In order to prevent City from being crowned champions for a few more days, United had to avoid defeat against bottom club Albion at Old Trafford.

But Jay Rodriguez’s 73rd minute header gave West Brom a stunning victory after they arrived at Old Trafford having lost nine of their previous 10 games.

It is ironic that United came back from 2-0 down against City themselves last weekend to win 3-2 and delay City’s party, only to surrender so tamely on home soil.

Mourinho claimed afterwards that he had not been happy after the City result because he knew they would win the league regardless and he accused some of his players of getting carried away.

“I don’t know if I was the first or second or third but I congratulate them face to face when I had the chance,” Mourinho said.

“I knew that sooner or later they would be (champions) and if I was in their position I would be very upset if someone said they won the title because Manchester United lost against West Brom.

“They won because they were the best team, they lost only a few points. Probably because I won eight championships, I was not in the moon with the victory against them.

“That doesn’t make me feel super happy and in my opinion affected for sure some of the people that was too happy.”

United’s afternoon was symptomatic of their entire season.

Their squad is crammed full of wonderfully potent performers such as Juan Mata, Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez, yet the Premier League table, which shows them 16 points behind City, does not lie.

United have scored a full 30 goals fewer than City this season and Mourinho has not managed to get his side to click, despite being able to bring on further talent such as Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial.

Mourinho pulled no punches about his squad’s lack of consistency, but the former Chelsea boss made it clear he believes he can return United to the summit of English football.

– Trust the process –

“I trust in my work, that is for sure – I have no reason not to trust,” he said.

“Eight titles are eight titles and three Premier Leagues are three Premier Leagues. I know how to win and I believe in myself. I think with my experience you don’t win titles with inconsistency.

“You win titles with consistency at every level, not just the performance level but the mental level and the day by day.

“Everything must be consistent until the last day. One of the things we have to improve is our consistency.”

The first half was a terrible advert for the English top-flight.

Jake Livermore had one decent effort saved by David De Gea and Lukaku smashed an effort right into Ben Foster’s face but that was about it.

The second half was not much better but Foster did wonderfully well after 66 minutes to tip a Lukaku effort around the post before the visitors resistance was then unexpectedly rewarded with 17 minutes remaining.

Nemanja Matic panicked at the delivery of a Chris Brunt corner and he knocked the ball back inside to Rodriguez, who could not miss from three yards out.

After sacking Alan Pardew at the start of the month, Darren Moore has been handed the West Brom until the end of the season.

Although the West Brom board are believed to want somebody with more experience, Moore certainly did his chances of becoming the next full-time boss no harm, even if avoiding relegation looks a lost cause.

“West Brom is a club I care about a lot,” he said. “I want to bring a family atmosphere to the club. Everybody is equal at the football club and we’re all in it together.”

Pep Guardiola’s side were crowned kings of English football on Sunday as their arch rivals Manchester United slumped to a shock 1-0 defeat against struggling West Bromwich Albion.

City are 16 points clear of second placed United, who can only take a maximum of 15 points from their remaining matches.

Given the way they have demolished all challengers in the league, it was apparent months ago that it was only a matter of when rather than if City would take the title.

But sealing the silverware thanks to a slip from old enemies United and their boss Jose Mourinho — a long-time rival of Guardiola — was a sweet moment, especially after they lost to their neighbours in the Manchester derby last 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.

That is just one of a welter of statistical feats that have led some to rank City among the Premier League’s greatest ever teams.

Whether they deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Manchester United’s 1999 treble winners or the 2004 Arsenal ‘Invincibles’ is up for debate.

But City, who will stage a title party when they host Swansea on Sunday, have a chance to underline their credentials over their last five matches.

Fuelled by the majestic form of Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling, City set a new Premier League record earlier this season by winning 18 successive matches.

The Premier League’s record points tally of 95, set by Chelsea in 2004-05, is within City’s reach if they can take nine from their last fixtures.

With 28 league victories so far, City need three more wins to top Chelsea’s record of 30 Premier League wins in a season.

United hold the current record Premier League winning margin of 18 points and that could also fall to City.

City have won 14 games on the road this season and have two to go away from home — winning both of those would beat Chelsea’s record of 15.

Guardiola’s players will focus on those targets once they have recovered from a boisterous evening of celebrations in Manchester.

– Get the party started –

After starting the title party with his Mancunian wife and his United-supporting father-in-law, City captain Vincent Kompany joined team-mates to raise a glass to their success.

“It is the same feeling as the first time, you can’t describe it,” Kompany said.

