Manchester City did the job that was required as Samir Nasri and Vincent Kompany scored the goals to beat West Ham and secure their second Barclays Premier LeagueManchester City did the job that was required as Samir Nasri and Vincent Kompany scored the goals to beat West Ham and secure their second Barclays Premier League title.

The goals came in a 10-minute spell which straddled the half-time interval at the Etihad Stadium, rendering nearest rivals Liverpool’s win against Newcastle academic.

With ex-Liverpool players Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing in their side, as well as Reds fan Kevin Nolan, West Ham did have the personnel to provide one last dramatic twist at the end of a compelling season.

But realistically – with City having a two-point advantage – that was always a long shot and there was never any hint that the nerve-jangling final-day drama of their title win two years ago would be repeated.

It was raining heavily at kick-off but the atmosphere was raucous and City approached the game with the confidence of a side that were comfortable and in control of their destiny.

City’s top scorer Sergio Aguero was back in their side after injury but not at his sharpest, although on this occasion his brilliance was not needed.

West Ham did play more positively than the previous visitors to Eastlands, Aston Villa in midweek, but the occasions they threatened were still few and far between.

The hosts appealed unsuccessfully for a penalty early on after Mark Noble deflected a Pablo Zabaleta cross onto his hand.

Their first real chance came after David Silva and Aguero combined well on the edge of the box. Yaya Toure’s initial effort was blocked before Silva volleyed over from a Zabaleta cross.

Zabaleta then wanted a penalty after going down under a challenge from Mohamed Diame before Aguero showed some nimble footwork to spark an attack from inside his own half.

The ball was worked across the field and Aguero tried to finish from distance but slipped as he shot and Adrian saved comfortably.

Nasri then had a good cross turned behind and Toure curled a shot narrowly wide as news filtered through that Liverpool had fallen behind in their game against Newcastle.

City maintained the pressure, with Aleksandar Kolarov forcing Adrian to tip over a powerful drive from distance.

Nasri finally broke through six minutes before the interval as he took aim from 20 yards and struck a powerful low shot which went in off the post after a possible touch from Adrian.

City fans then increased the volume significantly and Aguero glanced a header wide before Silva saw an effort deflected onto the bar off Carroll.

City truly got the party started four minutes into the second half when Kompany stabbed home from six yards after Edin Dzeko won the ball from a corner.

The City captain celebrated with unconfined joy.

West Ham did make a rare charge to the City end but Matt Taylor’s mistimed shot bounced wide.

Aguero had two opportunities to extend City’s lead but headed wide at the near post and then failed to connect in front of an open goal from a Zabaleta cross.

Aguero appeared to pick up another knock in the closing moments and he showed his frustration by bundling over Noble off the ball.

That sparked an unecessary scuffle between several players of both sides and Aguero was eventually booked, but it could not dampen City’s celebrations.

They knew the job was completed and the hosts duly played out the closing minutes with little alarm to prompt a pitch invasion and jubilant scenes.

According to Foxsports

The Welshman’s future is yet to be decided but he expects a permanent appointment to be made with the season over and backs his side to make the best of their absence from Europe

Interim Manchester United manager Ryan Giggs expects a permanent appointment to be finalised “next week” after the end of the Premier League.

The Red Devils closed out their season by recovering to a 1-1 draw at Southampton on Sunday, ending the Welshman’s brief tenure in the dugout after stepping in following David Moyes’s sacking as Louis van Gaal is set to be confirmed as the new man at Old Trafford imminently.

“I think I’ve got to decide within the next week,” Giggs told reporters of his own future after the game.

“The managerial situation will be sorted out, probably, next week and then, for my own position, I’ve got to think about it and decide what to do.

“It’s been an experience [taking temporary charge]. There’s been ups and downs – more ups than downs and the downs were obviously the Sunderland game – but I didn’t want that second half [against Southampton] to end. The fans were great, the players were great. I loved it.

“I probably learned more against Sunderland than from any of the wins but I learned the character that these players have and I’ve learned about everything that comes away from the football. It’s incessant at times.

“[The decision is] whether to play on or not, whether to stay on [as a coach] or whether to take a year off from football. All the options are open for me.”

Tottenham’s win on the final day ensured that United will play no European football next season but Giggs is keen to use that absence as a chance to focus on domestic affairs.

“I’m a positive person and I look at it from a positive point of view,” he added. “It’s a chance to focus on our league form and get good cup runs, which we didn’t this year.

“If we do well in the cups, we can rotate the squad and give all the players a chance because we do have to keep the squad for when we get back into Europe next year.”

According to Goal

Goalkeeper Yushi Sekiguchi saved three penalties in the shootout as Japan retained the AFC Futsal Championship title following a 2-2 draw after extra-time in Saturday’s final at Phu Tho Stadium.

Japan twice came from behind through Kotaro Inaba and an extra-time own goal from Hamid Ahmadi after Farhad Tavakoli and Hossein Tayebi had given 10-time champions Iran the lead.

