MANCHESTER, England (AP) — With 75,000 delirious Manchester United fans chanting “Champions! Champions!” at full voice, Rio Ferdinand tugged the back of Robin van Persie’s jersey near the forward’s number and shouted: “No. 20! No. 20!”

Twenty was the number at Old Trafford on Monday night.

Van Persie’s first-half hat trick helped Manchester United produce a performance of style and swagger, a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa that clinched the club’s record 20th English league title with four matches to spare.

“It is a great feeling,” the Dutch forward said. “It is a fantastic team and fantastic players. It is a championship for every single one of them.”

Signed from Arsenal last summer, Van Persie put United ahead 83 seconds with a shot from close range. He doubled the lead with a volley in the 12th minute and completed his hat trick in the 33rd minute with his league-high 24th goal of the season.

Manchester United (27-4-3) has a 16-point lead over Manchester City (20-5-8), which has five games left. United will receive the trophy after its last home game of the season, against Swansea on May 12.

United manager Alex Ferguson’s decision to buy Van Persie last summer from Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger for £24 million  ($36 million) — a hefty price for a player who had been injury prone — proved to be pivotal in the race against City, a team Ferguson once dubbed “noisy neighbours.”

Ferguson and United have won 13 of the 21 Premier League titles. This is the earliest a club has clinched the Premier League since Manchester United on April 14, 2001, according to STATS. With victories in its last four matches, United would break the points record of 95 set by Chelsea’s in 2004-05.