Premier League race for the title: The final day as it happened and Man City were crowned champions

And so a quite brilliant Premier League title race comes to an end with Manchester City crowned champions. The position of league leaders changed hands more than 20 times throughout an enthralling 2013/14 season and the battle to lift the trophy went all the way to the final day.

The concluding fixtures of the season might not have produced the drama fitting of the most unpredictable footballing nine months in living memory but that says much of the professionalism of Manuel Pellegrini's deserved champions in their victory over West Ham United which ensured they maintained their two-point lead at the summit.

Liverpool fell agonisingly short in their romantic story of a potential first league title in 24 years despite beating Newcastle United at Anfield, although it did not go exactly according to plan on Merseyside as they had to come from a goal down.

We used Opta data to analyse events as they happened in both Manchester and Liverpool in games which also told a story of a season which will not be forgotten for many years to come.

MANCHESTER CITY AND LIVERPOOL STARTING LINE-UPS

MAN CITY: Much of the talk pre-match centred on how the iceman, Manuel Pellegrini, would make light of any tension inside the City of Manchester Stadium; happy to play a waiting game as he did in midweek when City had to toil until the 64th minute before Edin Dzeko opened the floodgates against Aston Villa. That said, the Chilean – bidding to become the first non-European manager to guide a side to a Premier League title, picked a team that suggested he wanted the job done quickly. Sergio Aguero, the club's top scorer, overcame a groin injury to lead the line alongside Dzeko, ahead of a midfield four that included a triumvirate of attacking talent in Yaya Toure, David Silva and Samir Nasri in front of a sitting Javi Garcia.

LIVERPOOL: Centre-back Mamadou Sakho was dropped to the bench and Daniel Agger was recalled. Sky Sports’ Alan Smith said of Liverpool’s £18million signing from Paris Saint-Germain last summer: “Sakho has looked very unsteady of late. I am surprised Brendan Rodgers did not recall Agger quicker." In the 18 Premier League games when Sakho played in 2013/14, Liverpool conceded 25 goals, keeping just one clean sheet. Jordan Henderson was also back after his three-match suspension. In hindsight, the midfielder’s absence was extremely costly as Liverpool scrapped past Norwich City, lost to Chelsea and blew a three-goal lead at Crystal Palace when he was banned. Liverpool were otherwise unchanged in a 4-1-2-1-2 diamond formation from the team who drew at Palace.

15:00 - KICK-OFF

15:15 – WIDE BOYS

MAN CITY: As has so often been the case this season, the flanks proved to be profitable for City in the early sparring. A congested central third left space down either side, which the ever buccaneering Pablo Zabaleta  (No.5) and Aleksandar Kolarov (No.13) were willing to occupy on the overlap at every opportunity. Within quarter-of-an-hour being clocked up, City had put in seven decent deliveries. What sets City apart from their rivals is the patience they show in reaching the by-line, or as close to it as possible, before delivering the ball. On a day when demonstrating such virtues was always going to be key, City never once tried to hurry attacking situations, with the diagram below demonstrating how each of the seven crosses into West Ham’s box were played from beyond the