So that appears to be that. Manchester City are the champions of England, and have done an amazing job in destroying the field playing brilliant football. Good luck to all those trying to stop them next season.
Now, join Gregg Bakowski for Chelsea-Liverpool here:
Otherwise, thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Thierry Henry says retaining a title is hard, and notes that his Arsenal team couldn’t manage it. But it’s very hard to see anyone catching up with City over the summer - they’re the best by miles, and are still improving. Arsenal did it in 2001-02 after United effectively clinched the title on New Year’s Day, but I don’t think Guardiola is about to reconstruct his midfield nor sign Laurent Blanc.
David Silva says he’s so happy - his son, born prematurely, is getting better, and City have won the league. He says he feels good and then Walker and Stones attack him with streamers.
Here’s Jamie Jackson’s match report.
And here’s the man himself. He says it’s special and the team fully deserve their success. He says the team are building very well and will be better next year. Mendy now has the mic and says everyone loves him - him being Toure.
Jamie Redknapp is rhapsodising about how great Yaya Toure is, so here’s a piece about him and the concept of greatnes by, er, me.
John Stones says he was talking to Kyle Walker saying this is why they came to City, to win trophies, and they didn’t know how it’d feel but it’s an amazing feeling. Sterling comes over and says he’s been dreaming about this since he was a kid, now it’s time to go again. An ominous thought for the rest of the league.
He says winning in England is harder than winning in Spain and Germany, and he expects more from the competition next season. Teams who’ve won the league haven’t qualified for the Champions League the following year, so to retain the title in England is difficult. Guardiola then gives Souness a City shirt with 65 on the back - it’s his birthday today - Souness is really touched - and says Thierry Henry should be a manager.
Guardiola says that England is special, and he had no doubts about the right thing to do. You have to do what you believe, he says, and today is the proof that City can improve.
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He then explains the input of Guardiola, and the drive he’s instilled in the players. He says he never doubted that he’d get back to moments such as this after every injury, and that someone told him how amazed they are by how positive he is the day after hurting himself.
Champagne is being poured over Kompany’s head ... it takes a while.
Hey Jude is pounding out of the PA and Pep Guardiola looks pensive as he enjoys the moment. The trophy is now going along the line, and the players are posing in various groups of mates.
“Simply the best, so much better than all the rest!” says Martin Tyler. He was immediately fired for his behaviour.
Then, waiting till last, Vincent Kompany. He invites Sergio Aguero to grab a handle, wiggles arm and hand, and lifts the trophy!
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A special cheer is reserved for Yaya Toure, who is then mobbed by the rest of the players. What a star he was and is, a big-match specialist and a stereotype-smashing symbol of skill, finesse, power and intelligence.
I wonder if people still think Fabian Delph should’ve stayed at Villa and Kyle Walker should’ve stayed at Spurs. Maybe that sentence could’ve ended when the bold did.
And now onto the big boys, starting with Ederson...
Guardiola receives his medal from Richard Scudamore but even that doesn’t seem to tarnish the mood. Over the PA, the players are summoned to the dais, the youngest of them first.
And here they come! Guardiola runs out of the tunnel, high fives the guard of honour formed by those already out, and the players follow. What a season they’ve had!
I should add that everyone has City kits with “Champions 18” on the back. That is somewhat naff, in my humble opinion; according to Gregg Bakoswki, sitting next to me, it looks like they’ve won 18 titles. Maybe what’s in fact happened is they’ve all changed their name to “Champions”. You’d have to respect that.
Mikel Arterta leads out the coaches with his frankly phenomenal hairline, and Brian Kidd brings up the rear.
bIt’s carried by two members of the club’s One City programme; one boy who plays for amputee team and another who plays for the down syndrome team.
Out come the various backroom staff in various shortnesses of short shorts. They applaud the crowd as the crowd are applauding them, which they aren’t.
I can tell you that this version is so bad, I’m not even getting that weird feeling you get when you unexpectedly hear music you’re more accustomed to experiencing when you’re in a way.
This band are now playing Alice Deejay. I don’t know, really I don’t.
