City are champs at a canter
United’s shock loss to West Brom hands crown to city rivals
They won it in the last remaining seconds in 2012, and in the final match in 2014. At last, Manchester City’s players can enjoy a serene English Premier League title triumph.
And they can thank fierce rivals Manchester United for that.
City clinched the title without even playing yesterday when United, their nearest challengers, surprisingly lost 1-0 at home to last-placed West Bromwich Albion.
It was City’s third title in seven seasons — and fifth in their history — and easily their most convincing, with Pep Guardiola’s team 16 points clear and still having five games to play this season
“Our Time. Our City. Premier League Champions 17/18,” City tweeted soon after the final whistle.
Second-placed United dragged the title race out for at least another week by winning 3-2 at City last weekend, only to gift the trophy to City by losing to a team that had just one league win since August and is destined for relegation.
Guardiola might not have seen Jay Rodriguez’s 73rd-minute winning goal at Old Trafford because he was playing golf with his son instead of watching the match. Vincent Kompany did, with images showing the City captain celebrating at his in- laws’ house where he was having dinner.
“I had a feeling when I woke up this morning,” Kompany said.
Goalkeeper Ederson Moraes was watching former club Benfica play Porto in the Portuguese league. The rest of the squad was spread out across Europe, and even beyond, on their day off after City’s 3-1 win at Tottenham on Sunday had left the league title agonisingly close.
Instead of City hoping to clinch the title at home to Swansea next weekend, that game at Etihad Stadium will now be a party and a celebration of one of the Premier League’s finest teams which could yet break a slew of records by the end of the season.
City could finish the season with the most points, goals and wins from a single Premier League campaign. In sealing the league at this stage, City matched the record for the earliest title win — held by United since 2001.
“Unbelievable season for us,” said midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, perhaps City’s standout player over the past eight months. “Very happy to call us champions this year.”
An 18-match winning run from late-August to late-December laid the platform for the runaway title victory, and it was only a matter of when it would be clinched.
Few — including Guardiola — expected it to happen yesterday.
“We’ve won you the league, Manchester City, we’ve won you the league,” sang West Brom’s fans.
The 2012 title win had the infamous last-gasp goal by Sergio Aguero. Six years later, the finale was more underwhelming, with Rodriguez nodding in from a corner to silence the majority of Old Trafford and set up one of the most surprising wins of the season. — AP GERMANY