Manchester City won the Premier League
title without even playing on Sunday when nearest challenger Manchester United
surprisingly lost 1-0 at home to last-place West Bromwich Albion.
It
was City's third title in seven seasons and easily its most convincing, with
Pep Guardiola's team 16 points clear and still having five games to play this
season. City's other two Premier League triumphs, in 2012 and '14, were sealed
on the final day.
Second-place
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 is
destined for relegation and had just one league win since August.
Guardiola
might not have seen Jay Rodriguez's 73rd-minute winning goal at Old Trafford
because he was due to be playing golf with his son instead of watching the
match.
"Our
Time. Our City. Premier League Champions 17/18," City tweeted soon after
the final whistle, when the fifth English top-flight title of its history was
assured.
Instead
of City likely clinching 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.
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 on Sunday.
"We've
won you the league, Manchester City, we've won you the league," sang West
Brom's fans near the end of the game.
The
2012 title win had the infamous last-gasp goal by Sergio Aguero. Six years
later, the finale was much 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.
United
manager Jose Mourinho had long given up hopes of winning the title, instead
focusing on finishing second. This result left his team one point clear of
third-place Liverpool, with a game in hand.
As
for City, it has a month to finish a season with the most points, goals and
wins in a single Premier League campaign.
