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Chelsea are just 90 minutes away from the ultimate victory in an English Premier League season that has brought upheaval and exciting change, but at the top has come down once again to the two teams who have shared the title between them for six consecutive seasons.

As long as Chelsea navigate their way to three points in tomorrow's final home game against Wigan - and few expect choppy waters against a team who have accumulated not even half the points of the champions-elect - Carlo Ancelotti will emerge as the big winner of the season.

The Italian will have dashed Manchester United's hopes of four titles in a row and put Roman Abramovich's club back at the top for the first time since the heady years of Jose Mourinho's whirlwind arrival in English soccer.

And he will have done so in a style that Mourinho could not match, as Ancelotti's Chelsea have scored 95 goals in the Premier League and become the first top-flight team in almost 50 years to notch seven goals in three separate league games.

If Ancelotti goes on to complete the first double since 2002 - and again Chelsea will start as strong favourites against Portsmouth in next week's FA Cup final - he will have the two most important pieces of silverware in English football.

United, meanwhile, will have only the League Cup. Despite the marvellous efforts of Wayne Rooney, who has plugged the gap left by Cristiano Ronaldo almost single-handedly, this is going to be viewed as a disappointing season unless there is an unexpected late turnaround in the title race.