“The first time you think you are going to win all of them and the first time you lose it you think you are never going to win it again.

“It shows how football is in Manchester. There have been a lot more good days for the Red side but today it is for the Blue.

“The first one was special but this one is perhaps the one I’m most proud of. It’s a privilege to be a part of this team.”

Unlike Belgian defender Kompany, Guardiola spent Sunday afternoon playing golf with his son instead of watching the United match.

In his second season in charge, Guardiola, aided by the vast financial backing of City’s Abu Dhabi-based owners, has created a sublime team that helped him become the first Spanish coach to win the English top-flight title.

It was a far cry from his trophy-less first season with City and Kompany said Guardiola’s tenacious attitude led them to the summit.

“It is one of the first things I noticed within the first month,” he said.

“There was a period of adaptation for him coming into the league and for us taking in his methods.

“He has been able to transfer to the team that hunger and desire to never be satisfied.”

Former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola was all smiles when he was pictured arriving home after his golf outing.

City’s title is the 24th trophy of his glittering career.

Speaking after Saturday’s 3-1 win over Tottenham, the 47-year-old gave all the credit to his players.

“I am so glad to be here and be part of this club. These guys are fantastic, awesome, they are incredible,” he said.

“This club is absolutely amazing in all terms.”

The 28-year-old from Tokyo had won six times on the Japan Tour, most recently at last November’s Taiheiyo Masters, but captured the biggest title of his career with a birdie at the par-3 17th at Harbor Town in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

World number 46 Kodaira was coming off his best major showing, and what had been his top US result, with a share of 28th at last week’s Masters.

Kodaira settled for the plaid jacket given to Heritage winners instead of the green one handed out at Augusta.

“I will probably not wear it regularly, but this is special,” Kodaira said through a translator.

Kodaira also was excited to accept a berth on the US PGA Tour and several guaranteed tournament entries that will come with the triumph as a tour member.

“This is a stage I’ve been dreaming about and having this opportunity to play full time is a dream come true,” Kodaira said.

Kim and Kodaira both finished 72 holes at 12-under-par 272, one stroke ahead of Americans Luke List and Bryson DeChambeau with Billy Horschel and Webb Simpson on 274.

Kodaira and 51st-ranked Kim began the playoff by replaying the 18th hole. Both parred twice more as they had in the final round. Kodaira went up and down from beyond the green and sank a testy five-footer for par on the second playoff hole to extend the playoff.

“I wasn’t that nervous on the last putt compared to the first two putts on 18,” Kodaira said.

Both had made bogeys at 17 in the final round but Kodaira sank his tricky putt and Kim missed to end the showdown.

Kim, 22, was denied his third US PGA title after wins in 2016 at Greensboro and last May at the Players Championship.

Kodaira, who shot 63 Friday, fired a final-round five-under-par 66 to charge into the hunt. He opened with three birdies, began the back nine with another then sank birdie putts of 28 feet at the par-3 14th and 10 feet at the par-5 15th but missed the 17th green and made bogey.

He still needed the leaders in the final group to back up and that’s what they did, Kim firing a par 71 while List shot 72 and 54-hole leader Ian Poulter of Britain closed on 75 — threesomes being used in a bid to finish before predicted storms arrived.

Kim blasted out of greenside bunkers to within five feet to birdie the par-5 second and fifth holes, then holed out from 22 feet at the ninth to make the turn on 15 under.

But Kim stumbled with bogeys at the par-4 12th, missing an 11-foot par putt, and par-5 15th, where he never found the fairway and missed a 4-footer for par, leaving him only one stroke ahead of Kodaira.

Kim missed a 5-foot par putt at the par-3 17th for a bogey that dropped him level with Kodaira. At 18, Kim lipped out a six-foot birdie putt for force the playoff.

“I tried my best and the putts didn’t drop,” Kim said.

– Poulter fades –

Poulter saw his title hopes collapse with five bogeys on the back nine, fading at the end of his sixth consecutive week of playing to a final-round 75.

The 42-year-old Englishman, who won the Houston Open two weeks ago to earn a Masters berth, shared seventh with Americans Bill Haas, Kevin Streelman, Patrick Cantlay, Chesson Hadley and Kevin Kisner and South Korea’s An Byeong-hun on 275.

Henderson had stumbled badly in Friday’s third round, dropping three shots in the closing three holes to leave the chasing pack just one shot behind on the par-72 layout at Ko Olina Golf Club, Oahu.

Former world No 1 Ariya Jutanugarn, China’s Feng Shanshan, and South Korea’s Park In-bee were tied for third on seven under. Ariya with three birdies at the front nine signed off with a 69 and a total seven under-par-781, five shots behind the winner.

