 76 points to United’s 72 with one match left to play.
United and the fourth-placed club will go into the Champions League qualifiers. Arsenal, on 84 points and bidding to finish the season unbeaten, are away to Fulham today.
Liverpool, favorites to stay fourth with 56 points before their late kick-off at Birmingham City, were helped by a 1-1 draw for Aston Villa at Southampton.
Looking for a win to leapfrog Gerard Houllier’s side, Villa could only join them on 56 points after a Juan Pablo Angel penalty was canceled out by Southampton’s Kevin Phillips.
Newcastle United, who have 53 points and an extra game in hand on both their rivals, are at home to relegation-bound Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday.
Leeds United, effectively relegated last weekend, had a 3-3 draw with Charlton Athletic, while Leicester City marked their return to the first division by trouncing Portsmouth 3-1.
But the match of the weekend was at Old Trafford where Chelsea’s determination was all the more impressive for coming just three days after they were knocked out of the Champions League semifinals by Monaco following a heart-breaking 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge and a 5-3 defeat on aggregate.
Werder Seal Title With
Stylish Win at Bayern
In Berlin, Werder Bremen sealed their fourth Bundesliga title with a stylish 3-1 victory at outgoing champions Bayern Munich yesterday.
Three goals in the first 35 minutes set up Werder for a win that put them nine points above second-placed Bayern with two matches left and gave them their first league title since 1993.
“It was a fantastic way to crown a fantastic season,” said Werder coach Thomas Schaaf.”
A blunder by Oliver Kahn set up the visitors when the Bayern goalkeeper released the ball after a weak effort from Brazilian striker Ailton on 19 minutes. Croatian striker Ivan Klasnic followed up to open the scoring.
The only good news for Bayern was that third-placed VfB Stuttgart also lost, 2-1 at Hamburg SV, and remain four points behind the Munich club.
Bayern will now fight to secure second place and direct access to the Champions League.
Sutton Strike Gives Celtic
Old Firm Clean Sweep
In Glasgow, striker Chris Sutton curled home a superb injury-time winner to give Scottish champions Celtic a sixth straight Glasgow derby win against Rangers for the first time since 1915 yesterday.
Rangers appeared to have survived a frantic second half of sustained pressure to deny the home side before Sutton latched on to Henrik Larsson’s lay-off to whip a deserved winner over goalkeeper Stefan Klos with seconds left on the clock.
Celtic extended their lead over Rangers to 16 points with two games left and gave Martin O’Neill’s side a fifth win of the season over Rangers — their first Old Firm clean sweep since Jock Stein’s side managed it in 1971-72.
PSG Beat Rennes to Keep
Pressure on Lyon
Paris St. Germain moved level on points with Ligue 1 leaders Olympique Lyon with a 1-0 win against Stade Rennes at the Parc des Princes yesterday. Defender Frederic Dehu nodded in on the hour from a Fabrice Fiorese cross to score the game’s only goal.
PSG struggled for an hour until Dehu’s goal and came close to score again when Yugoslav Danijel Ljuboja hit the post two minutes after the opener.
The win allowed the Parisians to join defending champions Lyon on 70 points though PSG, who meet lowly Metz later, have a better goal difference.
Monaco, who host Olympique Marseille today, are third on 68 points.
