Manchesters rare double

City beat Stoke 1-0 in FA Cup final to lift first trophy since 1976; United seal 19th league title.

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Manchester City8217;s 35-year wait for a trophy ended when Yaya Toure8217;s ferocious shot sealed a deserved 1-0 win over Stoke City in the FA Cup final on Saturday. On the day Manchester United won a record 19th league title,City fans can finally hold their heads high at the end of a week in which they also secured a place in the Champions League qualifiers for the first time. City8217;s fifth FA Cup and first since 1969 was the first tangible reward for Abu Dhabi8217;s Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Al Nahyan,who bought the club in 2008 and has spent around 300 million pounds 487.6 million on new players.

The meeting of arguably the richest club in world soccer and one who have just one League Cup in well over a century of mediocrity summed up the romance of the Cup and helped produce a wonderful atmosphere. Appearing in their first final after thrashing Bolton Wanderers 5-0 in their semi,Stoke launched an attack from kick-off but then it was generally one-way traffic in the opposite direction.

Thomas Sorensen made two diving saves to keep out shots from Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli and Toure sent a 30-metre screamer whistling inches past a post. City eventually found a way through after a neat backheel by Balotelli and a half-cleared Silva shot the ball fell to Toure 12 metres out. The mighty Ivorian,who also scored the goal which knocked out United in the semi-finals,put all his considerable power into a sweetly-struck half-volley and the result was surely one of the hardest shots to grace any of the 130 finals in the world8217;s oldest cup competition.

Red Devils on cloud 19

Earlier,Manchester United were crowned English champions for a record 19th time when Wayne Rooney8217;s penalty earned a 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers and the point they needed to win the Premier League title. Rooney,who came close to quitting United earlier in the season,struck the equaliser in the 73rd minute to take United seven points ahead of Chelsea.

It is United8217;s 12th title since the Premier League began in 1992-93 and 19th in total,surpassing the record they had shared with Liverpool. 8220;The players worked their socks off,8221; said manager Alex Ferguson,who leapt in delight as the final whistle sounded. 8220;We gave away a bad goal but we kept on,8221; added Ferguson.

Ryan Giggs has been in all 12 Premier League-title winning teams. 8220;Obviously we8217;re rubbish 8212; we8217;ve won the Premier League and we8217;re in the Champions League final,8221; he joked. 8220;Twenty years ago we were nowhere near Liverpool,but we8217;ve gone past our biggest rivals. This is why I keep going,for days like this.8221;