DAILY STAR
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have been crowned Premier League champions for the fifth time in six seasons after Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The Gunners looked to be on course for their first top-flight title since 2004 after sailing eight points ahead of the competition as recently as early April. But a return of just two wins from their last eight matches paved the way for a collapse of colossal proportions.
Saturday’s shocker at the City Ground saw the Gunners hold much of the possession in the early stages before a rogue Martin Odegaard back-pass allowed the home side to break with a counter-attack. Taiwo Awoniyi capitalised and made Mikel Arteta’s side pay with a clinical finish 19 minutes in.
Arsenal were rattled as they have been in recent months as the game heated up against a physical Forest side, backed all the way by the home supporters. But Forest, avoiding relegation, continued to defend valiantly and prevented any form of a comeback.
It sparked various mocking tweets aimed at Arteta’s men on Twitter, with one user writing: “It’s official, Arsenal have managed to pull off the biggest bottle in Premier league history.”
Another tweeted: “ARSENAL THANKS FOR THE LIL RUN IN WITH CITY THIS SEASON BUT YOUR ABSOLUTE BOTTLE JOBS & DON’T HAVE THE MINERALS.”
A third wrote: “Gary Neville, a 8 time PL winner told everybody arsenal would bottle the league but their fans wanted his head on a stick.”
And a fourth added: “That’s an embarrassing Arsenal performance. Certainly been up their with the worst this season. No fight, no interest & no heart.”
The defeat means the Citizens’ showdown at home to Chelsea will be a title procession for the most dominant team in Europe. It also marks the first instalment of a potential treble, with Guardiola’s men set to face Inter Milan and rivals Manchester United in the finals of the Champions League and FA Cup, respectively.
City’s unassailable lead at the summit has been built on the back of a 14-game unbeaten streak in the Premier League, winning the last 11 of those in a row. The Manchester powerhouse is undefeated in 23 across all competitions, dating back to a 1-0 loss at Tottenham on February 5.
Erling Haaland’s sensational first season in England has helped pave the way to riches, with the Norwegian taking no time at all to settle into the league. His 36 goals are a new record in the Premier League, and the 22-year-old still has time on his hands to add to that tally.
City have been so dominant over the past three months that it’s easy to forget the hiccups that unfolded earlier in the campaign. While Arsenal started the season by dropping just three points from their first 10 outings, the defending champions gave up points at Newcastle, Aston Villa (both draws) and Liverpool (1-0 loss) in the same span.
Those woes soon found their way to the Etihad Stadium after winning their first seven homes games of the season. City headed into the 2022 World Cup having lost 2-1 at home to Brentford, and a 1-1 draw against struggling Everton in their first match after the tournament compounded their concerns.
The new calendar year didn’t look a lot better to begin with, but after losses at Man United and Spurs in January and February, City have given up just two points in league contests (a 1-1 draw at Forest). The season has been marred by the club facing 115 charges for alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play laws, though that only appears to have spurred Guardiola & Co. onto new heights.
