June 2008: Before the season even kicks off Chelsea make their intentions clear by appointing World Cup-winning coach Luis Felipe Scolari as the man in charge at Stamford Bridge
August: Manchester United, the defending Premier League champions make a stuttering start with a home draw against Newcastle United while Chelsea romp home 4-0 against Pompey
September: Arsenal set the pace with four wins and 11 goals in their first five games but are beaten 2-1 at The Emirates by the season's early surprise package, Hull City
October: With Liverpool and Chelsea in the Premier League lead, and Manchester United in sixth, Arsenal and Tottenham draw 4-4 in Harry Redknapp's first game in charge of Spurs, a real contender for game of the season
8 November: Sir Alex Ferguson's side are building momentum but are beaten 2-1 by the Gunners, Samir Nasri scoring twice, but Chelsea and Liverpool are still six points clear of everybody at the top
22 November: All of the "big four" fail to score as Liverpool draw at home to Fulham (the 0-0 away specialists), Chelsea are held by Newcastle, the Red Devils by Villa, and Arsenal lose at Manchester City
December: There's Boxing Day touchline aggravation between Martin O'Neill and Arsene Wenger when Villa, crashing the top-four party, draw with Arsenal, Zat Knight equalising two minutes in to injury time
January 2009: Manchester United are right back in the title hunt, stretching their unbeaten run, without conceding a single goal, to eight games in the league when they beat Chelsea 3-0 at Old Trafford
February: The Blues meanwhile are 10 points behind leaders United, losing to two Fernando Torres goals at Liverpool before a goalless draw at home to Hull, including the debut of Ricardo Quaresma, spells Scolari's end
14 March: United's unbeaten run stretches to 15 games, including eight 1-0 wins, before facing third-placed Liverpool, who are 2-1 up at half-time after goals from Torres and Steven Gerrard
The Red Devils' ignominy is complete when Vidic is sent off and Fabio Aurelio scores from the resulting free-kick, the visitors romp home 4-1 in the end, keeping the title race alive
Manchester United fall apart in their next game, too, losing 2-0 at Fulham - a thorn in many title contenders' sides this season - in a game that sees petulance and dismay from many of their leading players
5 April: With Liverpool at their heels the Old Trafford outfit rally to come from behind with 10 minutes left to beat Aston Villa, 17-year-old Kiki Macheda scoring the winner with a lovely turn and strike
11 April: Liverpool, buoyant from their Old Trafford win, go on to hammer Villa 5-0, nick an injury-time win at Fulham and thrash Blackburn 4-0 on the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, Torres with a blistering opener
21 April: Arsenal, having been bereft of goals for much of spring, find their touch again and take part in another 4-4 draw, this time at Anfield, January transfer acquisition Andrey Arshavin with all four goals for the Gunners
25 April: Spurs are 2-0 up at half-time at Old Trafford and although the Red Devils come back to win 5-2 and stay top of the league there are protests over their first goal, a controversial Cristiano Ronaldo penalty
9 May: Liverpool respond to their draw against Arsenal with three straight wins, three goals in each, including a confident display against West Ham, themselves pushing for a European place
13 May: United now need four points from their three remaining games to win the title and take three of them with a win when they come from behind on a wet night in Lancashire to beat Wigan
16 May: Arsenal's attempts to spoil the party are thwarted. A 0-0 draw gives United the point they need to put the title beyond Liverpool's reach with a game to spare
The triumphant players celebrate with the trophy after Manchester United seal their third successive Premier League title in front of the rapturous Old Trafford faithful, equalling Liverpool's record of 18 top-flight crowns
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