Manchester City avoided the drama and late heroics that were required in 2012 to win the title, and dispatched West Ham with relative ease to claim the 2014 Premier League title. Samir Nasri and Vincent Kompany did the damage as Manuel Pellegrini's side finished off a double in his first year in charge of the club.
Manchester City vs. West Ham United: Final score 2-0, City win the title in efficient, effective fashion
For the second time in three seasons, Manchester City are the champions of the Premier League thanks to a 2-0 win over West Ham on Sunday.
City had all of the ball in the opening ten minutes, showing patience just like they did in the mid-week against Aston Villa. David Silva got their first good chance on goal just past the ten minute mark, volleying a cross from Pablo Zabaleta well over the crossbar.
Aleksandar Kolarov was denied by Adrián in the 25th minute when the West Ham goalkeeper just managed to palm the ball over the bar, to keep the match scoreless.
The goal that everyone knew was coming finally arrived in the 39th minute off the boot of Samir Nasri. The midfielder picked up the ball 25-yards from goal, took a could dribbles forward into a pocket of space between three West Ham players. None of them even considered closing Nasri down, so he happily fired a scorching low show inside the far post to put City up 1-0.
David Silva nearly doubled the City lead right before halftime, but his deflected shot from close range hammered off the post.
Four minutes into the second half, City's captain Vincent Kompany gave his team a 2-0 lead, taking advantage of a fortuitous bounce in front of the West Ham goal. A cross into the box bounced off a West Ham player, falling right to Kompany who had inside position on Winston Reid, right in front of Adrián. The defender simply gave the ball a solid kick, and sent the Ethiad Stadium crowd into a joyous, bouncing frenzy.
City kept searching for a third goal, playing at a pace somewhere between cruise control and just making sure that West Ham didn’t get any ideas about coming back. It was enough to finish off the match and allow the celebrations to begin in earnest for players and fans alike.
City finished the season with 86 points, two points clear of Liverpool in second place.
Manchester City: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Kolarov, Garcia, Touré (Negredo 86’), Nasri, Silva (Milner 76’), Agüero, Džeko (Fernadinho 69’)
Goals: Nasri (39’), Kompany (49’)
West Ham United: Adrián, O'Brien, Reid, Tomkins, McCartney, Noble, Diame (J. Cole 81'), Taylor, Downing, Nolan (Jarvis 64'), Carroll (C. Cole 72')
Goals: None
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