This is a bit odd - there’a bloke wearing a wispy beard with a ponytail therein and a tie-dye t-shirt, playing drums and various zany friends with other instruments. It turns out the presentation has been delayed because Fernandinho needs to take a slash for the drug testers and is wilting under pressure. In other news, John Stones is wearing glasses, I think.
The stage is pretty much set up now - it’s a sort of mauve affair - and in a few minutes, Vincent Kompany will show the Premier League trophy to an array of photographers.
Jorgensen says that Huddersfield had the belief they could do it, and the gameplan to press high worked really well for 30 minutes until they got tired - “It’s horrible, but when you take away a point it’s all worth it”. Then in the second half, they double-marked the wingers which worked well too and he says it’s given them the confidence that if they can take a point off City they can do the necessary against Chelsea and Arsenal. He seems an absolutely sound bloke.
Anyway, stick with me for the trophy-lift, assorted pyrotechnics, and perhaps some crying children.
So City need three points from their last two games to break the Premier League points record held by Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea, need two more goals to break the goal record held by Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea and need one more win to break the wins record they currently share with Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea. I think they might just manage it.
A fair quantity of City fans have invaded the pitch, and Sky forget to turn Gary Neville down - he doesn’t seems best pleased that his working day will be extended.
That’s an outstanding performance from Huddersfield, who were barely under threat in the second half. It’s fair to say that City weren’t at their best, but Huddersfield really were - they hung in there, played out from the back when they could, and never lost discipline or focus. Still, Huddersfield have a lot of work to do - if Southampton or Swansea get another win, they’ll need a point off Chelsea or Arsenal.
Full-time: Manchester city 0-0 Huddersfield Town!
Well!
90+5 min Can Mikey Dean be there hero?
90+5 min David Wagner is flailing for the final whistle, and he’s about to get it...
90+4 min Jesus finds the ball on the edge of the box, right-hand side, and slides square for Otamendi ... who tries for a curler inside the near post, but is wide and plenty.
90+2 min A brilliant, hard tackle from Kongolo, right on the edge of the box, stops Sane as he looks to go through the middle so City work the ball left, whereupon Malone calmly nots down into space so that Lossl can arrive and collect. Excellent work.
90+1 min Malone barges through Bernardo on halfway! Yeah, I know you’re thinking like yeah, whatevz, I could do that, but he pushes forward and runs out of pace and gas around the edge of the box, so dredges up a shot that Ederson beats away.
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90 min There’ll be four added minutes.
90 min This game is petering out. Well done Huddersfield, who’ve disappeared the last 20 minutes with no alarms or surprises and barely any cheating.
88 min If Huddersfield get a point here, they won’t be safe or anything like it; one win for Southampton or Swansea will put them ahead on goal difference. But it’s a start, and will give them confidence they can do something against Chelsea and Arsenal.
87 min Mendy tries a shot from distance that rushes high and wide, then goes again when a corner is cleared to him, this time dribbling an effort wide.
85 min “Your logic means you can’t be a great side unless there’s another great side and you dominate them,” tweets @goutmaskreplica. “That’s harsh. Lord Ferg’s double-double winning team was a great side, but their rivals were teams like Villa, Blackburn and Keegan’s NUFC. Scarcely Arsenal 1999.”
I disagree here. The 94 side was not the same as the 96 side, and neither was great because they didn’t beat anyone good. But you don’t have dominate a great side to be great, but it’s important that you compete with one; not essential, but important.
83 min Bernardo curls over a cross at which Lossl flaps but in the process does enough to get the ball away from immediate danger. City win a corner though, again it goes to the near post, and again it’s cleared - this time by Jorgensen. Waiting outside the is Bernardo, and he swivels into a low shot that swings just wide.
82 min Change for Huddersfield: Van La Parra replaces Pritchard.
82 min Yes, I am searching out database for photos of Lil Mikey Dean.
80 min After somw slow build-up, Mendy swings over an early cross, picking out Jesus. But Schindler is up alongside him, doing enough to ensure that the header loops well over the to.
78 min There’s not a lot going on here. City want to win and all, but speaking as an elite athlete, it’s hard to peak when it doesn’t matter.
77 min Lowe is down with cramp, so he milks as much time as he can before Scott Malone replaces him.
