May 12 (The Athletic) – Manchester City have won the Premier League title after Manchester United lost 2-1 to Leicester on Tuesday evening.
The game was decided by a 66th-minute goal from Caglar Soyuncu, his first of the season.
City’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Sunday prolonged the title race and gave United the opportunity to play their games in hand, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were unable to secure the point they needed against Leicester to keep the race alive.
The title win means City have won the Premier League in three of the last four seasons.
What happened?
United beat Aston Villa 3-1 on Sunday and knew they needed to avoid defeat at home against Leicester to postpone City’s title party for another few days.
Against a much-rotated United side, Leicester took an early lead as Luke Thomas sublimely volleyed home a Youri Tielemans cross in the 10th minute.
United equalised five minutes later through Mason Greenwood but Soyuncu’s powerful 66th-minute header gave Leicester the crucial victory.
How impressive have City been this season?
Hugely impressive.
The way they sparked back into life after their early-season troubles has been incredible. Not only have they romped to the Premier League title but they are in the Champions League final, have the Carabao Cup in the bag and reached the semi-final of the FA Cup.
They have not been hampered by the absence of a clinical finisher and their formidable defence means they might have an extra edge on their recent title-winning teams. They’ve only had one midweek free all season — due to a COVID-19 outbreak — and despite being 13th in the table just a few months ago, they are now back at the top again.
What next for City and Guardiola?
It is probably a mark of their brilliance that they will already be looking ahead to the Champions League final.
The title has been in the bag for weeks, to the extent that it has been just a matter of time. And with the big game against Chelsea in three weeks’ time, that will now be the focus. Win that and it’s immortality for this team.