Man City win EPL title as United lose

Manchester United gifted the Premier League title to fierce rival Manchester City in improbable fashion by losing 1-0 to last-place West Bromwich Albion yesterday.

A week after preventing its neighbours from clinching the title in front of their own fans by rallying from 2-0 down to win 3-2, United delivered a similarly unlikely result as managerless West Brom pulled off one of the shocks of the season.

Jay Rodriguez headed in a 73rd- minute winning goal to seal only a second win since August and allow City to clinch the title without kicking a ball.

City manager Pep Guardiola might have rubbed his eyes in disbelief at events at Old Trafford when he returned from his round of golf with his son. His decision to forego the match looked justified considering West Brom’s dreadful form, but the visitors easily coped with United’s ponderous attacks and looked dangerous going forward.

West Brom is still nine points from safety and looks destined for relegation. United is now just one point above third-place Liverpool.

United manager Jose Mourinho said his players were ‘‘masters in complicated football.’'

‘‘We couldn’t play fast, we couldn’t think fast, everything was complicated,’' he said. ``One more touch to control the ball, one more flick, one more trick. We always gave them the opportunity to be solid, compact in the low block with strong physical players.

‘‘They always had time to organise themselves. We wanted to dribble and dribble, and everything was complicated.’'