BLACKBURN: Wayne Rooney's penalty clinched a record 19th English title for Manchester United Saturday by salvaging a 1-1 draw at Blackburn. Rooney drove home the spot kick in the 73rd minute after Javier Hernandez was fouled, ensuring that United overhauls Liverpool as the most successful team in English league history. “Twenty years ago we were nowhere near Liverpool,” said midfielder Ryan Giggs, who has played in each of United's 12 Premier League-winning teams since 1993. Alex Ferguson's side required only a point to regain the Premier League trophy from Chelsea with one game to spare, but the visitors fell behind after 20 minutes when Brett Emerton capitalized on poor defending and goalkeeping. United's breakthrough came after a moment of controversy, when striker Hernandez was tripped in the area by goalkeeper Paul Robinson. Blackburn's players felt Hernandez went down too lightly, and the penalty was only awarded by referee Phil Dowd after he consulted his assistant amid protests from both teams. Rooney kept his cool to score his 15th goal of the season. United trailed Liverpool 16-7 in league titles when Alex Ferguson took over as manager in November 1986. United now holds a seven-point lead over last season's champion, Chelsea. In other matches, Blackpool recorded a 4-3 win over Bolton, Wolverhampton Wanderers won 3-1 and West Bromwich Albion won 1-0 against Everton. Lazio beats Genoa Lazio's Brazilian midfielder Hernanes scored twice in a 4-2 home win over Genoa to lift his side into the fourth Champions League qualifying spot in Serie A Saturday. Lazio, who visit struggling Lecce in their final game next weekend, moved to 63 points. Dortmund celebrates title Eintracht Frankfurt was relegated from the Bundesliga with a 3-1 defeat at champion Borussia Dortmund on the last day of the season Saturday, while Wolfsburg ensured survival with a 3-1 win at Hoffenheim. Dortmund clinched the title as far back as April 30 but waited until Saturday for its official title celebrations. An own goal from Freiburg's Cedrick Makiadi was enough for Bayer Leverkusen to win 1-0 at Freiburg and secure second place in the Bundesliga and, with it, the automatic Champions League place. Leverkusen finished ahead of third-place Bayern Munich, which beat Stuttgart 2-1 at home. Other results: Borussia Moenchengladbach 1 Hamburger SV 1; Hannover 3 Nuremberg 1; Kaiserslautern 3 Werder Bremen 2; Cologne 2 Schalke 1.
