By Michael Da Silva

Chelsea only won the Premier League by a single point and, although the Londoners led for much of the campaign, they were never out of sight.

Even Arsenal managed to reach the Premier League summit on a couple of occasions in March. But Chelsea's ability to score goals against anyone saw them claim a deserved first Premier League title under Carlo Ancelotti, in what was an often turbulent season.

When the Italian arrived in west London many fans expected a return to the defensive, pragmatic tactical approach of the 'Special One' Jose Mourinho. But nothing could have been further from the truth as Ancelotti only tweaked a squad that had been so inconsistent under Felipe Scolari. From Terrygate to the injuries to Michael Essien and Ashley Cole, Chelsea did it the hard way and here are the pivotal moments.

Drogba late show against Hull

Back on a balmy afternoon in August, Chelsea were struggling to overcome a Hull side that had set themselves up well and looked on course to gain a deserved 1-1 draw. But you can never rule out Didier Drogba. With the 90 minutes up, the Ivorian scored a bizarre goal in injury time that ensured Carlo Ancelotti won his first Premier League game as Chelsea manager. With Drogba attempting to toss the ball in from the left, his mis-hit cross looped over the scrambling Boaz Myhill in the Hull goal and clinched victory for Chelsea in the most fortuitous manner.

December Blues

Between August and November, Chelsea were threatening to be runaway winners of the league. Chelsea's last game in November, a 3-0 hammering of Arsenal, saw Chelsea open an 11-point gap on Arsene Wenger's side, with Didier Drogba at his inspirational best on a rainy night at the Emirates. But despite this, Chelsea's form dipped throughout December and the Blues picked up a poor nine points from a possible 18, including a defeat at Manchester City and draws with Everton, West Ham and Birmingham.

Chelsea's last game of a disappointing month saw local rivals Fulham come to Stamford Bridge. With Chelsea 1-0 down with little over 15 minutes to go, Didier Drogba nodded in to equalise, before Fulham's 20-year-old debutant Chris Smalling scored an own goal. Had he not scored that own goal, Smalling's new club Manchester United, and not Chelsea, would be celebrating the Premier League title.

After that game, Ancelotti tellingly declared Chelsea's slump over. He

said: "This could be an important victory in the season because I'm very happy with the reaction of the team during a bad spell. We reacted as a team and not individuals."

Terrygate

The John Terry-Wayne Bridge affair was a bolt from the blue and was undoubtedly the most unsettling influence on Chelsea's season. Chelsea's usually austere defence rarely gets breached at Stamford Bridge, yet when Wayne Bridge's Manchester City visited London in February - merely a month after the scandal broke - Terry's form was at its lowest. The 'will they or won't they shake hands' soap opera consumed the tabloids in the days leading up to the Manchester City game, with the entire saga having a sorry effect on the now former England captain's form, Chelsea were rocking.

They conceded four that day and, despite Ancelotti's best efforts to keep his team focused, there was no doubt that Terrygate was affecting the whole team. Ancelotti recently admitted that the team meeting he conducted after the 4-2 defeat to Manchester City was crucial in focusing his players' minds at a time when Wayne Rooney's prolific form was keeping Manchester United's dreams of a fourth consecutive title alive.

Top-three form

When Carlo Ancelotti looks back on this season he will accept that they won it by hitting top form against the top teams. Chelsea's consistency against last season's top three - Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal - saw the Blues take a maximum 18 points conceding just a single goal. This staggering record ensured that Chelsea always kept their rivals at arm's length.

Chelsea's visit to Old Trafford

Chelsea went to Old Trafford on April 3 in the knowledge that a win would see them go top and keep Manchester United and Arsenal at bay.

Chelsea were by far the better side at Old Trafford and, having pounded Aston Villa 7-1 the previous weekend, a confident Chelsea performance was rewarded by Joe Cole's slinky opener.

But Didier Drogba is never far from controversy and although his 79th minute strike was rifled in expertly, he was clearly offside and, although Manchester United pulled a goal back through Federico Macheda two minutes later, Sir Alex Ferguson was enraged that the goal had been allowed to stand. After the game, he said: "What I can't understand is the linesman's directly in front of it. He has no one near him and he gets it wrong. A game of that magnitude, you really need quality officials and we didn't get them today. It was a poor, poor performance." 

Ancelotti the toast of Chelsea [BBC blogs] Phil McNulty

Carlo Ancelotti's glass of red wine - barely touched and described in terms that suggests his grasp of the English language is almost complete - contained the only clouds on his horizon.

Relaxing against the cushion of Chelsea's Premier League title triumph, the Italian let that inscrutable mask slip just a little as he reflected on the scale of his achievements in his first season at Stamford Bridge.

