LONDON -- Manchester United is on the verge of a record 19th English championship crown after beating title rival Chelsea 2-1 Sunday.
Alex Ferguson's team is six points ahead of Chelsea with two games to go and will regain the Premier League trophy from the London club with at least a draw at Blackburn on Saturday.
"The players won't muck it up," Ferguson said. "They'll get the point."
United can afford to lose its matches against Blackburn and Blackpool if Chelsea doesn't get a maximum of six points from its remaining fixtures.
"It's a massive step forward, mathematically it's not done, but we are nearly there and we need to finish the job off next week," United midfielder Ryan Giggs said.
Javier Hernandez put United ahead after 36 seconds and Nemanja Vidic headed in another 23 minutes later to ensure Frank Lampard's 68th-minute goal for Chelsea was just a consolation.
The victory ended the title hopes of third-place Arsenal, which lost 3-1 at Stoke earlier in the day to leave Arsene Wenger's team without a trophy for the sixth successive season.
United, meanwhile, is likely to lift its fourth Premier League trophy in five years.
Winning a 19th English title would push United past Liverpool and allow Ferguson to fulfill the target he set back when he took charge in 1986: to knock the Reds "off their perch."
"It's fantastic to be the most successful team in the country in terms of championship trophies," Ferguson said. "It took time to get the foundations of the club right and after we got the first title we improved, improved and improved."
Ferguson had to wait until 1992 to win the Premier League for the first time -- and Giggs has played on each of his 11 title-winning teams so far.
"I guess 15-20 years ago you would never have thought it, it is a great achievement to haul back our greatest rivals of the 1970s, '80s and '90s," the 37-year-old Giggs said.
Arsenal's loss at Stoke exposed the defensive frailties that have prolonged the team's title drought.
Kenwyne Jones put Stoke ahead in the 28th after easily evading Johan Djourou to meet Jermaine Pennant's corner.
Pennant netted in the 40th after cutting in from the left and being allowed to advance unchallenged before sending in a shot that deflected off Djourou.
Although Robin van Persie pulled one back for Arsenal in the 81st, Jon Walters produced an immediate response after Djourou's poor clearance.
In the day's first match, Wolverhampton Wanderers climbed out of the relegation zone by beating West Bromwich Albion 3-1.
Barcelona moved to within one point of its third straight Spanish league title by beating Espanyol 2-0 in Sunday's Catalan capital derby.
Andres Iniesta opened the scoring for Barcelona at the Camp Nou in the 29th, and Gerard Pique doubled the host's lead with his header three minutes after halftime.
Barcelona can clinch its 21st title with at least a draw at Levante on Wednesday. It leads second-place Real Madrid by eight points and holds the head-to-head advantage with three rounds to play.
"We knew we couldn't slip up," Iniesta said. "We have the [league crown] so close. We will now go to Valencia to earn [the title]."
Wrapping up the domestic competition early would also give Barcelona extra time to prepare for the Champions League final against Manchester United on May 28.
Barcelona controlled possession throughout in an unusually subdued match between the crosstown rivals.
Barcelona forward Pedro Rodriguez tested goalkeeper Carlos Kameni with a shot in the 20th, and moments later Kameni dove to deflect a dipping strike from Iniesta.
Espanyol winger Jose Callejon broke free on right side in the 24th, and the Barcelona defense scrambled to clear his low cross for striker Pablo Osvaldo in the box.
Iniesta's goal was an individual effort as he cut back to shake his defender and shot past Kameni with a low right-footer.
"We had an excellent first half even though after the first goal we relaxed a little bit," Guardiola said. "But in global terms we played a great game against a team that always creates problems for us.
"The league [title] is very near and it only depends on us."
American forward Edson Buddle scored his third goal of the season, giving Ingolstadt a 1-1 tie at 1860 Munich in the German second division.
Buddle entered at the start of the second half and scored in the 61st minute on a left-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area, 30 minutes after Daniel Halfar had put the hosts ahead.
