By DPA
London : Manchester United were crowned English Premiership champions Sunday after Chelsea, their nearest challengers, were held to a 1-1 draw by Arsenal.
Chelsea bounced back from the sending-off of Khalid Boulahrouz with Michael Essien (70) equalising Gilberto Silva's penalty (43), but they could not find the win they needed to keep the title race alive.
The result leaves Chelsea still seven points behind United, with two games remaining, rendering the clash between the two at Stamford Bridge this Wednesday merely incidental.
Bouhlarouz was sent off for a clumsy foul on Julio Baptista and Gilberto sent Petr Cech the wrong way from the spot.
Chelsea regrouped at half-time and created several good chances in the second half, Essien giving them a deserved equaliser 20 minutes from the end.
Joe Cole had a goal ruled out for offside late on and Salomon Kalou forced a good save from Jens Lehmann in injury time, while at the other end, Cech saved brilliantly from Alexander Hleb and Emmanuel Eboue hit the bar.
In the end, Chelsea had to settle for a share of the spoils, ending their outside hopes of a third straight Premiership title.
It is Manchester United's first Premiership title since 2003.