"Just easy questions please because my level of wine is high," he demanded after ditching his traditional suit for Chelsea colours and a blue and white scarf.

But all questions are easy after claiming the domestic game's highest honour with an 8-0 defeat of Wigan, Chelsea's biggest league victory of the campaign.

The Premier League season, rather like Ancelotti's dubious wine, has not been vintage quality but everything - well, almost everything - tasted sweet to the Italian as he basked in the afterglow of a personal triumph.

His relationship with Chelsea's fans has been something of a slow burner, not like the instant love affair kindled by Jose Mourinho when he parachuted into Stamford Bridge on the back of a Champions League triumph with Porto and a blizzard of gilt-edged quotes.

But on Sunday, Ancelotti received all the respect he was due, and more besides, from Blues supporters as they acclaimed a manager who has attained success with a quiet calm and dignity that has gone some way towards scratching away the antipathy aimed at the club during Mourinho's confrontational and tempestuous stewardship.

Even as an unabashed Mourinho admirer, it is impossible not to respect Ancelotti as he goes about his job without the degree of pantomime villainy and pandemonium that so often accompanied his illustrious predecessor.

And it all came together in one glorious moment when, with Chelsea in the rather comfortable position of leading 7-0 when knowing any kind of victory would end Manchester United's three-year reign as champions, Stamford Bridge demanded a wave.

Ancelotti modestly stepped forward and obliged. Then, almost as an afterthought, he turned to the Matthew Harding Stand and delivered the most emphatic, animated pumped-fist salute. The bond was sealed.

Brought in by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich to attach a more attractive style to Stamford Bridge's ruthless pragmatism, Ancelotti has delivered.

Sunderland, Stoke City and Aston Villa have all taken seven-goal beatings. And what better time than the decisive day in the league season to go one better and make it eight against Wigan?

It was the climax of a convincing finale to Chelsea's campaign. After defeat against Tottenham, they have amassed 17 goals without reply in their final three games to go past a century of league goals in 2009/10, the first team to achieve the feat since the White Hart Lane club themselves 47 years ago.

Chelsea have had their moments. They have been too vulnerable on their travels and should have wrapped up the title some time ago.

But, as ever, the Premier League has the winners it deserves. Any argument is laid to rest by Chelsea's wins, home and away, against both Arsenal and Manchester United, the last victory at Old Trafford rightly seen by Ancelotti as the key one.

In many ways, Ancelotti's more positive approach was the only way forward because the old veneer of invincibility at the back has disappeared this season. Chelsea gave opponents a chance, but they could also score goals by the truckload, which weighed the equation in their favour.

Chelsea have occasionally left the door ajar for their title rivals in 2009/10, but United and Arsenal were unable to bundle through. It may not have been the most distinguished season in Premier League history, but the old rule held good, namely that the finest team finishes top of the pile.

The final margin was only a point, but it would do Chelsea a disservice to claim that they are not rightful champions. United could never get a grip on the race, while Arsenal, quite simply, were nowhere near good enough despite the protestations of those who rail at perceived criticism of the club and their manager, Arsene Wenger.

Ancelotti's steady hand and refusal to overreact in defeat or victory has calmed any troubles Chelsea have faced. He has proved capable of juggling a variety of difficulties, from John Terry's personal problems to high-maintenance individuals like Didier Drogba with expertise borne of years of experience at AC Milan.

And even amid the smoothest passage to victory over Wigan, his man-management skills were called on again following a tantrum from Drogba that was laughable and ludicrous in equal measure.

Drogba, battling with Manchester United's Wayne Rooney for the Golden Boot, took grave offence at Frank Lampard's not unreasonable suggestion that he rather than the striker should take a penalty with Chelsea still only one up.

Lampard, as he usually does, scored with aplomb but Drogba went into a schoolboy strop for several minutes, seemingly believing that his own personal honour had been shamelessly and unjustly sacrificed in Chelsea's attempt to win the title.

Cue lots of pouting and arm-waving, even a touchline exchange with Ancelotti, who revealed the discussion stretched into the half-time interval. "I told him 'quiet, you can score in the second half'. He did.

See, I am a magician," the Chelsea boss explained.

In fact, Drogba scored a hat-trick, thus enabling him to claim the Golden Boot as well as another Premier League title medal and lashings of affection from his team-mates.

Nicolas Anelka scored twice while Salomon Kalou and Ashley Cole rounded off a victory and performance that was a resounding advert for Ancelotti's methods. It also allowed Abramovich to sit wreathed in smiles.

How the Chelsea fans revelled in the restoration of their club to the status of champions. Irony was certainly heavy in the air when they sang "Boring, Boring Chelsea" as their final goal tally was announced over the Stamford Bridge PA.