76 min Silva finds Sterling, who flaps past Lowe and is flattened. Eventually, Mike Dean appraises no advantage so stops play and hands out a disappointingly understated yellow card.
75 min It’s attack v defence now, and Huddersfield have earned the right to attempt that. But they’ve got maybe 20 minutes to avoid conceding, which sounds like a long-arse time to me.
73 min Gary Neville was sure Foden would get a run out today, but Guardiola wants to win and presumably wants to thank Bernardo Silva for his efforts, so he replaces John Stones. presume City are going three at the back.
72 min And again, Sane goes for the near post, but again Huddersfield clear ... to no one, so back comes the ball. Nonetheless, the away side are relatively comfortable.
71 min City win a corner down the left and this time take it quickly. It’s still cleared, but they earn another. then another...
70 min City are trying to raise it, but Huddersfield are getting men around the ball at all times. The thing is that they’re already clearing to no one and waiting for the next attack, which is asking for trouble.
68 min So how do City strengthen next season? I think they might improve if they signed two centre-backs, but that seems unlikely, so I guess we’re looking at a passer to play instead of Fernandinho, and a versatile attacker of some sort. But you never know if the chemistry will be better than what they have now.
67 min Another change for City: off goes De Bruyne, and on comes Gundogan.
66 min “If any other top team had two shots on target after 60 mins against Huddersfield the MBM would be awash with negatives,” reckons Bruv; City are the champions and have murdered more or less everyone, reckons, er, me.
65 min Huddersfield win a free-kick in similar position to the one from which they nearly scored, and on the edge of the box, Jorgensen tries a diving header but ends up nutting Otamendi’s boot. There’s a short pause while he receives treatment.
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63 min Mendy is looking very lively down the left. Presumably he’s got his phone in his pocket so he can provide all the necessary twitter updates in real time. In the meantime, De Bruyne swings over a cross from the right, but it’s got too much on it for Sane who appears at the far post and seems to now be back on the left.
61 min Sane has the ball on the right and moves it inside ... it arrives at De Bruyne, who snaps a pass for Mendy out wide, and his cross is immediate and venomous, but again Huddersfield clear.
59 min Change for Huddersfield: Mounie, who’s done a lot of running to little tangible avail, goes off, and Depoitre comes on.
58 min Also on the touchline, Phil Foden is warming up. It’s going to be fascinating to see how he is integrated over the next couple of seasons because he looks a real talent, except City are already replete with real players.
57 min Well this is nice: City make a change, bringing Mendy on for the first time since he jiggered his knee. He replaces Delph and is just one indicator of how City will be better next season - he is a serious player.
56 min Sane nashes down the left - is he the most aesthetically pleasing Premier League player since Giggs and Ginloa? - but runs out of space.
54 min City win a corner down the left which is mixahd ... and Lossl drops it as Lowe tries to hook away! But the ball doesn’t drop to a forward and Schindler does very well to clear.
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54 min Gabriel Jesus is a very good young player, but I wonder if he is or is going to be good enough to play centre-forward for a team as good as City hope to become.
53 min Huddersfield win a throw on the left and Lowe holds onto the ball for a crucial few seconds to get his breath back. It’s pretty warm out there by all accounts, and City are likely to speed up, not slow down.
51 min This is a really quiet start to the second half, which is to say that Huddersfield are doing really well. I should have noted earlier that Aaron Mooy was particularly good in the first half, using the ball with authority and intelligence.
50 min Sane appears to actually be playing on the right, with Sterling on the left. Silva, meanwhile, gathers the ball in the centre and whizzes forward before trying a through-pass which is to strong for Jesus.
48 min City are on the front foot again, Sane venturing over to the right to combine with Silva and De Bruyne. But Huddersfield are still there and hold it down to clear.
47 min I wonder if these last few weeks, teams have been shown what you have to do to beat City: defend well, obviously, but be brave in possession and commit men forward. Obviously it also needs a City off-day to work, but seems to be working better than just sitting back and hoping.
46 min Off we go again...
