Manchester Derby 2012: Too Soon for Manchester City to Celebrate EPL Title

Manchester City took one more enormous step toward its first title in the top flight of English football since 1968 with a 1-0 win over Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium on Monday.

But there's still plenty of work left to do before the Sky Blues can hoist their first English Premier League trophy and if they busy themselves too much with Balotellian celebration, they may just as soon see it slip from their already-tenuous grip.

Surely, City should win its final two fixtures of the season against Newcastle United and Queens Park Rangers. They've already beaten both of those clubs and are arguably playing better football now than they did back when they last met the Magpies and Hoops in consecutive games.

Of course, winning at St. James' Park on Sunday against a Newcastle side that will be fighting for a spot in the UEFA Champions League will be anything but a given. All five of City's defeats (and four of their draws) this season have come away from the Etihad, including unsatisfactory results against Sunderland, Everton and Stoke City.

Surely, the Toon—which has lost only twice at home during the current campaign—can, should and probably will give the presumptive champions all that they'd care to handle and more.

As for QPR, they'll be hard-pressed to hand Roberto Mancini's squad its first home defeat of the year, given that Hoops have won all of three times away from Loftus Road.

Just as important, though, is what lies ahead for United. The Red Devils will host Swansea City and meet Sunderland at the Stadium of Light to close out their campaign. Both are eminently winnable games and, again, should yield six points for Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

Then again, Man U haven't exactly set the pitch ablaze of late. They've won once in their last four fixtures and registered 1-0 decisions against the Swans and the Black Cats earlier this season.

That being said, City can't concern themselves with what their neighbors are up to. They now control their own destiny, thanks to an eight-goal advantage in goal differential between the two title contenders.

They must go out and capture the crown themselves if they are going to do it at all.

Because if there's anything United have proven during their dynastic run on Fergie's watch, it's that they will never cede the throne of English football willingly.

Rather, they must be booted from it, as they seemingly were on Monday night.

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