Manchester City have won the Premier League title after second-place Manchester United were stunned 1-0 at home by West Bromwich Albion.
Pep Guardiola’s side are now uncatchable at the top of the table after United’s shock defeat to the bottom-of-the-table Baggies after Jay Rodriguez’s 73rd-minute strike sealed their fate.
City re-established a 16-point lead at the top of the table on Saturday when they ended a run of three successive defeats with a 3-1 victory away at Tottenham Hotspur.
Because of goal difference, United realistically needed to win all of their six remaining games and hope City lost their last five matches.
Guardiola said he wouldn’t be watching United’s game at Old Trafford on Sunday, but instead would be enjoying a round of golf with his son.
The Catalan has now won three titles in three different countries after three La Liga triumphs in Spain with Barcelona and three Bundesliga crowns with Bayern Munich and admitted it was one of his best achievements.
It caps a remarkable Premier League season that has seen City lose just twice thus far and win 28 of their 33 matches with a record-breaking run of 18 successive victories between August and December.
They have equalled the record for quickest title success held by United’s 2000-01 team, winning the league with five games remaining.
It’s a happy ending to a disappointing week that saw them dumped out of the Champions League by Liverpool and blow a 2-0 lead in the Manchester derby that would have seen them claim the crown against their bitter rivals.
City need just nine points from their final games to set a new record for most Premier League points, while another 11 goals would see them set a new goal-scoring record.
It’s the third Premier League success for the club after the titles won in 2012 under Roberto Mancini and 2014 under Manuel Pellegrini with captain Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure involved in all of them.
But it’s the first title success for many of Guardiola’s key players including PFA Player of the Year nominees Kevin De Bruyne and Leroy Sane and Young Player of the Year hopefuls Raheem Sterling and goalkeeper Ederson.
Meanwhile, Kevin De Bruyne has admitted that Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah is “probably going to win” the PFA Player of the Year award.
The Manchester City midfielder said earlier this month that he thought he deserved to be named the Premier League’s best player, though he also praised Salah and later said he even voted for his Egyptian rival.
But speaking to American broadcaster NBC Sports after City’s 3-1 win at Tottenham, De Bruyne said that the honour is not likely to come his way.
Asked if Salah should win, De Bruyne said: “Yeah, I think if you can choose nobody from our team, I think he deserves it.
“Probably he’s going to win it anyway. He’s been remarkable and to compete with somebody that’s scored that many goals, you’re not going to win.
“I’m very satisfied with my performances this year, with the team.”
Salah scored his 30th Premier League goal of the season on Saturday and has 40 in all competitions, though ballots are usually submitted in February.
De Bruyne and Salah were both on the shortlist announced earlier on Saturday by the Professional Footballers’ Association, along with City’s David Silva and Leroy Sane, Tottenham striker Harry Kane and Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea.
Players are not allowed to vote for themselves or their teammates, so De Bruyne was left with few choices.
However, the Belgian said that if that rule was not in place, he would have voted for David Silva, who has been granted time away from the club in recent weeks after his son was born prematurely in December.
“For me, I think if I could vote personally, I would vote for David,” De Bruyne added. “The situation he had this year with his little son and been always away, no training, and performed the way he did, it’s been incredible.
“But if Salah get it, he deserves it as well.”
ESPN
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