Ariya Jutanugarn / AFP 

The 20-year-old Henderson from Ontario shrugged off her third-round jitters to remain ahead of the field on Saturday, stretching her lead with two birdies on the front nine to make the turn at two under, 10 under for the tournament.

There was a brief wobble with a bogey on the par-three 12th but Henderson hit back with a birdie on the 14th followed by a birdie on the par-three 16th — where she made a double-bogey 24 hours earlier — to close out her win with a 12-under-par aggregate 276.

It was the sixth LPGA Tour win of the Canadian youngster’s career, which includes a victory as a teenager at the Women’s PGA Championship in 2016.

Henderson finished four shots ahead of Spain’s Azahara Munoz, who had thrust herself into contention with a five-under-par final round 67, playing flawlessly to move up the leaderboard having started the day six strokes off the pace.

The 30-year-old from Malaga began slowly with four straight pars, but grabbed her first birdie of the day on the par-five fifth hole. A further birdie at the ninth took her to five under at the turn.

However the charge began on the back nine, with consecutive birdies at the 11th and 12th before a further birdie on the 14th.

But the Spaniard was unable to add to her birdie spree in the closing holes, leaving her in the clubhouse waiting to see if Henderson would falter.

American Mo Martin, who had started the final round one off the pace, saw her challenge evaporate with a nightmare six-over-par 78.

The 35-year-old 2014 British Open winner from Pasadena, California, carded four bogeys and a double-bogey as her quest for a first career LPGA win in the United States continued.

Brooke Henderson of Canada laughs as flower petals fall, at a victory ceremony, after her four shot win in the LPGA LOTTE Championship at the Ko Olina Golf Club on April 14, 2018 in Kapolei, Hawaii. Harry How/Getty Images/AFP

Luis Suarez and Samuel Umtiti were both on target as Barca passed the 38 matches Real Sociedad managed without defeat between 1979 and 1980. Dani Parejo gave Valencia brief hope with an 87th-minute penalty.

The win at the Camp Nou, which was more comfortable than the scoreline suggested, also eases fears that Tuesday’s Champions League collapse against Roma could affect Barcelona’s march to the league title.

Ernesto Valverde’s side are now 14 points clear at the top of the table, before second-placed Atletico Madrid play their game in hand against Levante on Sunday.

Valencia stay third, one point ahead of Real Madrid, who are also in action on Sunday, away to Malaga.

“The value of these three points is great, they are three points of gold,” Valverde said.

“The week has been hard and that hard week affects everyone, including the fans.

“We have not lost much but the game the other day was important and you have the feeling that we have disappointed people. You want to repay them.”

There is no doubt Barca’s shock defeat in Italy still lingers, and may still, even if the Catalans secure the first part of an expected domestic double by winning the Copa del Rey next weekend.

But it should take little away from their faultless form in the league, which means the last time they tasted defeat outside a cup competition was against Malaga just over 12 months ago.

This was already a club record run, now eight games better than the 31 unbeaten Pep Guardiola’s brilliant team strung together in the season of 2010-11.

It would now seem only the home Clasico against Real Madrid on May 6, and perhaps an awkward trip to Celta Vigo on Tuesday, stand in the way of Barcelona finishing the league campaign as invincibles.

“Records are there to be broken,” Suarez told beIN Sports. “The public can be angry about the Champions League, like us, but this is a recognition of the great season we are having in the league, which now seems to have been forgotten.”

– Coutinho returns –

Despite their exertions in Rome, Valverde resisted the temptation to rest key players, with Philippe Coutinho and Paulinho coming in for Ivan Rakitic and Nelson Semedo.

Barca showed few signs of lost confidence early on and after 15 minutes they took the lead, Coutinho drifting in from the right and, after spotting Suarez’s angled run, poking a superb pass in behind. Suarez took the finish first time and swept the ball inside the near post.

Valencia, however, found a foothold and arguably were the better side by the end of the half.

Pique, already booked, endured a difficult 45 minutes and as he and Marc-Andre ter Stegen dallied at the back and the latter’s skewed pass fell to Carlos Soler. Soler played in Rodrigo Moreno but Ter Stegen made up for his mistake by pushing the shot onto the bar.

Barcelona started the second half like they began the first though and five minutes after the restart, they doubled their advantage.

Umtiti beat Gabriel Paulista to Coutinho’s corner and while his header was parried by Neto, Valencia’s goalkeeper could only push it in off the post.

