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On Sunday, the winner of the 2006-2007 English Premier League was revealed. It was the "Man Utd" club, which became unbeatable after the dramatic 1-1 draw in the London derby between "Arsenal" and "Chelsea".
"Arsenal" 1 - 1 "Chelsea" 43‘[1 – 0] Gilberto Silva (pen. 11m.) 70‘[1 – 1] Michael Essien 43‘ Khalid Boulahrouz ("Chelsea") sent off The match started quite actively. Both teams occasionally posed threats to each other's goals, but Petr Cech and Jens Lehmann easily neutralized them. Only in the 35th minute did the "Chelsea" goalkeeper have to work harder when he saved Emmanuel Adebayor's strike from outside the penalty area. The 43rd minute complicated everything for the "Chelsea" team. "Arsenal" forward from Brazil Julio Baptista received a pass from deep on the field, dribbled past Khalid Boulahrouz and the Dutchman brought down his opponent in the penalty area, receiving a red card. Gilberto Silva stepped up to take the penalty kick, and after fooling P. Cech, he sent the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal to put the "gunners" ahead. In the second half, danger arose near the "blues" goal in the second minute. After a pass from Cesc Fabregas into the penalty area, Frank Lampard failed to head the ball further, and it fell directly to Adebayor's feet, who immediately struck towards the far corner but missed. In the 55th minute, J. Lehmann's goal was threatened by F. Lampard, but his shot sailed over the crossbar. Ten minutes later, after a corner kick from C. Fabregas, defender William Gallas shot dangerously towards the goal, but the Frenchman's shot missed the target. In the 70th minute, "Chelsea" regained hope of securing the much-needed victory, as after a pass from Shaun Wright-Phillips from the right wing, Michael Essien from Ghana sent the ball into the far corner with a header to level the score. The "Arsenal" team, having missed a goal, lost control of the game, and the initiative shifted to Jose Mourinho's wards. After five minutes, Joe Cole's strong and accurate shot sent the ball towards the top corner of J. Lehmann's goal, but the assistant referee flagged for offside and disallowed the goal. In the 80th minute, M. Essien shot wide of the goal. Four minutes later, after a free-kick lifted by Paulo Ferreira, "Chelsea" captain John Terry jumped highest, but his header went over the crossbar. Moments later, J. Lehmann had to react to a long and dangerous shot from F. Lampard. In added time, "Chelsea" almost took the lead through Salomon Kalou, whose powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area was saved by the "Arsenal" goalkeeper from Germany. In the 93rd minute, Emmanuel Eboue could have stolen the victory for the hosts, but his powerful shot hit the crossbar of the "Chelsea" goal. After playing the four minutes added by the referee, the final whistle blew, after which neither "Arsenal" nor "Chelsea" fans rejoiced too much, but the "Man Utd" supporters celebrated, as these points guaranteed the English Premier League title for their favorites after a four-year hiatus.
