Man Utd face daunting task to recover former glories after dismal campaign

Manchester City jetted back to the Etihad to celebrate their stunning Premier League title triumph but across town at Manchester United the lights had long gone out.

Pep Guardiola's champions partied late into the night on Sunday in front of thousands of ecstatic fans after beating Brighton to win their second consecutive league crown, the first side to achieve the feat since United in 2009.

In that year Alex Ferguson's side celebrated a third straight title as the undisputed kings of English football while City, less than a year after their Abu Dhabi takeover, finished a lowly 10th.

It is difficult to overstate the dramatic nature of United's demise in recent years, which culminated in an embarrassing 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford at the hands of relegated Cardiff on Sunday.

United have finished outside the top four in four of the six seasons since Ferguson retired. This season the scarcely credible 32-point gap to their cross-town rivals left them as close to the relegation zone as the