Manchester City bests Arsenal for Premier League title on historic, dramatic final day

For the seventh time in eight seasons, Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are English Premier League champions. City took down West Ham 3-1 on the final day of the campaign to hang on to their two-point lead in the standings over Arsenal.  While the final result is the same as almost every season for the last 3/4 of a decade, this EPL season and final day were not without drama.

This season’s EPL title race was a three-way affair between Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool, with Mikel Arteta’s London-based club holding the top spot for most of the 2023-24 season.

At the beginning of April, all three sides were bunched at the top of the table, but two teams fell off as the final month and a half played out. Liverpool, in Jurgen Klopp’s final season as manager, drew with Manchester United, West Ham, and Aston Villa while losing to Crystal Palace and crosstown rivals Everton in the Merseyside Derby.

Those results led to a two-team race in the season’s final weeks between Man City and Arsenal. However, Arsenal dropped a match to Aston Villa in mid-April, opening the door for City’s historic four-peat.

Despite Man City controlling their own destiny on the final day of the EPL season, Arsenal still had a shot on Sunday. Guardiola’s squad had just a two-point lead in the standings, so an Arsenal in and a draw or loss by City would give the Gunners the trophy.

City went up 1-0 on West Ham just 80 seconds into the match with a Phil Foden howler, and the Manchester-area native added a second in the 18th minute. The Hammers pulled one back just before the half with an incredible Mohammed Kudud bicycle kick in the 42nd minute, but Arsenal was struggling with Everton, going down 1-0 in the 40th minute before equalizing in the 43rd.

In the second half, Rodri gave City a 3-1 edge, and even though Kai Havertz scored a dramatic late winner in the 89th minute, the race to become English Premier League champions was over with 30 minutes to go on the final day.