Valencia’s belief was dwindling and two acrobatic volleys, from Lionel Messi and then Andres Iniesta, almost added a spectacular third, as the first flew just over and the second was parried by Neto.

There was time for a tense finish after substitute Ousmane Dembele brought down Jose Gaya in the area and Parejo’s feeble penalty squirmed under the body of Ter Stegen. But Barca’s morale-boosting win was never really in doubt.

The France international scored two goals — the first time he has done so in the Premier League — in a remarkable second-half recovery from United as they won the Manchester derby 3-2 to deny City a win that would have seen Pep Guardiola’s men clinch the title.

It was a defiant response from Pogba, whose drop in form had seen him lose his starting place under Mourinho earlier this year, although his manager does not expect him to repeat such displays on a weekly basis.

Mourinho, however, has told Pogba he wants to see greater consistency from him, particularly in training, with the United manager clearly implying the 25-year-old midfielder has not always hit the necessary standards.

“I will tell you what I told him after the (City) match and it’s exactly what I told him — I don’t expect you to be man of the match every week, I don’t expect you to score two goals every week,” said Mourinho.

“I expect you to be consistent in a certain level. So, if you ask me, I’m expecting Paul now to be man of the match every week? No. If I expect him to score goals every match? No.

“But I expect Paul — and I think that’s the challenge he has to put to himself — to keep a certain stability and not to have the good match and the so-so match and the bad match,” the Portuguese boss added.

Pogba’s form, particularly since the January signing of Alexis Sanchez, has been one of the fascinating sub-plots of United’s season with the player reportedly unhappy at the defensive responsibilities he has been asked to perform.

Certainly, in a more advanced role, Pogba was devastating against City and Mourinho clearly believes his £89 million ($126 million) star is capable of repeating that form in the future.

– ‘Not do anything crazy’ –

“I think he has to try to keep that level of stability and from that stability of course will appear the special match with the special performance like it happened against City,” he said.

“But he has to go for that stability and to go for that stability, the first thing is stability at training level, stability during the working week. And the past two, three weeks I’m really happy with him.”

United’s strong recent form sees them take on West Bromwich Albion on Sunday looking for an eighth consecutive domestic victory and has raised optimism among supporters over their prospects for next season.

But, despite upsetting City at the Etihad last weekend, Mourinho has urged caution and clearly believes Guardiola will spend lavishly again this summer, while insisting United will not attempt to match his City counterpart’s outlay.

“No. We are not going to spend more than we can. We are not going to do anything crazy,” said Mourinho.

“We are just trying to improve a little bit more, to give sequence to it. That’s what we are going to try.”

Mourinho added: “I think Man City wins the title (this season). They have been the best team during the season and the distance of points at the end of the season will be the consequence of that superiority that they showed.

“But it is not about us and them, I think it is about the six teams. Everybody will try to improve like we did from last season.

“Last season we finished sixth and this season we are going to finish I believe fourth, third or second – hopefully second – and next season we are going to try and improve but let’s see what happens.

“Maybe also Manchester City will invest heavily and they don’t let the others close the gap to them, I don’t know.”

The 36-year-old from Buriram covered the 21.1k from Chiang Mai Zoo to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep and back in 1:23.43 hours.

Despite having home advantage as he is training here at the northern city, the 2007 SEA Games gold medalist said it was a level playing field for all those taking part due to the darkness – the Chiang Mai event races on Friday is the only Singha race contested at night.

“I have got used to the route but it was dark for all of us.  My only advantage was that I’m physically stronger,” said Boonthung, whose time was just five seconds behind Jarun Jupor from Chiang Rai, the under 29 winner.

“I actually run up Doi Suthep quite often but never run back down. It’s a bit risky running down the mountain because you can get injured so I didn’t go my fastest to save myself,” added the long-time national runner, who is aiming for a good result at the Asiad from August 18 – September 2 in Indonesia.

Due to the highly competitive nature of athletics in Asia, Boonthung admitted it would an uphill task to even make the podium at the Asian Games, which is normally dominated by Chinese, Japanese and South Asian competitors.

“There are many stronger runners in Asia so it won’t be easy to take a medal from them. My goal is to make a good record and improve to another level,” added Boonthung, whose best attempt in the Asian Games was seventh place at Doha in 2006.

As one of the few Thai athletes in the long-distance events – the other is Sanchai Namkhet – Boonthung has also sets his sights on qualifying for the marathon at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

He needs to run around 2:20.00 hours to make the B standard for Olympiad.

He also explained that a lack of adequate support was the reason for Thailand having a limited number of athletes in the long-distance events.

