Manchester City confirmed as champion as United loses
LONDON, (Reuters) – A week later than it would have preferred Manchester City was crowned Premier League champion on Sunday as second-placed Manchester United suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat by bottom club West Bromwich Albion.
United had to at least draw to keep the title race mathematically alive but it was stunned at Old Trafford when Jay Rodriguez headed home after the break.
City manager Pep Guardiola might have missed one of the proudest moments of his career, however, after admitting on Saturday that he had a round of golf booked with his son and was not planning to watch United’s game.
He would have been as surprised as everyone else that the title, seemingly a foregone conclusion for months, was rubber-stamped in such strange circumstances.
A week after City surrendered a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 to United and squandered the chance to wrap up the title in perfect style against its arch-rival, it was relegation-bound West Brom which served it up on a plate.
West Brom had lost eight of its previous nine games and last won on Jan. 13.
“We’ve won the league for you, Man City, Man City,” West Brom’s fans chanted after the final whistle.
City, which rebounded from the United loss and a European exit at the hands of Liverpool by beating Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, has 87 points with five games left. United has 71 also with five to play. It is Abu Dhabi-owned City’s third title in seven seasons and its first since former boss Manuel Pellegrini achieved the feat in 2013/14.
Guardiola, who failed to land a trophy in his first season in charge at The Etihad, opened his account by winning the League Cup in February against Arsenal.
But a first Premier League title, to go with the three La Liga titles he won as manager of Barcelona and MANCHESTER CITY manager Pep Guardiola led his team back to the pinnacle of the English Premier League this season, with the Citizens being crowned as champions yesterday following Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat to West Bromwich. the three Bundesliga titles he delivered for Bayern Munich, will be particularly satisfying.
He is the first Spanish manager to win the Premier League title - a prize he says is the hardest to claim in Europe.
Not only that but he did it with five games remaining, equaling the English top-flight record of United (1907/08 and 2000/01) and Everton (1984/85).
And it was achieved by playing a brand of football that has had the purists purring all season with City racking up 93 goals so far and on course to top the 100-point barrier.
“We did it in the way we wanted to do,” Guardiola said at Wembley on Saturday. “We have spent a lot of money to have these amazing players, to make that possible.
“These players deserve all my respect because they have been unbelievable all season.
“Winning the Premier League is going to be one of the best three seasons I have ever had as a player and as a manager.”
City skipper Vincent Kompany has now won three Premier League titles since joining 10 years ago.
Only two other players have captained more Premier League title winners - Chelsea’s John Terry (five titles) and Manchester United’s former captain Roy Keane (four).
“It’s the same feeling as the first time,” the 32-year-old Belgium international, who unlike his manager did watch the game, told Sky Sports. “You can’t describe it.
“I was talking before the game and I was saying the first time you win it you feel you are going to win all of them and the first time you lose it you feel like you are never going to win it again, so you want to hold on to this feeling.”
United manager Jose Mourinho said he was confident his team could make a real challenge next year.
“I trust in my work, that is for sure, I have no reason not to trust.
Eight titles are eight titles and three Premier Leagues are three Premier Leagues,” he said.
“The last title was not 20 years ago it was three years ago. I know how to win, I believe in myself but I don’t play,” added the former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager.
“In my experience you don’t win titles with inconsistency, you win titles, of course with quality, without quality you have no chance, but you have to win titles with consistency at every level not just the performance level.”
Elsewhere Sunday, Newcastle United virtually guaranteed its Premier League safety as it came from a goal down to beat Arsenal 2-1 at a spring-like St James’ Park.