Manchester United had a nail biting end to their Premier League title win thanks to a gritty and hard working Latics performance until a late Ryan Giggs goal sealed it.

United had broken the deadlock in the first half when Emmerson Boyce was adjudged by referee Steve Bennett to have fouled Wayne Rooney in the penalty box in the 32nd minute, and Cristiano Ronaldo coolly sent Chris Kirkland the wrong way to steer the Red Devils towards a tenth title in sixteen years.

But Latics persisted to make it a tough afternoon and it wasn't until there were ten minutes left when Rooney's precise pass found substitute Ryan Giggs who despatched the ball past Kirkland.

Despite Latics having nothing to play for, you could have been forgiven for thinking otherwise such was commitment in their performance.

Latics gave United a scare on several occasions, the first coming on 20 minutes when Edwin Van der Sar struggled with Marcus Bent's looping header, and the Dutchman was forced to tip the ball over the bar for a corner, from which acting skipper Emile Heskey headed back across the penalty box where Boyce narrowly fired over the bar from close range.

Bent certainly proved a threat for the visitors as his header from a Jason Koumas corner flew over the bar, but his best chance of the first period came in the 37th minute as he volleyed into the side netting from an Antonio Valencia cross. Prior to that, Nemanja Vidic had to clear away the ball away from the line just as Heskey was about to pounce and level the scores.

In the second half, a Koumas free kick teased the United defence as Heskey connected and his header saw the ball land on the top of the net. Once United had doubled their lead, it seemed to provide more inspiration for Latics and substitute Antoine Sibierski's header was goal bound before it took a deflection off Wes Brown.

In a frantic final few minutes, Maynor Figueroa, who made his first start, saw his drive from an acute angle had panicked Van der Sar into parrying the ball back out, whilst Boyce's shot was cleared away by Vidic. There was still time for Heskey to direct a header at Van der Sar as Latics searched for a goal.

At the other end, Kirkland made two brilliant saves to deny Ronaldo's set pieces. In the first half the Latics shot stopper was forced to make the dive to divert the ball around the post, and at the beginning of the second half, Kirkland had to tip the ball over to concede a corner as the Portuguese man tested again from thirty yards.

The England international was called into action ten minutes after the restart as Rooney started to shine. The Scouser raced into the box before sending a stinging low drive towards the near post, but Kirkland was able to divert the ball just inches past the near post.

And two minutes before the hour, Carlos Tevez saw his driven shot deflected off a Latics defender before being superbly blocked by the Latics shot stopper.

Scholes was lucky not to have been sent off towards the end of the first half after he fouled Wilson Palacios twice. The first came on the quarter-hour mark for which he was promptly booked for, but he committed the same offence again on the Honduran nine minutes before the break, but referee Bennett only gave the veteran a warning.

Typically Manchester United's quality proved decisive in the final result, as did their need to win to capture the title, but Latics provided a stern test for them. Although most of the focus will have been on the Red Devils, the performance was very encouraging from Latics and it all bodes well for our fourth consecutive season in the top flight.

LATICS: Kirkland; Boyce, Bramble, Scharner, Figueroa; Valencia, Brown (King 81), Palacios, Koumas; Heskey (c), Bent. (Sibierski 70).

SUBS: Pollitt, Taylor, Skoko.

BOOKINGS: Palacios, Heskey, Valencia.

RED CARDS: None.

GOALS: None.

MANCHESTER UTD: Van der Saar; Evra, Ferdinand (c), Vidic, Brown; Ronaldo, Scholes (Hargreaves 66), Carrick, Park (Giggs 67); Rooney, Tevez.

SUBS: Kusczak, Silvestre, Saha.

BOOKINGS: Scholes, Rooney.

RED CARDS: None.

GOALS: Ronaldo 32 pen, Giggs 80.

REFEREE: Steve Bennett.

ATTENDANCE: 25,133