Premier League on Betfair: United clinch 20th title after vintage RVP display

22Apr 2013

England - Premier League

It's a night of celebration at Old Trafford as Manchester United, inspired by the brilliant Robin van Persie, clinch the league title in superb style...

It's official, Manchester United are the 2012/13 Premier League champions after beating Aston Villa 3-0 at Old Trafford this evening.

After Manchester City's late defeat to Tottenham on Sunday United knew that a win in front of their own fans tonight would clinch the club's 20th league title. And Sir Alex Ferguson's men wasted no time in putting the result beyond doubt.

A swift passing move that involved Wayne Rooney, Antonio Valencia and Ryan Giggs resulted in Robin van Persie having a simple tap-in, the Dutchman scoring his 22nd league goal of the season after being matched at a relatively generous 5.1 in the First Goalscorer market.

Incredibly, United could have had at least two more before they actually got their second on 13 minutes, but when it did arrive it was well worth the 'short' wait, Van Persie again the scorer, this time allowing the ball to drop over his shoulder before volleying into the net from outside the box. Stunning goal.

And 20 minutes later RVP was claiming the match ball, another great team goal finished with aplomb by United's number 20. A hat-trick to be scored was matched at 12.5, while a Robin van Persie hat-trick was backed at a high of 20.0.

Villa were much improved in the second half and nearly pulled one back after just five minutes, but it was that man RVP who turned from goalscorer to goal-preventer, heading off the line to maintain the champions-elect three goal advantage.

United stepped off the gears as the game wore on, though Shinji Kagawa should have made it four but somehow blasted the ball high and wide from just six yards when it seemed easier to score.

Not that the home support minded a glaring miss as it contributed to a game that had it all; a stunning goal, a brilliant first half performance from United, Van Persie going a long way to winning the Golden Boot and Fergie's men winning their 13th league title under his sensational management.

The 3-0 Correct Score was matched at 10.5 with Man United never touching higher than 1.3 to win the match.

Aston Villa remain just three points ahead of Wigan in their fight for survival and can be backed at 3.0 currently in the Relegation market.

In excess of £11m was traded on Betfair's Premier League 2012/13 Winner market with over £8m of that traded on the eventual champions alone. United were generally available to back at around the 3.6 mark before the season commenced, and because of the fact that they were always up with the pace they never got matched higher than 3.8 In-Play.

It was a different story for defending champions Man City however, Roberto Mancini's men started the season as strong favourites to retain their crown at a low of 2.18, but a poor Champions League campaign was soon mirrored domestically.