LONDON - Chelsea were crowned English league champions for the first time in 50 years overnight when they beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0.
Chelsea, who won the League Cup in February, have 88 points and cannot be caught by 2004 champions Arsenal who have 74 points and four games to play
in the Premier League.
Saturday's triumph, funded by their Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, confirmed Chelsea as the new dominant force in English football and brought the era of power-sharing by Arsenal and Manchester United to an abrupt end.
Chelsea, whose only previous league title was in 1955, have lost just one league game this season and have conceded only 13 goals in 35 games.
Manager Jose Mourinho has also guided the London club into the Champions League semi-finals in his first season in England, less than a year after steering Porto to the European crown.
In a remarkable centenary year for the club, Chelsea take their Treble hopes to Liverpool next week for the Champions League semi-final second leg after a 0-0 draw on Wednesday.
The Portuguese coach has been the tactical brains behind Chelsea's success while a spending spree of well over 200 ($530) million pounds since Abramovich's takeover in 2003 has provided a stream of top players.
The keys to Chelsea's success have been a formidable defence under captain John Terry, the footballers' union Player of the Year, and an ability to strike at goal from any position.
England midfielder Frank Lampard, who scored both goals at Bolton on Saturday, is the club's top scorer with 18 goals ahead of strikers Didier Drogba and Eidur Gudjohnsen, while wingers Damien Duff and Arjen Robben have also netted regularly.
United and Arsenal, who had won the previous nine titles, will contest the FA Cup final in three weeks' time.
- REUTERS
