Pep Guardiola’s City team were all-but assured of a third title in four seasons, with only crosstown rivals United capable of catching them and only in the unlikely event that they could overhaul a 10-point deficit in their remaining matches.
In the end, United failed to win their game in hand on their rivals as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s much-changed team went down to Leicester at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.
The result means City have an unassailable 10-point lead at the top of the table with three games to play, as a fifth Premier League title heads to the Etihad and the club seal a seventh top-tier English triumph in their history.
City could have wrapped up the title themselves had they not fallen to a 2-1 home defeat to a resurgent Chelsea on Sunday, although in the end they did so without kicking a ball as their neighbors were beaten by top-four-chasing Leicester.
The Foxes took the lead at Old Trafford thanks to a 10th-minute wonder-goal from teenager Luke Thomas, before United struck back five minutes later through their own boy wonder, Mason Greenwood.
A thunderous second-half header from Turkish defender Caglar Soyuncu earned victory for Brendan Rodgers’ men against a United team which had seen manager Solskjaer make 10 personnel changes, amid a congested fixture list during which they return to action at Old Trafford against Liverpool in just 48 hours’ time.