Manchester City secured a second Premier League title in three seasons by defeating West Ham United 2-0 at Etihad Stadium on Sunday. City effectively needed only a point to claim the championship ahead of Liverpool, but goals in each half from Samir Nasri and Vincent Kompany meant that they completed their mission with room to spare, AFP reports.
Victory took City's goals tally to 102 - one short of Chelsea's Premier League record from 2009-10 - and made Chilean Manuel Pellegrini the first non-European manager to win an English top-flight title. Liverpool, who led the table with three games to play, finished two points below City in second place after coming from behind to win 2-1 at home to Newcastle United, who had Shola Ameobi and Paul Dummett sent off. David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Aleksandar Kolarov all threatened for City before Nasri put them ahead in the 39th minute, gathering a pass from Yaya Toure and arrowing a 22-yard drive into the bottom-left corner. West Ham striker Andy Carroll deflected a shot from Silva onto the post in first-half stoppage time, before Kompany doubled City's lead early in the second half by stabbing home from a corner. The home fans celebrated with their customary 'Poznan' dance - bouncing up and down with their backs to the game - and then flooded onto the pitch in delight at the final whistle. Liverpool went into their last game of the campaign with a slim hope of winning a first league title since 1990, but they fell behind in the 20th minute when Martin Skrtel sliced Yoan Gouffran's cross into his own net. However, carbon-copy goals by Daniel Agger and Daniel Sturridge, both of whom volleyed in Steven Gerrard free-kicks, turned the game around in the space of two minutes in the second half. Agger's goal was Liverpool's 100th in the league and made this the first English top-flight season in which two teams have reached that milestone since 1960-61. Source: Article
