The final day of one of the most thrilling Premier League title races in recent history did not disappoint.
Manchester city beat West Ham United 3-1 on Sunday to claim an unprecedented fourth consecutive Prem crown. No other club has won more than three consecutive victories in the 136-year history of England’s top flight.
Arsenal coming from the back to the top Everton 2-1, finishing second for the second year in a row. The Gunners finished with 89 points, 2 points behind Man City. Liverpool Ranked third, the Red Devils finished with 82 points after a 2-0 victory over the previous team Wolverhampton in the last match of coach Jürgen Klopp.
Here are three quick thoughts after Championship Sunday.
Man City is in business to make history
After winning the match last Tuesday first Tottenham Hotspur and overtaking the Gunners in the Prem standings, the Sky Blues know that a home win over West Ham is enough to claim a fourth title in a row – and City’s eighth since 2012.
Arsenal have been trailing the Cityzens for weeks, largely due to Mikel Arteta’s squad. But even before Liverpool’s long slump, they always felt it was inevitable that it would turn out exactly like this, that history was more theirs to lose than the Gunners to stop.
Sure, just been named the best player of the Premier League season Phil Foden put Pep Guardiola’s side ahead with a deserved opener before some fans had even reached their seats at Emirates Stadium. Foden’s second attack doubled the advantage for the home team before 20 minutes of the match.
City threatened to quit at that point. But Mohammed Kudus made things interesting when he cut the champions’ lead in half just before half-time, especially as Arsenal had equalized at the same time in North London.
Guardiola’s team is still in good control and there is no way back for the Hammers – or Arsenal – Rodri scored Man City’s third in the space of an hour, cementing the Sky Blues’ place in English football lore.
Arsenal can be proud of having done their part
There is no doubt that Gunners supporters feel that, 20 years after the club’s last league title, this could be their year. The near defeat last season strengthened the determination of Arteta’s team. Reinforcement force such as Declan rice came to confirm Arsenal’s re-emergence as one of Europe’s top teams.
But while they squandered a significant lead and allowed City to overtake them at the end of the 2022-23 season, Arsenal have been excellent this year. They helped Man City earn this win, forcing Foden & Co. must post a record of 9W-0L-1T in their last 10 Prem matches. And they overcame the worst start imaginable on Sunday, knowing full well that they had no control over their own destiny. Kai Harvertz scored the winning goal in the last minute of the second half:
As dominant as City have been over the past decade and more, the day will come – perhaps as soon as next season – when they fail to win the title. Over the past 10 months, Arsenal have shown they are best placed to challenge the champions long-term, starting again at the end of the summer.
An unfavorable final day at the bottom
For many years, the relegation battle at the foot of the rankings has been more attractive than the title race at the top. This season, two of the bottom three teams were confirmed to drop into the second tier long before Sunday’s finale.
Sheffield United fate was decided last month; Since then, the hapless Blades have set a record for most goals conceded in a Prem campaign. Burnley joined them last weekend. Luton Town, meanwhile, entered the final match mathematically still alive. But the Hatters still clearly failed in practical terms, finishing 17th Nottingham Forest a three-point lead and a plus-15 lead on goal difference, which would have acted as the first tiebreaker had Luton and Forest finished the season on equal points.
Ultimately, it’s a debate. Luton lost 2-4 Fulham on Sunday, its 28th loss of 2023-24. Meanwhile, Forest made Burnley even more miserable with a 2-1 victory.
Doug McIntyre is a football reporter for FOX Sports. He was an editor at ESPN and Yahoo Sports before joining FOX Sports in 2021, and he reported USA men’s and women’s national teams at the FIFA World Cup on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.
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