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Manchester City have looked like champions-elect for months now and it looks like they’re about to saunter towards their third Premier League title.
City host United at the Etihad this Saturday and a win would guarantee them the title with a record six games left to play. The current record holders are United, who, in the 2000/01 season, won it with five games left.
They obviously have an opportunity here to really administer a generous pinch of salt to their biggest rival's wounds.
Of course, that’s all hypothetical at the moment, and Manchester United will surely want to spoil any party plans. This fixture's taken on a lot more edge in recent seasons and tensions boiled over into an unseemly milk-throwing incident last time they met in the League, so this could be a tasty one.
Anyway, if City did pull it off, that sort of thing wouldn't be entirely without precedent. Here are just a few other times that teams have taken the title and managed to do it by sticking the boot into their rivals at the same time. Spicy.
2005/06 Chelsea win it at Stamford Bridge
In their second season under a young Portuguese manager by the name of José Mourinho, Chelsea set new records, including most home wins (18), and continued to throw their new Abramovich money around on luxury players like Shaun Wright Phillips (oof). They wrapped up the title at home to Manchester United with a 3-0 win, leaving two games to go.
Mourinho threw his blazer and medal into the stands. After being promptly presented with a replacement, he did the same again.
2003/04 Arsenal win it at White Hart Lane
Back when Arsene Wenger’s ideas were considered revolutionary and Arsenal were still the top club in London, his team managed to win the Premier League without a single defeat – earning themselves the nickname 'The Invincibles'. Not only that, but they won it at the former home of the closest North London rivals. Tottenham didn’t let them get away with a win. It ended 2-2, with a late equaliser from Robbie Keane, but the draw was enough to seal it.
2001/02 Arsenal win it at Old Trafford
A fiery 1-0 win in enemy territory got the title celebrations off one game early for the Gooners. Without Henry, Bergkamp or Tony Adams, they managed to maintain an unbeaten record on the road. Oddly, Ferguson opted to leave out top scorer Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Arsenal ended the campaign seven points ahead of Liverpool in second place and 10 points ahead of United in third.
1988/89 Arsenal win it at Anfield
Possibly the most dramatic season-finale in history this – with Arsenal snatching the league title from Liverpool in the final moments and in Liverpool's own backyard.
Arsenal came into the final game of the 1988/89 season needing to beat Liverpool by two goals or more at Anfield in order to take the League Division One title from them. Not many expected that they could pull off that feat against a team that hadn’t been beaten since January.
A goal from Alan Smith on 52 minutes gave the visitors hope and an injury-time winner from Michael Thomas made it a reality.
What have we learned? Arsenal are the team most consistently involved in last-minute excitement. Maybe that’s where Martin Keown gets his sense of the dramatic from (see below image of him screaming at Ruud van Nistelrooy after the dutchman missed a penalty in 2003)…
(BBC)
