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| Sir Alex Ferguson now has 11 Premier League titles under his belt |
A nil-nil draw 零比零平手 might not be the most spectacular way to clinch 抓住不放 a championship, but Saturday’s game against Arsenal showed some of Manchester United’s best qualities – their defence, their grit 勇氣 and their ability to perform under pressure.
United only needed a draw, but Arsenal had no intention of making things easy for them. With the pressure off, Arsene Wenger’s side played much better than in the sides' recent Champions League semi-final clash 對(duì)陣。
Arsenal’s first opportunity came 13 minutes into the game, when Andrey Arshavin sent a cross 傳中 through to Van Persie, but the ball was headed off target.
Four minutes later it was United’s turn to miss a chance, with Rooney heading John O'Shea's cross wide.
Arsenal keeper Lukas Fabianski didn’t have the busiest match but he did well to deflect 偏轉(zhuǎn) / 偏離 a shot later on from Tevez. It was the Argentine’s final contribution to the game and, with ongoing speculation about his future at the club, may represent his final flourish 閃光 at Old Trafford.
His manager Sir Alex Ferguson substituted 替換 him shortly afterwards for Ji-Sung Park. The home crowd howled its disapproval 不贊同的怒吼 at this decision, and for his part Tevez milked the situation 充分利用時(shí)機(jī), taking his time to wave goodbye to all sides of the ground.
The final part of the game turned into a nail-biter 激烈緊張的比賽 for the United supporters as they waited to see whether they would have to keep their fireworks for another week.
But further attempts on the home goal 主場(chǎng)進(jìn)球 by Fabregas and Van Persie came to nothing 沒(méi)進(jìn)一球 / 沒(méi)有結(jié)果 and with the final whistle still ringing in the crowd’s ears, club captain Gary Neville lifted the Barclays Premier League trophy.
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No Best Side
The thing about us this season is you can't name our best side. It has been about our squad, and everybody has contributed, whether they have played enough games to win a medal or not.
Gary Neville, Manchester United captain
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Speaking after the match, Neville put United’s success down to 把…歸功于 the quality of the whole squad rather than the magic of one or two star players.
Fans showed their joy and relief at a match marking United’s third premiership title 頭銜 in a row, and their 18th championship win altogether, a national record equalled only by Liverpool.
That seems fitting 合適的 after a season which will be remembered for the intense rivalry between the two clubs, with Liverpool dogging United’s heels 緊跟曼聯(lián) in the final stages of the competition.
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Liverpool Were Top Guns
I do take a lot of pride from equalling Liverpool. When I came down here they were the top guns. My job was to try to change that.
Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager
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Ferguson enjoyed pointing out that when he came to Manchester Liverpool were the "top guns", meaning they were by far the best team. Liverpool dominated the league game 英超比賽 throughout the 70s and 80s but have not won since 1990.
So it's no surprise that Ferguson is already smacking his lips in anticipation 急切盼望 of a 19th championship victory.
"The great challenge now is to try to win it next year because that would be something special," he said.
But he has of course one very important job to do before that: beat Barcelona on 27th May and become the first club ever to defend their Champions League title.
On this, the Scottish manager couldn't have been more enthusiastic.
"Now we have won the league we are bouncing into the final," he said.
