Manchester City are Premier League champions after rivals United suffer shock loss at home to bottom side West Brom, with Arsenal also losing at Newcastle.
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| Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, centre right, and David Silva celebrate their victory |
Manchester United 0-1 West Brom
Manchester United had a nightmare against West Brom to gift Manchester City the Premier League title with five games to spare.
Jay Rodriguez’s header capped a miserable afternoon for Jose Mourinho and his side, who were roundly booed off at full time.
They can no longer catch their neighbours at the top, who can kick off the celebrations across town.
Jake Livermore had an early effort for the Baggies, only to see it expertly palmed away by David de Gea in the United goal.
Paul Pogba was booked for handling when attempting to head in at the other end, before blazing well over shortly before half time.
In between there was half a penalty shout around Old Trafford for a rogue Baggies boot connecting with Ander Herrera.
But it was a subdued first half with the Red Devils jeered off by some sections of an underwhelmed crowd.
There was precious little uplift as the second half progressed, with the biggest cheer reserved for Anthony Martial’s introduction at the expense of the enigmatic Pogba.
Ben Foster had to produce a brilliant one-handed save low to high right to deny Romelu Lukaku’s header.
Substitute Jesse Lingard then thrashed a shot inches wide from the edge of the box.
But the stadium was all but silenced when Rodriguez bundled in after Craig Dawson had out-muscled Nemanja Matic at the far post.
United had no answer, with the ground half empty by full time and the sound of blue-shirted celebrations picking up in the distance.
As for West Brom – they cling on to their EPL status for another week.
Newcastle 2-1 Arsenal
Arsenal lost their fifth away game in a row as Newcastle all but sealed their Premier League survival on Sunday.
Calamitous defending, most notably from World Cup winner Shkodran Mustafi, once again contributed heavily to their latest humbling.
Yet Arsene Wenger’s side had gone ahead in the 14th minute.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang surged forward and picked out Alexandre Lacazette, who notched his 13th goal of his first campaign in English football.
Ayoze Perez side-footed the Toon Army level on 29 minutes after good work from DeAndre Yedlin.
Calum Chambers should have restored the away advantage just before the break but conspired to miss from close range.
They were made to pay when Matt Ritchie produced a cool finish after being set up by Perez.
Arsenal were firmly on the ropes and Kenedy was next to try his luck, striking the post with a dipping effort.
And there was no way back for the Londoners, who haven’t managed a single away point since the turn of the year.
Manchester City are champions after United lose to West Brom
Manchester City have won the Premier League title with five games left - and they don't have to win a single one of them - after their neighbours Manchester United crashed to an unlikely defeat to West Brom.
Manchester United lost 0-1 to West Brom at Old Trafford on Sunday, handing neighbours Manchester City the title on a silver platter.
Jay Rodriguez’s strike in the 73rd minute was the only thing that separated the two teams.
Just once have United lost at home to a team that started the day at the bottom of the table. West Brom had won just one game since August, but pulled off one of the most remarkable heists of the season.
City had moved within touching distance of the title with a 3-1 win at Tottenham on Saturday.
United had denied City the chance to wrap up the title last weekend when they came from two goals down to beat their bitter rivals 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium.
But Jose Mourinho’s men still ended up handing the trophy to City with a lacklustre display against bottom of the table Albion, who had won only three times in the league this season before this weekend.
Winning the title with five matches to go makes City the joint earliest champions in the Premier League era – matching the achievement of the 2000-01 Manchester United team.
City boss Pep Guardiola had planned a day of golf with his son Marius on Sunday, so the Spaniard might have learned of his first Premier League while on the course.
Speaking after the win over Tottenham, Guardiola admitted winning the title in England would be one of the greatest achievements of his glittering career.
He won three league titles with Barcelona and twice lifted the Champions League trophy during his Camp Nou reign.
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