Napoli fell four points behind second-place Inter Milan in Serie A after losing 2-1 at Lecce.
Daniele Corvia put Lecce ahead from the penalty spot before he was ejected.
Giuseppe Mascara equalized, but any hopes Napoli had of winning disappeared when leading scorer Edinson Cavani was ejected with 16 minutes left in regulation.
Cavani's fellow Uruguayan Ernesto Chevanton then hit a spectacular winner with a half volley from the edge of the area that Napoli claimed did not cross the line.
Inter, meanwhile, bounced back from losing its league title to city rival AC Milan on Saturday by beating Fiorentina 3-1 at home.
Antonio Di Natale scored twice in Udinese's 2-0 win over Lazio to take his tally to 28, two more than Cavani.
Lazio's loss means Napoli is guaranteed a place in next year's Champions League, but if it loses its last two games and Udinese wins both, then Udinese will take the automatic qualification place as it won both matches between the sides this season.
At the bottom of the table, Brescia was relegated after a 2-1 loss to Catania. Also Bologna and Parma drew 0-0, while Cesena won 2-0 away to Cagliari.
Brazilian defender Cris scored in the 84th minute Sunday to give Lyon a 3-2 win over Marseille, putting it within three points of its rival in the fight for second place in the French league.
Cris netted a half volley after the Marseille defense poorly cleared a free kick from Miralem Pjanic.
Third-place Lyon is seven points behind leader Lille, which edged Nancy 1-0 to extend its lead to four points.
Also, Valenciennes beat Rennes 2-0 on Sunday to move four points clear of the relegation zone. Rennes remained in fifth place but lost ground in the race for a Champions League spot.
Lyon forward Lisandro Lopez put the hosts ahead in the 25th by converting a penalty after Marseille defender Souleymane Diawara had fouled him inside the area. Argentine winger Cesar Delgado doubled the lead in the 69th, dribbling past Rod Fanni to shoot past goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.
Marseille playmaker Lucho Gonzalez pulled one back in the 70th, flicking home a low pass from Jordan Ayew, before France international Loic Remy equalized in the 78th.
FC Twente rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat Ajax 3-2 after extra time in the Dutch Cup final.
Substitute Marc Yanko headed in Theo Janssen's free kick in the 116th minute as Twente clinch its third Cup title and first since 2001.
Ajax took the lead in the 19th minute through Demy de Zeeuw, and Lorenzo Ebecilio doubled the lead five minutes from the break.
But Wout Brama pulled one back in first-half injury time by converting Luuk de Jong's pass, before Janssen pounced on a loose ball to level in the 56th.
Twente is on course to complete a double, as it can wrap up a second straight league title when it plays second-place Ajax in a title decider next Sunday.
Celtic kept alive its hopes of toppling Rangers from the Scottish Premier League summit with a 2-0 victory at Kilmarnock.
After recovering from a shock loss at Inverness on Wednesday, Celtic is a point behind defending champion Rangers with two games remaining.
Captain Scott Brown put Celtic ahead in first-half stoppage time with a close-range header and Kris Commons sealed the win in the 68th minute with a 25-yard strike.
Stefanos Athanasiadis and Nabil El Zhar scored in the second half Sunday to help PAOK Thessaloniki defeat visiting Panathinaikos 2-1 in the first round of the Greek League's playoffs for European spots.
Djibril Cisse scored for Panathinaikos.
AEK Athens beat Volos 1-0 through a 38th-minute penalty by Leonardo and leads the playoffs with four points, with PAOK and Panathinaikos a point behind and Volos at zero points.
Panathinaikos finished second in the league behind champion Olympiakos and entered the playoffs with a three-point bonus. Third-place AEK began with 1 point and PAOK and Volos with zero points.
The winner of the playoffs will join Olympiakos in next season's Champions League. There are also two Europa League places up for grabs.
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