And no celebration would be complete without a jibe at Sir Alex Ferguson, who hinted at the start of the season that the passage of time might hinder Chelsea's attempt to grab the trophy away from Old Trafford. "We're too old to win the league" was a chant that had Ferguson's name written all over it.

Ancelotti may actually take Ferguson's words into consideration as he holds a summit meeting with Abramovich shortly. The counter argument is that there is no substitute for experience - and Chelsea have that in abundance.

Experience is something Ancelotti also has. His cool demeanour after Chelsea's wobble at Spurs ensured they stayed on course to end a three-year wait to recapture the Premier League crown. And he now stands on the edge of making history less than a year after his appointment as Chelsea attempt to complete the double for the first time when they meet Portsmouth in the FA Cup final on Saturday.

Ancelotti claimed he was unsure how he would celebrate winning what he regards as the best league in world football. But while blue was the colour for Chelsea's fans, you suspect he had his eyes on something of the finest red. Fully deserved, too. 

Chelsea are champions as summer of signings beckons [BBC] Chelsea celebrate their first Premier League title for four seasons By Alan Hansen BBC Sport football expert

Chelsea are worthy Premier League champions at the end of a thrilling season full of twists and turns - but it is a campaign that ends with all of the major clubs needing a revamp of their playing staff.

Carlo Ancelotti's side won the day because they had just that bit more consistency than Manchester United and Arsenal, scoring a magnificent total of 103 league goals. In some respects, the Blues claimed the title because their rivals were not good enough, not because they were outstanding.

The Champions League is invariably a reliable gauge to the strength of your domestic football - and results there suggested that England's top teams were easier to beat than they had been in previous seasons.

Warning signs flashed when Liverpool went out at the group stage, while no Premier League side made it to the semi-finals, which have been dominated by English teams in the past. It will be the same next season unless improvements are made.

If the top four went backwards, then teams like Tottenham, Manchester City and Aston Villa made strides. Everton arguably played as well as any team in the Premier League from the turn of the year.

No-one can deny that Chelsea deserved to win the title. Their goalscoring was remarkable, especially as Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard got 50% of them. They also "acquired" a new player in Florent Malouda. He went from never looking like being a player to being exceptional.

There is no doubt, however, that they were helped greatly by the failings of others.

I said on Match of the Day 2 that it was a tribute to Manchester United that they were still in with a shout on the final day of the season because they were so bad for so long.

You can hardly believe how badly they have played this season, and yet there is something Sir Alex Ferguson has built into that club that keeps them fighting.

The season has also been a triumph for Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti, who has won the title in his first season and can claim the Double if his side beat Portsmouth in the FA Cup final. It is too soon, however, to suggest he has banished the ghost of Jose Mourinho.

The Portuguese was the man who brought back-to-back titles to Chelsea in

2005 and 2006 after a 50-year gap and more or less built the team that won the Premier League on Sunday.

Yes, he had money to do it, but plenty of managers have had money and wasted it. Mourinho built a team that stood the test of time, as the 8-0 thrashing of Wigan showed.

One spectre Ancelotti has managed to get rid of is the accusation - if indeed it is an accusation - that Chelsea have been boring, functional and methodical when collecting trophies. Not this season.

To score seven goals in three home games and eight in another is a wonderful feat. They have played some fine attacking football this season and, as I have said, are worthy champions.

The trick for Ancelotti is to demonstrate he has a great side by winning back-to-back titles - and I think it will be a frantic summer in the transfer market for all of those clubs chasing honours.

Chelsea will need to sign players who can go straight into the team.

They need a quality keeper to put pressure on Petr Cech, who is not what he was four or five years ago, and central defenders to challenge the likes of John Terry, who has had an indifferent season.

I am not talking about players around the fringes, I am talking about players in their mid-20s, hungry and determined to get in that Chelsea team and stay there.

The same applies to Manchester United, who have struggled without Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo, becoming too reliant on Wayne Rooney.

Ferguson also has a squad that is ageing in some areas and will need freshening up.

It is one of the hardest things in football to break up a team and reassemble a new one, but Ferguson is the master. Never bet against him doing it again.

My old club Liverpool need a huge overhaul after a very poor season. But they face competition for players from Arsenal, Spurs and Manchester City as well as Chelsea and Manchester United.

The reality is that players, first and foremost, come to England for money. Then it is the lure of Champions League football. Liverpool have got neither.

On the other hand, Manchester City have almost limitless financial resources, while Spurs can dangle the Champions League carrot in front of potential signings.

As for Chelsea, they will justifiably bask in their Premier League triumph, but I do not expect them to rest on their laurels for long.

That means this summer should witness plenty of transfer dealings as England's elite jostle for prime position ahead of next season.