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Manchester United 4-0 Stoke City
Match Reports, 18:57, May 9, 2010 ,
Manchester United claimed 4-0 win against Stoke at Old Trafford, but the result was to no avail with Chelsea claiming the title.
The game itself started with a nervous buzz around Old Trafford, but news of an early Chelsea goal swiftly filtered around the stands and it soon became clear that the Premier League title was slipping from their grasp.
Stoke, who conceded seven at Stamford Bridge last month, couldn't hold out for long and in the 31st minute they finally buckled. Ryan Giggs' corner from the left was met by the head of Nemanja Vidic and when his goalbound effort ricocheted, first off of Wayne Rooney and then off of Dean Whitehead, the ball fell kindly for Darren Fletcher who thrashed the ball home from a yard.
Seven minutes later and United doubled their lead. Rooney played the ball out to Dimitar Berbatov, who squared it for Giggs and the Welshman made no mistake slotting home from 12 yards.
Stoke began the second half more positively than the first, but it was soon 3-0 and this time through an own goal. Rooney turned smartly on the left corner of the six-yard box. He fired the ball dangerously across goal and Danny Higginbotham was the unfortunate player sliding in to divert the ball into his own net off the underside of the bar.
Worryingly for England, Wayne Rooney limped off in the latter stages with a reoccurrence of his groin problem, but his replacement Ji-Sung Park added a late fourth, heading home from a corner.