Half-time correspondence: “Manchester City have been as dominant as any side since the early 2000s,” tweets @goutmaskreplica. “They lost to Liverpool in the league and in the CL, but it’s not their fault that Liverpool have great team who put it together for one-offs but don’t do it week-in week-out, which City do. The true test of any great side is staying together and doing it over successive seasons. If we’re sitting here in four years time discussing a fifth straight title and two big cups with maybe a third to come, that’s a great side.”
If we’re sitting here discussing that, that’s the greatest side. I agree they’ve been dominant, but that’s only a partial factor of how good they are; it’s also a factor of how not good the rest are. Mourinho’s Chelsea were the last side as dominant, and likewise, they were brilliant, but the competition wasn’t.
Some half-time reading:
Half-time: Manchester City 0-0 Huddersfield Town
That was very good indeed from Huddersfield. The rode out the first 10 minutes when City were primed to slice them up, then hauled themselves into the game by attacking with enterprise whenever possible. The likelihood is that their task will become harder once Pep Guardiola has awarded his team a hunk of his mind, but they’ve given themselves a chance.
44 min Huddersfield are flagging, but don’t really look like conceding.
42 min That Huddersfield free-kick from which they nearly scored wasn’t not entirely like this one, but nor was it entirely unlike it either.
40 min City are back stroking the ball around now, and Huddersfield look equal parts bedraggled and befuddled. But they’re keeping the focus, and critically, when they get possession, they’re not panicking. Mooy does really well to win it just outsude the box, knocking it off, and when he moves forward to accept a return, has time to pick a pass in behind the City defence for Pritchard. But he overhits it and is annoyed; rightly so, because get it right and that was a chance.
39 min Huddersfield are ceding the middle of the pitch now and Fernandinho slides a clever pass through the gap, except City can’t make anything of it when Jesus picks up and ending up knocking the ball all the way back.
38 min Silva combines with Delph and the ball goes right to Walker, whose cross is headed away, but City again maintain the pressure and again it’s Walker crossing from the right; Jesus, though, can’t get over what it a decent delivery, heading high.
35 min Raheem Sterling scurries down the outside of Lowe, turns back inside as yerman nips out for a big of chips, and falls claiming a penalty; nothing doing. But City sustain the pressure - this is the one aspect that makes them so much better than the rest, in mine - and work a gap through which De Bruyne spanks a rising shot. I arrives at Lossl around chest-height, though, so he beats away easily enough.
33 min But if we’re talking pressure games, not big games, two of the greatest efforts were perpetrated by Arsenal: in 1997-98, they won 10 in a row to become champions, one of those wins the crucial one at Old Trafford, and then in 2001-02, they won 13 straight to win a three-horse race. For what it’s worth, for all the achievements achieved by a team that isn’t my own, that second one is to my mind the greatest and the one of which I’m most envious.
32 min “Applying your criteria,” emails Konstatin Sauer, “I’d rank the 2009-10 Chelsea side among the worthiest champions. Not only did they face a really strong opponent throughout the whole season (Man United), but also managed to win 5 out of 6 matches against the other top four teams that season (Man United, Arsenal, Tottenham). Plus, they secured the FA Cup at the end of the season”
These fall down for me because they didn’t retain the title - and a post-Ronaldo Man United weren’t great. But the big-game record is excellent.
30 min Huddersfield come again, Mooy picking up a loose ball and lofting it to the right of the box where Hadergjonaj flails are a cross. It’s blocked away and Mooy collects, this time transferring left to Lowe! He’s got a proper sight of goal, but snatches a lash, lashes a snatch, over the near bit of the bar.
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28 min De Bruyne appears down the left and skates past Smith before brandishing that deadly left foot to whip in a low cross. There’s too much on it, but Lossl decides he can’t just allow it to whizz across his goal, diving to defelect away with his knee.
27 min By their exulted standards, City are a bit shvach.
25 min Sane is through the middle for the moment, and Otamendi slides a clever pass to between right-back and centre-back for Jesus, with whom he swapped. But the low cross is behind Sterling, waiting in the middle, and the chance goes.
24 min I was mumbling about awards earlier, so I’ll say here that I’d have gone for De Bruyne and not Salah as player of the year. De Bruyne set the tone for the season, and is the main on-pitch reason that the champions are the champions.
22 min City are becalmed. Well done David Wagner.
