Liverpool end 30-year title drought

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool ended a 30-year wait for the English title as they were crowned Premier League champions on Thursday, triggering jubilant scenes as fans ignored social-distancing to celebrate uproariously.

Jurgen Klopp’s men sealed a 19th league title with a record seven games remaining after Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat of second-placed Manchester City left the 2018 and 2019 champions an unbridgeable 23 points adrift. Liverpool’s first English title since 1990 -- further delayed by the coronavirus shutdown -- earns them their maiden trophy in the Premier League, which was introduced in 1992 and has been won 13 times by their arch-rivals Manchester United. Klopp was in tears after Liverpool’s long-awaited win, which follows their Champions League and Club World Cup victories last year, when they finished just a point behind City in the Premier League.

However, thousands of fans, many in face masks, converged on Anfield, lighting flares, chanting and celebrating with a replica trophy, while motorists drove up and beeped their horns.Congratulations poured in from around the world with basketball star LeBron James, actor Samuel L. Jackson and former world number one tennis player Caroline Wozniacki among those paying tribute.

Liverpool, who were tantalisingly close to glory when the coronavirus forced the suspension of English football in March, demolished Crystal Palace 4-0 at their home ground of Anfield on Wednesday to stand on the brink of the title.

City needed to win at Stamford Bridge to keep the Premier League alive but slipped to a 2-1 defeat.Liverpool’s 19th English title, which puts them one behind United’s record haul of 20, owes much to the transformational impact of Klopp. Liverpool have clinched the title earlier than any other Premier League champions, breaking the previous record of five games left shared by City and Manchester United.

But it has been an agonising wait for Liverpool fans across the world, with the coronavirus lockdown forcing them to put the champagne on ice. Videos on social media showed many of Liverpool’s players watching the Chelsea match together at a hotel. Liverpool spent years in the shadow of arch-rivals Manchester United during the Alex Ferguson era before being left behind by the massive spending of Manchester City and Chelsea.