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Rob Dawson, Reporter
MANCHESTER, England – There was no drama at Etihad Stadium. There was no repeat of Queens Park Rangers in 2012 either Aston Villa in 2022. Instead, to match the pace witnessed Manchester city shows why unrelenting consistency remains their most impressive trait, West Ham United used to elected 3-1 with minimal fuss on the final day as Pep Guardiola’s side lifted a record fourth in a row Premier League title.
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That doesn’t matter, 200 miles away in north London, Arsenal beat Everton 2-1. In reality, what Arsenal have done since the beginning of the year doesn’t matter much. Mikel Arteta’s side are down just five points in 2024 and that still isn’t good enough. The last time Man City lost a match in the National Championship was in December and their record in the final period was: played 6, won 6, scored 20 goals and conceded 2 goals. It’s no surprise that Arsenal are finding it difficult to keep up.
“In terms of numbers, no one is better than us: record, number of goals, number of points and four consecutive matches,” Guardiola said after the match. “If I came here tomorrow and you said I would win six Premier League titles in seven years, I would say ‘are you crazy?’ It is not possible. We did something unbelievable.”
While 115 Premier League charges for alleged breaches of financial rules hanging over City, there will always be questions about how this all comes together. But what cannot be doubted is Guardiola’s genius and the ruthless efficiency of his players.
Other clubs have spent similar amounts on transfers and wages, but no one else has come close to winning six titles in seven years. It’s dominance that doesn’t even exist Liverpool of the 1970s and 1980s and Manchester United of the 1990s and 2000s could be relevant, and with Guardiola insisting he intends to see out the final year of his contract, you wouldn’t bet on City winning the title in five games consecutively next season. Accept magic now Barcelona And Bayern MunichGuardiola has now won the league title in 12 of his 15 top-flight seasons as coach.
One of his hallmarks is his constant drive to do more and then Phil Foden had given City a 2-0 lead inside the first 20 minutes, he pulled Rodri over to chat. As the party atmosphere erupted around the Etihad, Guardiola grabbed the midfielder’s arm to forcefully impart further instructions. Rodri retorted and was eventually sent away Bernardo Silva. It was a moment that encapsulated Guardiola’s drive for success. Even as he stood on the brink of history and the title party was kicking off, he still wasn’t satisfied.
It was fitting that Foden and Rodri scored the goals to put City ahead, undoubtedly Guardiola’s two best players this season. If the treble campaign is just about Erling Haaland, this one is about Foden. The 23-year-old scored his 18th and 19th league goals – the first after just 78 seconds – and had it not been for a committed West Ham defense, he would have walked away with a hat- another trick. The Premier League Player of the Year is a sixth-time champion.
“I never get bored, you want this feeling every time,” Foden said. “When you win something, there is no better feeling. I want to keep winning as much as possible.
“It’s hard to describe what we did today. No other team has ever done that and we wrote our name in the history books.
“To win the Premier League four times, no team has ever done it before, so to do it means we’re up there with the best teams of all time.
Guardiola said he knew from the first pre-season training session in Japan that there would be no treble and he was proven right. When Arsenal and Liverpool both lost points on the same day in April, he told his players they couldn’t pass up their chance and from that moment on they were perfect.
“[To win] six Premier Leagues in seven years, in this country with modern football, the teams and everything,” Guardiola said after the match. “The team and the organization surprised me: it was a club amazing.”
No other team in the history of English football has won four consecutive top-flight titles and Man City could yet become the first team to win the league and cup back-to-back if they beat Manchester United in the final. FA Cup final at Wembley next Saturday (live at 10 a.m. ET on ESPN+).
The inevitable question, once the trophy table is removed and the streamers are cleared from the field, how many more wins can they rack up? Arsenal’s form – winning 28 games and accumulating 89 points – has created the illusion of a title race, but Man City have been so consistent that even in the crucial moments there was little danger of things going wrong. go out.
While Arsenal were pushed to the limit, Man City won the championship for the fourth time in a row Kevin De Bruyne for five months and Haaland for two months. Guardiola will strengthen his squad again in the summer and the challenge posed to the rest of the Premier League will increase again.
Three times Man City had to come from behind to win on the final day to lift the title. There was none of the same drama as against West Ham but the ending was very familiar; Guardiola and the players on the field with the trophy.