“We have a huge number of runners in all events but very few will aim for the national level,” he said. “If there is enough support in all aspects I believe there will be more national marathoners in our country.”

The talented 20-year-old from Canada had looked poised to take a comfortable four-shot cushion into Saturday’s fourth round after a battling display on the par-72 course at Ko Olina Golf Club, Oahu.

But Henderson’s round came unstuck with a double-bogey on the par-three 16th, followed by a bogey on 18 to turn what had looked like being a solid two-under-par score into a one-over 73.

The closing hole slip-up left Henderson on nine under for the tournament, giving encouragement to a crowded field behind her who are all within striking distance.

American Mo Martin was one off the pace after a third round 72 left her at eight under.

Martin was two over for the day after 10 holes but rescued her round with an eagle on the par-five 13th to stay close.

Japan’s Nasa Hataoka and South Korea’s Park In-bee are two off the lead on seven under. Hataoka shot a four-under-par 68 while Park carded a one-under-par 71.

Chinese star Feng Shanshan missed the opportunity to make a charge with a two-over-par 74 which left her tied for fifth place on six under, three off the lead, alongside American Lizette Salas.

Newly minted major champion Pernilla Lindberg was a shot back on five under. Lindberg, winner of this month’s ANA Inspiration, shot a one-over-par 73, leaving her four off the front.

Over the week over 300kg of secondhand equipment and clothing was donated by the teams, and very generous generous donations were received from competition sponsors Lanna Rehab, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Flight of the Gibbon, and Daddy’s Antiques.

A large number of restaurants and hospitality venues around Chiang Mai also made donations to junior cricket, helping fulfil the Sixes’ ambition of expanding support for local cricket for another year.

The Sixes raises hundreds of thousands of Baht for sports in Chiang Mai every year, and the incredible generosity of teams, sponsors, local businesses, and other individuals ensures that these essential contributions can continue to be made for many years to come.

In the final game last week, it was like old times at the Chiang Mai Sixes as Bangladesh side NCL Dynamites won the Cup by beating Australian team St Francis de Sales by six wickets.

The two sides were clearly the best two combinations in the tournament but it was Mehedi Maruf who proved the difference.

Having already hit 30 in the semi-final against Kashmir Thunder, he repeated the feat later in the day to be named Player of the Finals.

A busy day was not even put off course by heavy rain which delayed proceedings for an hour as a total of seven finals were decided. Central Spirit defeated Varee Thai Angels to win the Ladies Cup, while Ios Malakas beat Red Lion Wombats to win the Spoon, Drifters overcame Applecross to win the Plate, Lanna beat Roosters to win the Bowl, Got the Runs defeated Yorkshire Puddings to win the Shield and the day finished with Awali beating Summer Saints to win the Vase.

Two of Thailand’s goals, in the 28th and 53rd minutes, were scored by Kanjana Sung-Ngoen, who also helped the Kingdom reach the 2015 World Cup in Canada. Silawan Intamee scored the third goal in the 62nd minute.

Thailand finished second in Group A after one defeat (4-0 to China) and two wins, including a 6-1 trouncing of Jordan, and joined leader China in the semi-finals of the Asian Cup for the first time in 23 years.

Their last semi-final appearance was in Hong Kong in 1986, when they finished third following a 3-0 win over Indonesia. Thailand will take on the winners from Group B on April 17 at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, while China will face the Group B runner-up.

Thailand coach Nuengrutai Srathongvian, who also guided the team to the 2015 World Cup finals, was relieved to have made the finals for the second time in a row.

“The pressure has finally subsided. Reaching the World Cup finals has been our goal from the beginning. But before that we need to develop our team at the Asian level first. Thank you to all the fans for their support here in the stadium and back home in Thailand,” said the 46-year-old coach.

“Kanjana is an experienced player who always shows her potential in tough situations.”

The win was also a big relief for team manager Nualphan Lamsam, who had offered her players a Bt20-million incentive if they reached next year’s World Cup finals.

“In my 10 years as team manager, I felt the most pressure before this match,” she said.

“In fact we needed just a draw to finish second in the group. I’m happy now and would like to extend this happiness for fans during the Songkran Festival.”

The three goals scored by the Thais also earned the team a Bt3-million bonus because Thai football chief Somyot Poompanmuang had vowed to give them an extra Bt1 million for every goal they scored against the Philippines.

“I’d like to congratulate and extend my support to the team for keeping on fighting to achieve their goal. Thank you for bringing fame and smiles to the people of Thailand,” Somyot said.