Chelsea FC, the defending champions handed Leicester City the Barclays Premier League crown on Monday, by holding Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 at Stamford Bridge.
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Claudio Ranieri’s men could have been crowned on Sunday when they faced Manchester United at Old Trafford, but saw their celebrations delayed after they drew 1-1 with Louis van Gaal’s men.
But Leicester were given hope by Gary Cahill’s 58th minute strike before Eden Hazard’s spectacular goal put Claudio Ranieri’s side within seven minutes of an historic title.
Leicester lost for just the second time in almost five months when going down 1-0 at Anfield, but just like they did after the Arsenal defeat they responded in magnificent fashion, winning at title contenders Manchester City and Tottenham while recording a home win over Liverpool.
Tottenham’s failure to win at Chelsea – one of Ranieri’s former clubs – means Leicester can not be caught with two games of the season to go.
Leicester, which will collect the trophy on Saturday when it hosts Everton at home, had not finished higher than second in the top tier since 1929.
Fans packed into the Local Hero pub in Leicester’s Aylestone Road, near the club’s King Power Stadium and erupted into cheers as the title was confirmed.
Unlike Blackburn’s 1995 champions, Leicester has achieved its success without lavish spending.
The Foxes started the season among the favourites for relegation and only the three promoted sides – Watford, Norwich and Bournemouth – were longer odds for the league title.
But during the match against Tottenham Monday, many Chelsea fans could be heard singing “There’s only one Ranieri!” as the final whistle blew.
In denying London rivals Spurs, Chelsea produced a performance of rare intensity and desire in what has been an underwhelming season.
“It’s the best feeling of my career and I couldn’t be prouder that it’s as part of this team”.
A bad-tempered game produced a rash of yellow cards and several players were lucky to stay on the pitch while tempers boiled over at fulltime.
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There were incredible scenes across Leicester as City fans celebrated, while the champagne was popping as some of the City players had gathered at Jamie Vardy’s house to watch the game with a huge press pack camped outside.
