Premier League, Week 38: Manchester City are champions

And they did not wait for the players to clear the pitch. In fact, they rushed to get there while the players were still on the pitch and mobbed them.

Manchester City fans even remembered the No. 1 rule: it’s not a real celebration if there’s not fire.

It could and probably should have been two a few minutes later. Ameobi, who roamed impressively all game, bent a perfectly judged ball round the back of Liverpool’s flat defence and into the stride of Yoann ??? Gouffran. His control was good, but Mignolet was quickly out and well-spread, and was able to block a fairly insipid shot.

The second half began in similar fashion. Newcastle coped comfortably with Liverpool’s forward ventures, keeping their shape when they didn’t have the ball, and passing it around comfortably when they did; indeed, at one point Newcastle’s fans broke out the olés for one sustained period of possession, which isn’t something that the Anfield crowd have heard much of this season. Liverpool, however, were winning set pieces in numbers. Gerrard sent a free-kick from the left across the box, but nobody could get a touch; Suarez slipped as he shot, chipping a tame effort into Krul’s hands; and Coutinho sent a couple of corners onto unfriendly heads.

Thanks to Norwich’s great support, youth setup and frugal ways while they’ve been in the top fight, they’ll have a chance to bounce right back up to the Premier League. But this is bitterly disappointing, given that they were not serious relegation favorites when the season started.

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.

Manager Manuel Pellegrini has been a big success in La Liga and in South America, but this is the first time he has won a major European league. This is his third European trophy, after City’s League Cup win earlier in the year and Villarreal’s Intertoto Cup in 2004.