Manchester City wins Premier League title as Arsenal suffers shock loss
By Issy Ronald, CNN
(CNN) — Manchester City sealed the Premier League title on Saturday, as Arsenal’s shock 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest ended any lingering mathematical probability of the north London team usurping Pep Guardiola’s side in the title race.
The Gunners are now four points behind City in the table and cannot catch Guardiola’s men with just one game and a maximum of three points left in its season.
It is a result that has appeared increasingly inevitable for weeks as City’s run of 23 unbeaten games coincided with and influenced Arsenal’s slow capitulation from its perch at the top of the table, which it had occupied for 248 days of the season, the most in English top-flight history for a team which failed to win the title, according to statistics website Opta.
Despite still holding an eight-point cushion just last month, Arsenal’s hopes of a first title since the 2003/04 season have been steadily extinguished following a run of three improbable draws and a 4-1 drubbing at Manchester City in April, compounded by a 3-0 defeat to Brighton last week and now this loss at Nottingham, a team fighting for its very survival in the Premier League.
And so the idea of City winning the Premier League, its fifth title in six years, has had time to percolate and establish itself, almost normalizing an achievement so monumental it is matched by just one other team in the league’s entire history – Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United between 1995/96 and 2000/01.
City still has the opportunity to become just the second side in English football to win the “Treble” and secure two more trophies this season – it will play Manchester United in the FA Cup final on June 3 and Inter Milan in the Champions League final on June 10.
“To have won this trophy three times in a row and five times in six years is incredible,” Manchester City captain İlkay Gündoğan said, according to Sky Sports. “That quality and consistency helps sum up what Manchester City stand for and ensures the club will continue to strive for success going forward.”
While City fans celebrated their title, Nottingham Forest fans were jubilant inside the stadium, dancing, singing, chanting and waving scarves, as victory secured their team’s survival in the league.
The enormous stakes for both teams were evident throughout and Forest took the lead on 19 minutes, countering after a loose pass from Martin Ødegaard, with Taiwo Awoniyi finding the back of the net.
But as the pressure continued to pile on Arsenal and it dominated possession, it could not unlock Forest’s defense.
Forest had just 18% possession, the lowest on record since 2003/04 for a winning team in a Premier League match according to Arsenal’s official website, but the host still appeared the more threatening side, narrowly missing two opportunities to extend its lead in the second half – first when Morgan Gibbs-White pulled his effort just wide and again when Gibbs-White found Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
Arsenal’s last game of the season is against Wolves on May 28, while Manchester City still has three games left to play as the Premier League champion.
The-CNN-Wire
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