Manchester City qualified for the Champions League for the first time yesterday, beating Tottenham 1-0 to deny the London club a second successive season in Europe's elite club competition.

The victory came through an own goal by Peter Crouch, who had scored the lone goal at Eastlands last May that took Tottenham into this season's Champions League at the expense of Man City.

Securing one of England's four Champions League places was a key target for City's Abu Dhabi owners when they bought the club in 2008.

An investment of more than 1 billion pounds in players by Sheikh Mansour has also put City on the verge of ending its 35-year title drought. The team plays Stoke in the FA Cup final on Saturday.