20 min And here they come again! Hadergjonaj, who’s got something, advances at inside right and squares for Pritchard, carrying on his run seeking a return. But Pritchard sees Otamendi follow so has a touch and a look before wiping his foot across a shot which hisses and dips, forcing Ederson into a flying stop. The resultant corner comes to nowt.
19 min For a bit it looked like Huddersfield were ripe for a going-over, but they’ve done pretty well these last few minutes. The teams that have taken points off City this season haven’t done it by simply sitting on the edge of their box, and Huddersfield are looking to get about it whenever they can.
16 min “Re: your criteria for objectively measuring greatness,” emails David Wall, “should you really try to completely take emotion out of the equation? Isn’t there something about a really great team that does just that, stirs the emotions, even for neutrals. As yet City haven’t done so well on thus measure. Against Stoke at home some of the passes played by De Bruyne to set up goals were breathtaking, so there is potential there. But there’s been nothing yet to compare with, say Ryan Giggs’ Cup semi-final goal. Perhaps that will come when their rivals get consistent closer to them. Though in light of your scores for them on measure three, perhaps not.”
I don’t know about that - if it becomes about emotion, then it’s entirely subjective, and I’m certain there’ll be people who are certain they’ve never seen better football. And fair enough, who is anyone to argue with that? I totally agree that football is about more than matters of fact, but greatest probably needs a more factual measure. Maybe it just isn’t very important.
14 min Back come City, Silva and Sane combining beautifully down the left, the former finding the latter who cuts back for De Bruyne, zoning into De Bruyne territory. He looks for all the world as though he’s about to score, but instead curves his low finish wide of the near post.
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12 min Interesting! Huddersfield press Ederson, refusing to allow him to simply pick a pass, and win a free-kick 35 yards out as a consequence. It’s right of centre and with City expecting a cross, Pritchard slides a straight pass on the blind side, between Sane and Silva. And Hadergjonaj is running onto it, but opts to place his finish when he should’ve blasted it! Oh dear! What a chance that was, and what a clever move.
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11 min Huddersfield haven’t come to sit about, and Mooy finds himself in possession 20 yards from goal. He lashes hard and low, but just wide.
8 min “Surely ‘at clutch’ they beat United in December... and then Spurs the following week?” “asks” Miguel Delaney. “Feels like you’re punishing them for making it so easy themselves. Your theory rewards teams who are... worse then them. Surely by the same type of contortions, someone could point out that United’s main challengers between 1997 and 2005 never got past a CL QF so weren’t actually that good.”
Perhaps I phrased that badly - maybe I should’ve said in the games they were under most pressure to win. The best of the challengers 1997-2005 didn’t do it in Europe, it’s true, but they did win in their biggest games - Arsenal in 97-98 and 01-02, for example. another comparison is with United’s 93-94 team, who were very good but beat no one any good and failed in Europe. If we’re trying to be objective, that’s an insurmountable problem.
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6 min I guess this could be a rare game in which one team panels the other and can’t score, except City aren’t really like that. De Bruyne injects some pace moving through at inside-left and finds Jesus, who immediately turns off to Silva. He bumdles through Schindler and he’s in! But his shot is too close to Lossl, who beats away.
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5 min City continue moving the ball with purpose and pace. It’s a while since Huddersfield had a meaningful touch.
3 min I’d rather watch Sane play, but I’d have given YPOTY to Sterling, who has scored some absolutely crucial goals - brilliant late winners against Bournemouth and Southampton spring to mind - and also shoved it up the various newspapers whov’e harangued him for the lowest and worst possible reasons.
1 min City begin weaving patterns, and it seems like Huddersfield are pressing them high up the pitch. Good luck with that, lads. Sterling gets the ball down the right and slides it across to Silva, who delivers a frankly wondrous return pass into the box and between three men to meet his cut inside. It’s not quite right, but the vision and anticipation was brilliant.
1 min Away we go!
Guardiola and Wagner hug. Touching.
Huddersfield have formed a guard of honour the closest they’ll get all afternoon etc etc and out come City - with their kids before the game. Just another thing for which we can blame Dennis Wise.
