The game, which should have been one of the highlights of the season, was downgraded to dead rubber status when United secured the title on Monday morning by virtue of Chelsea only drawing 1-1 at Arsenal.
It would have been very different if the fixture had been played when originally scheduled for FA Cup semi-final weekend in April, when United were just three points ahead, but with the teams due to meet again in the Cup final on May 19 it became more of a damage-limitation exercise.
Alex Ferguson put out a virtual second-string team. China forward Fangzhuo Dong donned the red shirt competitively for the first time more than three years after joining the club, full-back Kieran Lee made his first league appearance and Chris Eagles his first start.
Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick were on the bench and Cristiano Ronaldo not involved at all.
Chelsea were much more recognisable, though they too gave a first start to 18-year-old forward Scott Sinclair in the continuing absence of 31-goal striker Didier Drogba.
The Londoners at least had something to play for as they sought the result that would extend their unbeaten home league record to 63 games dating back to February 2004 and thereby match Liverpool's all-time top flight mark set between February 1978 and January 1981.
After a dreary first half, things picked up a little after the break as the tackles began to fly in and the respective managers took turns to leap into the technical area to remonstrate.
United's Alan Smith, hoping for a Cup final berth to cap his comeback from a broken leg, showed plenty of aggressive running in midfield and Sean Wright-Phillips clipped in some inviting crosses for Chelsea but there was precious little quality from the two best teams in the country.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho condemned the EPL's fixture bunglers after the game.
"It is difficult to accept that we didn't play on 15 April or whatever," Mourinho said. "The Premier League is the best in the world and it can't afford this kind of mistake, to have Chelsea v Manchester United coinciding with the FA Cup semi-finals, when there is a big chance that one of the clubs would be involved.
"It's very, very bad. This is the game that every football fan around the world should be eating by TV, but I think they changed for a soap or something more interesting."
Mourinho stressed that he did not presume that the championship would have turned out differently had the game been played when it meant something, but was just frustrated.
"It's not a good decision," he added. "If we play in the middle of April with six or seven more matches to play, I'm not saying we would have won the game and I'm not saying we would have won the Premiership. I'm just saying I don't think it's the correct situation." SOURCE: © 2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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