City celebrate title with another victory
• It is three titles in a row for Guardiola and his players who now have the treble in their sights
Manchester City celebrated their Premier League title success on Sunday, beating Chelsea 1-0 with an early goal by Julian Alvarez in the team's home finale at the Etihad Stadium.
Treble-chasing City wrapped up the title when second-placed Arsenal were beaten at Nottingham Forest on Saturday. They have 88 points from 36 matches, seven more than Arsenal who have just one match remaining. Frank Lampard’s struggling Chelsea side are languishing in 12th spot with 43 points.
Alvarez scored in the 12th minute for a largely secondstring City side, slipping the ball under goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. He also had another goal chalked off for a handball.
Alvarez's winner meant City had scored 100 goals at The Etihad this season, equalling the record — which they set in 201819 — for most home goals scored in all competitions in a single season by an English top-flight club.
With nothing on the line on Sunday and two huge games on the horizon — the FA Cup and Champions League finals — City manager Pep Guardiola left his big guns, including goal-scoring machine Erling Haaland on the bench for most of the game.
The Spaniard, who claimed his 10th major trophy at City, made nine changes to the side that throttled Real Madrid in their Champions League semifinal, second leg on Wednesday.
City still dominated, proving they are a well-oiled machine no matter which parts the manager has to work with.
“It was a great feeling,” midfielder Kalvin Phillips told Sky Sports after making his first Premier League start for City. “I was happy because we won the league and I knew there might be a chance I could play. I have enjoyed every moment.
“It has been unbelievably tough this season and probably the lowest point confidencewise in my career.”
City were crowned champions for the third season in a row and fifth in six years a day earlier than expected when Arsenal's 1-0 defeat at Forest doused any remaining hope the Londoners had of catching them.
The mood on Sunday was festive. Chelsea gave the City players, who had watched the Arsenal game together the previous evening, a guard of honour before kickoff while thousands of fans rushed onto the field after the final whistle.
Rather than spending a few minutes to soak up the atmosphere, the players were quickly shepherded down the tunnel.
Despite announcements to leave the pitch immediately, nobody was in a hurry and the mass of sky blue fans lit flares and pulled at the goalposts. One fan hoisted a banner that read “The Treble is On”.
Haaland was a late substitute and did not extend his record of 36 goals in a single Premier League season.
Raheem Sterling nearly equalised in the second half but John Stones made a spectacular sliding save after the formerCity forward beat keeper Stefan Ortega. Stones wrapped a friendly arm around Sterling after his near-miss, while City fans saluted their former player with a standing ovation when he was substituted.
Earlier West Ham United forward Jarrod Bowen set up one goal and scored another to inspire his side to a 3-1 victory at the London Stadium and deepen the relegation crisis at Leeds United. Declan Rice and Manuel Lanzini were also on the scoresheet for the hosts as they rallied from a goal down after Rodrigo had given the visitors a lead.
Leeds remain in the relegation zone with 31 points from 37 games, two points behind 17thplaced Everton with the home visit of Tottenham Hotspur on the final day of the season next Sunday. Everton welcome Bournemouth to Goodison Park.
It completes an excellent week for West Ham, who climb to 14th in the table having booked their place in the Europa Conference League final with a win over AZ Alkmaar.
Leeds were ahead in the 17th minute when Weston McKennie’s long throw was volleyed into the net from 12m by Rodrigo, a sublime finish against a static West Ham defence.
The home side responded when Rice, in what could be his final home game for West Ham before a summer move, produced a neat finish at the back post from Bowen’s cross.
The home side dominated possession and hit the front with 18 minutes remaining as Danny Ings slipped Bowen in on goal with an excellent pass and the forward found the far corner with the outside of his left boot.
The points were sealed during injury-time when some brilliant footwork from Lucas Paqueta on the right wing saw him beat several defenders before laying on a tap-in for substitute Lanzini.
Brighton & Hove Albion ensured they will play in Europe next season for the first time after beating Southampton 3-1 at the Amex Stadium, with teenage striker Evan Ferguson scoring twice. /Reuters
Arsenal’s collapse in the Premier League title race showed they lacked the mentality and depth to dethrone Manchester City, but if there is any solace Mikel Arteta can take from the season is that they finally have a team that can be title contenders.
Arsenal’s 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest on Saturday brought the two-horse race to a premature end as Pep Guardiola’s City were crowned champions with three games to spare, completing part one of a potential treble.
Having enjoyed the view from the top for nearly 250 days, Arsenal’s title challenge crumbled in the face of a relentless, well-oiled winning machine that had been assembled and perfected over years by Guardiola.
While Arteta and his players dismissed talk of “bottling” the title race, for their fans there is a crushing sense of what could have been.
Arsenal were eight points clear two months ago and appeared to be heading towards bagging their first league title since Arsene Wenger’s 2003-04 “Invincibles”.
With an average age of 24, Arsenal also had the youngest team in the league, which made their title hunt alongside the sky blue City juggernaut even more remarkable.
The north London side had raised expectations to such stratospheric levels this season that even a return to the Champions League for the first time since 2016-17 was seen as nothing more than an appetiser before the main course.
“The same people who thought that we were going to finish sixth or seventh in the season are now saying that finishing second would be a failure,” Arteta told Sky Sports.
But the eight-point gap was an illusion as City always had games in hand while Guardiola played mind games, effusive in his praise of Arsenal and Arteta, his former assistant at City.
“Our problem is Arsenal was amazing so far. They do really well,” Guardiola had said in April. “We are still there but there is another one better than you. You have to accept it, admit it and keep going.”
As Arsenal stumbled with three straight draws in April, they glanced at the rear-view mirror and took their eyes off the road.
What started with Roberto Firmino’s late equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield, finished with Taiwo Awoniyi’s winner on Saturday as Arsenal dropped 15 points in eight games.
Guardiola has seen his fair share of tense title races and even when Arsenal had three games to go, he gently applied more pressure.
“Definitely they are going to win their three games. I would like them to drop points to be honest, but I think they will get nine points,” he said as he flashed a knowing smile.
Arsenal lost two of those games without scoring, losing 30 at home to Brighton & Hove Albion before defeat at Forest.
City, meanwhile, banked on their experience in title run-ins to win all their games, even dismantling European powerhouses Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the Champions League along the way.
The master had outshone the apprentice as Guardiola’s side took their fifth league title in six seasons. City’s enviable squad depth has also been a big talking point with no outfield player clocking more than 3,000 minutes in an exhausting league season while Arsenal have had three led by Gabriel, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard.
While Arteta had a starting line-up that challenged the best in the business, long-term injuries to important players, such as defensive linchpin William Saliba, exposed the lack of capable backup players who could step in and do the job. After playing out of their skins until April, Arsenal simply ran out of steam with no scope for player rotation. “We wanted to squeeze everything that we had out of that group and find alternatives and ways to reach certain levels,” Arteta said.
“We fell short and it is my job and my responsibility. I have to analyse that and think.
“It’s not going to change in going three months’ to be at that time [City that’ s] we level, are but we have to find another way to do it.”