The loss for Birmingham City meant they are relegated to the Championship along with Blackpool and West Ham United.

Manchester United won the title with 80 points ahead of Chelsea and Manchester City on 71, Arsenal were fourth with 68 and then Tottenham with 62 points.

Chelsea not long after the season ended parted ways with manager Carlo Ancelotti.

In the just completed 2011 Premier League season Chelsea has ended the season in second place on 71 points, nine adrift of champion Manchester United. The team did not collect any trophies this season.

The club said this in a statement on the Chelsea FC website.

“The owner and board would like to thank Carlo for his contribution and achievements since taking over as manager in July 2009, which included winning the Double for the first time in the club’s history.

“However, this season’s performances have fallen short of expectations and the club feels the time is right to make this change ahead of next season’s preparations”.

The club also said there is no word on who will take over as manager.

Blackburn’s Brett Emerton had put the hosts in the lead after 19 minutes but United hit back to end the match 1-1.

The 2011 title makes it 12 in the Sir Alex Ferguson era.

In what was a good day for Manchester, cross town rivals Manchester City won the FA Cup 1-0 against Stoke City.

Read more at the Premier League site – Match report Blackburn Rovers v Manchester United
Read more at SI.com – Man United seals 19th English title with 1-1 draw at Blackburn
Read more about Manchester City v Stoke City in the FA Cup Final – Man City end trophy drought

Read the full match report for Chelsea v Tottenham at Premier League’s official website.

Torres has now scored six goals in five matches against Chelsea when playing at home. The loss sees their lead in the title race cut to two points.

A nice cross from Dirk Kuyt setup the first goal for Torres in the 11th minute. Torres controlled the ball with one touch and then fired past Petr Cech.

Another goal came just before the break when Torres was given the ball by Meireles, the Spanish international then cut inside before curling an unstoppable shot around Cech.

Liverpool now appear to have turned the corner and are now placed mid-table after spending some time in the relegation zone.

Having a Chinese owner would probably a good move as it would boost Liverpool’s already high profile in Asia and could lead to millions more viewers watching matches across Asia.

Benitez failed to capture a Premier League title but will forever be remembered as the manager that led Liverpool to the Champions League in 2005 when the team came from 3-0 down to defeat Milan in a penalty shootout.

The team also won the FA Cup in 2006 when they defeated West Ham on penalties.

The Spaniard is now looking a good shot to take over at Inter Milan after Jose Mourinho moved to Real Madrid.

As a Liverpool supporter it is sad to see Rafa leave the club.

Now the search is on for a replacement but with the club up for sale that could be delayed until the ownership issue is sorted out. Liverpool are 351 million pounds in debt.

Schwarzer the Socceroos keeper plays for Fulham in the English Premier League. He is the first Australian to be awarded the honor and the first Fulham player to receive the award since Louis Saha in August 2001.

In February the 37-year-old Australian let in just one goal from five matches and that came in a 2-1 win over Birmingham. Fulham had three wins and two draws in February and for this the manager was also rewarded.

Roy Hodgson was awarded manager of the month. His team sit in tenth position on the English Premier League table and are one of the form teams at the moment.

“I’m still a little bit shocked to have won the award. “I think it’s been a tremendous achievement from everybody at the club over the last five to six weeks.” Schwarzer said.

For Schwarzer he will be looking to help Fulham continue their good form however the big goal this year is to help Australia out of group play at the 2010 World Cup soccer finals to be held in June over in South Africa.

The big news was the 1-0 loss for Manchester United at the hands of newcomers to the English Premier League, Burnley. The defending champions were defeated at Turf Moor after a Robbie Blake goal in the 18th minute. It was however Brian Jensen who was the hero for the night after he saved a penalty to deny Man Utd at least taking a draw.  Burnley were playing at home in the top flight for the first time since 1976 so it was a great day for their fans.

On Tuesday night Chelsea had gone to the top of the EPL after their away win at Sunderland. The came from a goal down to claim full points. Tottenham knocked them off top spot the next night after Spurs won comfortably.

Liverpool got their home season off to a great start defeating Stoke City 4-1 at Anfield. Fernando Torres scored early to set the scene. He scored after four minutes thanks to lead up work by Steven Gerrard. It took until the 45th minute for Liverpool to double the lead when Glen Johnson scored. Dirk Kuyt (78) and David Ngog (90) completed the scoring.

Last season Stoke City held Liverpool to a draw in the corresponding match. That result proved costly as the Reds just missed out on the title which was won by Man Utd.

EPL scores

Tuesday 18th August

Sunderland 1-3 Chelsea
Wigan Athletic 0-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wednesday 19th August

Birmingham City 1-0 Portsmouth
Burnley 1-0 Manchester United
Hull City 1-5 Tottenham Hotspur
Liverpool 4-0 Stoke City

Of the big four it was only Liverpool that failed to win their opening match. Benoit Assou-Ekotto gave Spurs a 1-0 lead just a minute before the half-time break after he fired in a stunning 25-yard strike. Liverpool got level after a 56th penalty was converted by Steven Gerrard. The penalty was awarded after Heurelho Gomes fouled Glen Johnson.

Spurs did not wait long to take the initiative again as Sebastien Bassong headed home the winner three minutes later. Bassong joined Spurs from Newcastle United for 8 million pounds so he is money well spent so far. Spurs manager Harry Redknapp said after the match that he felt his side deserved the win. Liverpool’s pre-season form has now shown things need improvement if they are to challenge for the title.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez of course said Liverpool needs to improve, especially in the middle. Liverpool lost a key midfielder after Xabi Alonso moves to Real Madrid in the off-season. Benitez does not lay the blame on not having Alonso as they won plenty of games last season without him in the team.

Liverpool plays mid-week against Stoke City at home.

Manchester United saw Wayne Rooney tap in from close range after his header had come back off the post 34 minutes into their match against Birmingham City. Man Utd are of course playing without the services of Cristiano Ronaldo who headed over to Real Madrid.

Check back here regularly to check the EPL scores.