Chelsea finally won their long and protracted battle for the Premiership's second spot with Manchester United, but in the end both were light years away from champions Arsenal.
Chelsea have taken more points from United at Old Trafford than any other team since the inception of the Premiership 11 years ago.
Their latest draw was well deserved against a United team who started and finished well, but left too many question marks over their form in the vast middle chunk of the game.
For long periods, United were devoid of imagination, although Chelsea were never able to fully capitalise on it.
United may be clear favourites to win the FA Cup in the final against Millwall at Cardiff in a fortnight, but the First Division side will have drawn some comfort from the many mistakes and sloppy play of the deposed champions.
The point Chelsea gained to clinch second spot left United with the unenviable task of a tricky Champions League qualifier at the start of next season - a banana skin waiting for a victim as Newcastle would testify at the start of the present campaign.
After lacklustre performances against Blackburn and Liverpool in their last two games, the Red Devils began with a flourish in their final home game of the season.
In the second minute, Ryan Giggs was inches away from connecting with Gary Neville's raking cross from the right.
Neville was again the provider soon after when he fed Ruud van Nistelrooy, whose lay-off was met by Paul Scholes and his powerful 20-yard shot was taken by Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini at the second attempt.
Seconds later, Cudicini was almost caught out by Cristiano Ronaldo's deceptively wicked cross from the left corner of the box which the Italian was forced to tip over from under his bar at the last second.
Chelsea drew breath and began to counter United's early supremacy.
Wayne Bridge's deep cross from the left to the far side of the United box found Jesper Gronkjaer free and only a heroic block by Mikael Silvestre saved the day for the home side.
Wes Brown denied Frank Lampard with another last-ditch challenged soon after and Eidur Gudjohnsen had the ball in the back of the United net in the 16th minute, only for the effort to be ruled offside by referee Steve Bennett.
But the Londoners had only three minutes to wait before taking the lead.
There was an element of controversy about the goal which came when United goalkeeper Tim Howard tried to stop a Gudjohnsen header which was going wide, from crossing the goalline.
Howard looked to have achieved his aim, but Mr. Bennett gave Chelsea the corner.
Geremi fired the ball in with Brown's headed clearance falling to Joe Cole just outside the United penalty area.
Cole headed the ball on to Gronkjaer on the left side of the box and the Dane neatly sidestepped Scholes before curling a glorious right-foot shot into the far corner of the net from 15 yards.
United came close to equalising after 27 minutes.
Ronaldo's pass across the Chelsea box from the left was turned on to Giggs by van Nistelrooy and his crisp shot from 12 yards was superbly saved one handed by Cudicini.
As Scholes went for the rebound he went down dramatically after being brushed by Claude Makelele and was booked for diving.
The England midfielder scythed down Lampard soon after - a challenge which could have easily earned a second yellow card and would have put him out of the FA Cup Final.
But, in the 36th minute, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson avoided such a situation by replacing him with Louis Saha.
United should have been level in the 43rd minute.
Ronaldo's cross from the right was headed on by John O'Shea and Saha was brought down in the Chelsea box by Rob Huth when he tried to collect the ball.
Huth, booked eight minutes earlier for a foul on Darren Fletcher, escaped a red card but Mr Bennett rightly awarded United a penalty.
Van Nistelrooy, who had missed two of four previous penalties this season, stepped up to place his low right-foot shot to Cudicini's right only for the goalkeeper to guess correctly and turn the ball behind for a corner.
In the closing seconds of the half, Cole came close to increasing the Chelsea lead when he blazed a shot over from 12 yards.
Chelsea kept their grip on the game in the opening period of the second half with Gudjohnsen denied by Howard when he had fired in a shot from the edge of the box after cleverly turning Brown.
In the 71st minute, Gudjohnsen again went round Brown, this time inside the box, but his shot from ten yards was well saved by Howard.
The game turned two minutes later when van Nistelrooy was dragged down by Huth when he was set to go clear.
Mr. Bennett was left with no option but to dismiss Huth and United finally stepped up a gear.
Four minutes later, Silvestre lofted a high and looping cross from the left into the middle of the Chelsea box.
Cudicini dropped the ball under no pressure and van Nistelrooy was perfectly placed behind him to collect it and fire his right-foot shot into the corner of the net from ten yards.
In the closing minutes, Cudicini denied Saha from close range, while substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer headed a Giggs cross straight at the Italian at the near post.
After the game, Chelsea coach Claudio Ranieri, whose job at Stamford Bridge has been under threat for most of the season, said: "I believe I can still stay here, I think everything is open. I feel the impression it is not over yet.
"It will be difficult for me or any new coach to improve on what we have done this season.
"We have laid the foundations. I have got the ground floor done and now I am going for the second floor. If I leave the foundations cannot be destroyed. My door is open and I have got a contract until 2007, but I feel I can stay. I am not saying goodbye." Turning to his side finishing as runners up, the Italian added: "In Spain I finish fourth; Italy third and now second so I am getting better.
"It is a great achievement. It was important to get second place and play well here today, my players showed very strong character." United boss Ferguson said: "We had the feeling we might finish third after losing to Blackburn and Liverpool, but Chelsea needed a point and they got it.
"I thought it was a good quality game. After our goal we played some excellent stuff and we were unlucky not to capitalise on that.
"Ruud has not had the best season penalty wise, but credit must go to the Chelsea goalkeeper for his save.
"In the second half, Chelsea played very well for 20 minutes on the counter attack until Cudicini dropped that ball for our goal.
"We showed commitment and hard work and we got the break when Cudicini dropped the ball which gave us the goal and gave us the opportunity to put his goal under siege." Asked about his early substitution of Scholes, the United manager added: "Anything could have happened out there and I was not prepared to take the chance with Scholes.
"I don't think Scholes understood that part of it. I wanted to keep him on because he is one of our best players when it comes to prising open defences and scoring." Man of the Match - John Terry: Outstanding at the heart of the Chelsea defence as he has been all season and was an inspirational leader for the visitors.