And in the shootout, Sekiguchi saved from Mohammad Taheri, Ghodrat Bahadori and Asghar Hassanzadeh, with Kazuhiro Nibuya, Tomoki Yoshikawa and Akira Minamoto converting for Japan to seal a 3-0 victory.

After Japan had beaten Kuwait in the semi-finals and Iran had eased past Uzbekistan, the highly-anticipated final started at a high tempo and it was Iran goalkeeper Alireza Samimi who was first called into action to deny Manabu Takita after just 30 seconds.

Sekiguchi then denied Hassanzadeh at the other end on three minutes before the Japan custodian stopped Vahid Shafiei’s header from point blank range.

And with the momentum in their favour, Iran opened the scoring after eight minutes when Tayebi pulled the ball back for Tavakoli to drill a low shot through a crowded penalty area and past Sekiguchi.

The Japan goalkeeper then almost handed Iran a second in the 12th minute when he tried to chip a ball forward only for the pass to be cut out by Shafiei, but fortunately Sekiguchi was able to recover to block the resulting shot.

Sekiguchi then saved from Mohammad Shajari after Nobuya Osodo had been caught in possession on the halfway line a minute before half-time.

Iran kept Sekiguchi busy after half-time, but despite Japan struggling to find a foothold in the game, they levelled the tie in the 26th minute as Inaba’s free-kick went under the wall and through the legs of Samimi.

And Japan almost completed the comeback with four minutes remaining as Alireza Vafaei’s handball on the halfway line brought up Iran’s the sixth team foul, but Inaba fired wide from the resulting penalty.

There was, though, still time for Iran to have their chance to claim the title as Sekiguchi denied Hassanzadeh with just four seconds remaining to send the tie to extra-time.

But Iran were not to be denied just two minutes into the first half of extra-time as Tayebi was allowed to turn after receiving Vafaei’s pass and he fired his shot under the body of Sekiguchi.

Japan coach Miguel Rodrigo eventually responded in the second half of extra-time by introducing Osodo in place of goalkeeper Sekiguchi.

And the move paid off after just 40 seconds as Ahmadi deflected Tomoaki Watanabe’s low shot into his own net.

Japan almost snatched victory with 40 seconds remaining, but Nibuya blazed over from close range to send the tie to penalties.

Nibuya, though, was able to set Japan on their way in the shootout before Sekiguchi denied Taheri.

Yoshikawa then extended the lead via the crossbar before Sekiguchi again saved from Bahadori.

And after Minamoto drilled his penalty past Samimi, Sekiguchi saved from Hassanzadeh to hand Japan a third AFC Futsal Championship title.

According to AFC

Dilshod Rakhmatov and Farkhod Abdumavlyanov scored as Uzbekistan secured third place at the AFC Futsal Championship with a 2-1 victory over Kuwait at Phu Tho Stadium on Saturday.

Rakhmatov took advantage of a slip from Ahmad Al Farsi to hand Uzbekistan, who lost their semi-final 10-0 to Iran, the lead at half-time.

Abdumavlyanov doubled Uzbekistan’s advantage in the second half, and despite Hamad Al Awadhi setting up a tense finish, Bahodir Ahmedov’s side held on.

With Iran having ended Uzbekistan hopes and Japan having beaten Kuwait in the semi-finals, both sides went closing to opening the scoring early on in the first half as Abdulrahman Al Taweel shot into the side netting for Kuwait before Abdumavlyanov wasted a good opportunity for Uzbekistan.

But after Artur Yunusov then hit the post for Uzbekistan, the Central Asians eventually found the breakthrough on 11 minutes as Al Farsi conceded possession close to the half way line allowing Rakhmatov to race clear and he slid the ball under goalkeeper Hani Mhisen.

Kuwait, though, were handed a golden chance to equalise in the 15th minute after Rakhmatov brought down Hamad Al Wadhi inside the penalty area.

But goalkeeper Klim Tyugayev, who was brought on as a penalty specialist, pulled off a stunning double save after first blocking Al Whadhi’s initial penalty with his feet before blocking the follow up from Abdulaziz Al Basam.

And Uzbekistan nearly doubled their lead two minutes before half-time as Yunusov was played clean through only to hit the post after beating a stranded Mhisen.

Kuwait had the first chance after the break as Abdulrahman Al Wadi shot wide before Rakhmatov shot agonisingly wide for Uzbekistan.

With just nine minutes left Kuwait coach Luis Fonseca pushed for an equaliser by replacing goalkeeper Mhisen with outfield player Al Wadi.

But the move almost backfired seconds later as Yunusov was found on the break by Shuhrat Tojiboev only to fire wide with an open goal gaping.

Stand-in goalkeeper Al Wadi then pulled off a fantastic double save to keep his side within touching distance after Yunusov hadfound Abdumavlyanov open inside the area.

Uzbekistan, though, did double their lead from the resulting corner as Abdumavlyanov chipped his close range effort over the head of Mhisen from Tojiboev’s delivery.

But Kuwait set-up a tense final five minutes as Al Awadhi’s strike trickled into the far corner of the goal via the upright.

Kuwait, though, were unable to find an equaliser in the closing stages and Uzbekistan claimed third place.

According to AFC