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Various City luminaries are on the pitch: Summerbee, Lee and the rest The fans are waving blue and white flags, my fingers are barely responding to instruction, and here come the teams!
“For those of us unaware of your allegiance,” tweets Brendan Large, “could you please enlighten us? MBMs are always better when you know the person writing them is doing so with gritted teeth and feeling pain with each keystroke. People are nice like that.”
I support United. I’ve had better days on the job, but of course appreciate the pleasure anyone else might take in my disgust; I appreciate it myself in some kind of peculiar way. I’m sure the Germans have a word for that, if anyone knows what it is.
We’re all adults, so let’s try this: where do City rank alongside other Premier League winners? My criteria for judging greatness, which attempt to remove emotion and insert objectivity are as follows:
1. What did you win?
2. Who did you beat?
3. What did you do at clutch?
As far as I can see, by these standards, City have work to do - and I’m pretty sure Pep Guardiola would agree with that.
1. One title, won brilliantly but still one.
2. We seem to have reached rare consensus that the second-placed team are rubbish, so.
3. The two biggest individual games - away to Liverpool in Europe and home to Manchester United – were lost, and in disconcerting style.
The thing is, City will be better next season and the season after that, and it’s hard to see anyone else improving enough to stop them so this isn’t the end of the conversation.
David Wagner says it doesn’t matter what other teams do, so Huddersfield’s task hasn’t changed after yesterday’s results. When you play City, you can either sit in a low block or look to get amongst them, and in football crazy stuff can happen; “maybe City will not be on their best today ... we know this chance is small ... not a big one, a small one, and we are searching for it.”
Pep Guardiola says it’ll be good for the future if his team can break the points and goals records they’re after - “friendly games are boring”. He says David Wagner’s teams are always committed with and without the ball and he expects Huddersfield to defend deep and look for breaks and set-pieces. Finally, he sends a “big hug” to Alex Ferguson with whom he had dinner a couple of weeks ago, and notes that Brian Kidd was very upset.
Let’s be real. Those of you who know my allegiance might well be sniggering at this assignment. These lads appear to have my number...
So City make two changes to the team which worked over West Ham – Stones and Silva come in, with Laporte and Gundogan dropping out. Pretty much, this is their first XI - perhaps Laporte is ahead of Stones, who’s being rewarded for his season’s work, but that aside, and the difference is moot.
Huddersfield make two changes: Smith and Lowe are in for Quaner and Van La Parra.
Celebrants and Supplicants
Manchester City (a geometric 4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Delph; Fernandinho, De Bruyne, David Silva; Sterling, Jésus, Sané. Subs: Bravo, Gundogan, Laporte, Bernardo Silva, Mendy, Toure, Foden.
Huddersfield Town (an agricultural 5-4-1): Lossl, Smith, Jorgensen, Schindler, Kongolo, Lowe; Hadergjonaj, Hogg, Mooy, Pritchard; Mounié. Subs: Coleman, Malone, Billing, van La Parra, Depoitre, Quaner, Gorenc Stankovic.
Preamble
We’ve all been there: you very politely ask a bigger kid for something they don’t need for which you’re desperate ... only for them to crunch up the crisps, snap the snout, or spit in the 20/20. Welcome to your life!
This is the situation in which Huddersfield Town find themselves: they’ve been a pleasant addition to the Premier League and thought they’d be staying in it, but life being as life is, are now in serious danger of forsaking it. If Southampton beat Swansea in midweek and Swansea then beat Stoke next weekend, they will need three more points to stay up; the games in which they have to find them are against the champions, today, away to Chelsea, on Wednesday, and at Arsène Wenger’s farewell party, next Sunday. Oh.
Sometimes, teams who’ve won titles ease up. In 1997-98, Arsenal lost twice following a 10-game winning run; in 2000-01, Manchester United donated wins to Derby and Southampton. But Manchester City will not do this. Since their triumph was confirmed, they showed their compassion for those fighting relegation by tumping Swansea and West Ham them to the tune of 5-0 and 4-1, and will want to mark the final home game of a spectacular league season, after which Vincent Kompany will be presented with the Premier League trophy, in the correct manner.
This might get messy.
Kick-0ff: 1.30pm BST
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