Manchester City cruised to its fourth consecutive English Premier League title, and sixth in seven years, with a characteristically dominant 3-1 win over West Ham on Sunday.
City entered the EPL’s final day two points ahead of Arsenal, knowing that a victory would yield yet another trophy. And to get that victory — plus a celebratory pitch invasion — it hardly had to fret or sweat.
Precisely 78 seconds after kickoff, Phil Foden blasted City into the lead. Sixteen minutes later, Foden doubled the lead, and pushed West Ham seemingly out of sight.
The Hammers responded with a bicycle-kick goal out of nothing just before halftime — and suddenly, tentatively, minor doubts surfaced. But Rodri, another Man City protagonist, erased them in the 59th minute, and restored City’s comfort.
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No club, in the 124-year history of English football, had ever won four straight top-flight titles.
No club had ever won six in seven seasons.
No club has ever won back-to-back domestic doubles, which City could do if it beats Manchester United in Saturday’s FA Cup final.
And no English club had ever played the way City has under Pep Guardiola, bossing the ball, controlling games and picking apart overmatched foes.
The caveat, of course, is that the club allegedly cheated. Asterisks may be coming. The Premier League has charged City with 115 breaches of rules, most of them related to false accounting and excessive spending. According to leaked documents published by German outlet Der Spiegel, City, among other nefariousness, essentially inflated the value of sponsorships so that it could splash more money on players.
That money fueled City’s success. Since Sheikh Mansour and the Abu Dhabi royal family bought the club in 2008, they have spent some $2.8 billion on transfer fees. They brought in players like Sergio Agüero and Yaya Toure, Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri, Ruben Dias and Erling Haaland. They won titles in 2012 and 2014; Guardiola then arrived in 2016 to turn them into a machine.
He was born, raised and molded in Greater Manchester. He came through City’s academy, progressed to the first team, and contributed to the previous five titles in a supplementary role. En route to the sixth, he became the main character.
In 2023-24, Foden established himself as one of the world’s very best players. Earlier this week, he was voted the Premier League’s Player of the Season. And then, on Sunday, he capped his breakout campaign with the goals that sealed City’s four-peat — and the club’s 10th overall English first-division title.
Arsenal’s dreams of a first Premier League crown in 20 years were dashed as their 2-1 win against Everton was rendered irrelevant by Manchester City’s title-clinching victory over West Ham.
Mikel Arteta’s side had gone into the last day of the season needing to beat Everton at the Emirates Stadium and hope City drew or lost in Manchester if they were to steal the title in miraculous fashion.
Arsenal, playing simultaneously 200 miles south in London, beat Everton. But the Gunners, who’d pushed City to the wire, were powerless — because City had been charging toward the finish line, unbeaten in all competitions since a Dec. 6 loss at Aston Villa.
As they seem to always do, the Citizens accelerated as winter turned to spring, discarding inferior opponents with ease. They had struggled against the EPL’s top six, winning just twice in 10 games; but, in the end, they won 26 of 28 against the bottom 14. They drew Arsenal on March 31, then won each of their last nine league games — and stated their case as the greatest English team ever.
But the Gunners were forced to settle for second place after relentless champions City beat West Ham 3-1.
Idrissa Gueye put Everton in front late in the first half before Takehiro Tomiyasu quickly equalised.
By the time Kai Havertz scored Arsenal’s winner in the 89th minute, City were already well on course to retain the title.
Arsenal had been almost flawless in 2024, with 16 wins and one draw, away to City, in their 18 league matches.
However, one costly slip-up in a 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa last month proved decisive in denying them a first title since Arsene Wenger’s ‘Invincibles’ in 2004.
They finished two points behind City, who have won an unprecedented four successive titles and six in the last seven years.
Arsenal staff were seen rehearsing a mock title presentation at the Emirates on Saturday, complete with replicas of the trophy and medals, as well as signs emblazoned with the slogan ‘Premier League champions’.
But there would be no genuine title party in north London as Arteta’s heartbroken players were forced to accept their fate.
Arsenal fans had strolled down the sun-baked Holloway Road towards the Emirates more in hope than expectation of seeing a title-winning team.
Arsenal fans in limbo
Some even wore West Ham shirts rather than their own clubs in a nod to the favour required from their London rivals 200 miles to the north.
A raucous rendition of the club’s ‘North London Forever’ anthem before kick-off took the atmosphere to a fever pitch.
– Silence in the stands –
Despite the absence of injured star Bukayo Saka, Arsenal should have been ahead in the opening moments when Tomiyasu nodded wide from close range.
However, at that exact second, the atmosphere went completely flat as news filtered through of Phil Foden’s second-minute opener for City.
A resigned hush settled over the sell-out 60,000 crowd, but Arsenal did their best to refocus.
Foden’s second goal in the 18th minute rendered the Arsenal faithful mute as Everton fans taunted them with chants of “You nearly won the league”.
Everton took the lead in the 40th minute when Gueye’s free-kick took a wicked deflection off Declan Rice’s head as he jumped to block the ball, looping past wrong-footed Arsenal keeper David Raya into the far corner.
To their credit, the Gunners refused to surrender, equalising just three minutes later when Tomiyasu met Martin Odegaard’s pass with a fine finish that whistled past Jordan Pickford from just inside the area.
Arsenal fans let out a defiant roar when they heard Mohammed Kudus had reduced the deficit for West Ham late in the first half.
They were briefly celebrating again after a false rumour spread that West Ham had equalised.
Dragged from despair to hope and back again within seconds, Arsenal were four points behind City in the ‘as it stands’ table at half-time.
Arsenal’s players gathered in a huddle as they prepared to make one final push in the second half, but Havertz wasted two chances to give them life, nodding wide and then heading against the bar.
Rodri’s 59th-minute goal for City was met with silence in the Emirates stands.
And when Havertz stabbed home in the closing stages, Arsenal had already come to terms with the end of their title hopes.
