Manchester City now has the Premier League title in their hands after defeating Arsenal on Wednesday by a score of 4-1.
With a brutal victory over the team that has been in the lead for the majority of the season, Pep Guardiola’s team appeared to be a contender for the title.
The Londoners’ title challenge appeared to be practically ended by the time Erling Haaland added the last goal in stoppage time, even though Arsenal is still in the lead in the standings.
City is still two points behind the league leader, but with two games left, it looks like it will win the title for a third straight season.
It is in our hands, according to Guardiola. “Up until now, I have favoured Arsenal’s situation because, should they defeat us, it will be in their hands. It is now our fate.
It is difficult to imagine City sliding up from here after 17 games without a loss.
Arsenal, on the other hand, would find it difficult to bounce back from such a humiliating defeat, which came after three straight draws that had halted its title challenge.
By completing the challenge this far, Mikel Arteta’s crew has exceeded all expectations; nonetheless, the strain seems to have caught up to them lately.
It took a late recovery to save a point against bottom-place Southampton last week after two-goal leads were blown against Liverpool and West Ham.
Arsenal needed to defeat City in order to maintain control of the title race after that disastrous sequence.
The Arsenal boss stated, “Those players deserve a lot of credit after nine and a half months being here. “Five more games remain to be played. I have been in this nation for 22 years and have seen a lot of things, but this league does not have two equal games.
“First, we need to encourage our players who struggled tonight while playing a superior team. But we are also a fantastic team.
With a victory at Fulham on Sunday, City may reclaim first place in the standings.
However, after defeating Arsenal for the third time this year, including a victory in the FA Cup, the biggest test has already been passed.
Guardiola and Arteta refused to acknowledge that this game would decide the title, but it put City well in control, and it would take a significant decline for them to cede the initiative back to Arsenal.
The second part of the season saw City struggle with consistency, but as the season has progressed, the team has become stronger to the point where it currently feels unbeatable.
On Wednesday, Haaland scored his 49th goal of the year, and Kevin de Bruyne scored twice while playing at his inspirational best.
Guardiola remarked, “With or without Erling, Kevin is a maestro of the assist. Erling consistently scores goals, whether Kevin is present or not. But when teams press so hard and there is space behind the ball, it is so dangerous that we use it when we are together.
In the seventh minute, De Bruyne gave City the lead, and John Stones doubled it in the last seconds of the first half.
Before Haaland’s goal, De Bruyne scored once more in the 54th and Rob Holding got one back for Arsenal in the 86th.
After making it to both the FA Cup final and the Champions League semifinals, City is still in the running for a treble of championships.
Given the pace Arsenal set by winning nine of its first ten games of the season, the Premier League appeared to be out of reach for a while.
Arsenal bounced back to win seven straight league games despite suffering a loss to City in February.
Guardiola, however, is on the verge of winning his sixth championship since taking over the club in 2016, thanks to a mix of City’s unrelenting success and Arsenal’s misstep.
Even though it appears that the quest for the first championship since 2004 will continue, Arteta must motivate his team for the remaining games.
He declared that the only way to proceed was to “accept the fact. “They deserved to win the game because they were better than us. We need to get better and have the humility to accept that. By doing that, you will improve.
RELATIONSHIP FIGHT
Nottingham Forest defeated Brighton 3-1 at the City Ground to escape the relegation zone after going 11 games without a victory.
Brennan Johnson’s early penalty was saved, and Steve Cooper’s team then had to come back following Facundo Buonanotte’s goal in the 38th minute.
In the first half’s last seconds, an own goal by Pascal Gross evened the score, and in the 68th minute, Danilo gave Forest the lead.
The points were secured in stoppage time by Morgan Gibbs-White’s penalty, giving Forest’s chances of surviving a significant boost.
ANOTHER LOSS FOR CHELSEA
The dream of Frank Lampard rejoining Chelsea is becoming a nightmare.
Since he was named temporary manager this month, he has lost five straight games, with Brentford winning 2-0 on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea’s latest defeat was set in motion by Cesar Azpilicueta’s own goal in the first period, and Bryan Mbeumo added a second for the guests in the 78th.
The American owners of Chelsea, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, may be tempted to try to persuade Mauricio Pochettino to take over immediately rather than wait until the end of the current campaign now that he is apparently close to being named Chelsea’s permanent manager.
“This moment is tough,” Lampard said. “This club has experienced many, many good moments in recent times.” “We’d love a magic wand and a magical moment, but in football it doesn’t happen because the Premier League is so competitive. We have to struggle for our chance.
Liverpool discovers a form
Liverpool is now in the mix to qualify for the Europa League and perhaps more after three victories in a row.
After defeating West Ham at the London Stadium by a score of 2-1, Jurgen Klopp’s team has moved up to sixth place.
Cody Gakpo tied the score six minutes after Lucas Paqueta gave West Ham the lead with a goal in the 12th minute. In the 67th minute, Joel Matip scored the winning goal.
