Chelsea crown Leicester champions

Monday, May 2, 2016 10:03 pm

Leicester players : they were 5000-1 outsiders to winning the EPL

Leicester players : At the beginning, they were 5000-1 outsiders to winning the EPL

Chelsea FC, the defending champions handed Leicester City the Barclays Premier League crown on Monday, by holding Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 at Stamford Bridge.

Tottenham needed to win the match to make the championship race a photo finish and they were on their way to doing so, closing the first half, 2-0 and raising the possibility that they would cut the point gap between them and Leicester to five points, with two matches to go.

Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha: Leicester chairman

Leicester fans celebrate on Monday night

Leicester fans

But in the ill-tempered match, Chelsea fought back in the second half and equalised, handing Leicester City, their first league crown in more than 100 years.

Chelsea victory made it impossible for Tottenham to catch Leicester leading the league with 77 points. Tottenham have 70 points, with two games remaining.

The East Midlands club could have won the title on Sunday with a win over Manchester United, but the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford meant celebrations were put on hold for a day.

Claudio Ranieri: a big triumph in BPL

The Monday game in London was closely watched by fans and players in Leicester and the outcome sparked celebrations.

Claudio Ranieri’s men went top of the table for the first time on 21 November with a 3-0 win over Newcastle United and have not dropped out of the top three since.

They have suffered only three defeats in the league all season, with Arsenal beating them twice and Liverpool proving to be too strong at Anfield in December.

Riyad Mahrez: Outstanding for Leicester

Jamie Vardy: goal poacher for Leicester

This contrasted with last season when they had to win seven of the final nine matches to escape relegation.

They will be awarded the Barclays Premier League Trophy after their home match with Everton on Saturday.

The championship is a massive victory for manager Claudio Ranieri.

It was the first title his lads won since he began coaching 30 years ago.

As manager in 14 different clubs, he has only had four second-placed finishes to show, but not a title.

What a fairytale story it has been this season for a man who was sacked by Greece 18 months ago after losing to the Faroe Islands and who arrived at Leicester with more than a few doubting his ability as a BPL manager.

How wrong they all were.

*Additional reports by www.premierleague.com