Under 21 champs

Champions! Title joy for United Under-21s

Manchester United became the champions of the Barclays Under-21 Premier League on Friday night - without kicking a ball.

The outcome was confirmed by a surprise home defeat for rivals Chelsea, the only team in the table who could still catch Warren Joyce's United side. The Blues were beaten 1-0 by bottom side West Ham United in dramatic fashion, with Josh Cullen scoring in the 90th minute at Stamford Bridge.

The Reds had edged closer to the title earlier in the week, with an emphatic 4-0 derby win over Manchester City courtesy of goals from Adnan Januzaj, James Wilson, Ashley Fletcher and Matty Willock. But as impressive as that victory was on Tuesday night, few observers in the 16,000-plus crowd at Old Trafford would have expected the league to have been wrapped up so soon after it.

Chelsea were fancied to bounce back on home turf after losing 1-0 at Sunderland on Monday but it wasn't to be. Their second defeat in five days means United's Under-21 players and their coach can now rejoice with one game - away to City - still to be arranged and played. 

Speaking to ManUtd.com earlier on Friday, Joyce said: "I know how much work we’ve put in over the season and regardless of the outcome now, we’ve had a fantastic campaign.

"There have been a lot of pluses and a lot of successes. We started the season off well by beating City in the final of the Manchester Senior Cup. That was a really good game and an experience in itself.