As a result of Arsenal’s shocking 1-0 loss against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, Pep Guardiola’s squad from north London no longer had any mathematical chance of dethroning them as league champions.
With just one game and a maximum of three points remaining in the season, the Gunners cannot catch Guardiola’s team because they are now four points behind City in the standings.
Since City’s streak of 23 games without a loss coincided with and influenced Arsenal’s slow retreat from its perch at the top of the table, which it had held for 248 days of the season—the longest streak in English top-flight history for a team that finished second—the outcome has appeared increasingly inevitable for weeks.
Arsenal’s chances of winning the league title for the first time since the 2003–04 season have been steadily fading despite holding an eight-point lead just last month.
This has happened as a result of a run of three unlikely draws, a 4-1 loss at Manchester City in April, a 3-0 loss to Brighton the previous week, and now this defeat at Nottingham, a team that is fighting for its very survival in the Premier League.
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The idea of City winning the Premier League, its fifth in six years, has thus had time to develop and solidify, almost normalizing an accomplishment so monumental it is matched by just one other team in the league’s history—Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United between 1995/96 and 2000/01.
With games against Manchester United in the FA Cup final on June 3 and Inter Milan in the Champions League final on June 10, City still has a chance to win the “Treble” and add two more trophies to its collection this year.
The captain of Manchester City, lkay Gündoan, reportedly commented, “It’s incredible to have won this trophy three times in a row and five times in six years.”
That level of excellence and reliability “helps capture what Manchester City stand for and guarantees the team will pursue success moving forward.”
Nottingham Forest supporters were joyful inside the stadium as victory ensured their team’s survival in the league, dancing, singing, yelling, and waving scarves while City supporters celebrated their championship.
The enormous stakes for both teams were clear throughout, and Forest took the lead on minute 19 when Taiwo Awoniyi scored off a counterattack after Martin Degaard fumbled a pass.
However, despite dominating possession and mounting pressure, Arsenal was unable to breach Forest’s defense.
According to the official website of Arsenal, Forest had just 18% of the ball, the lowest percentage for a winning team in a Premier League game since 2003/04.
Despite this, the home team still looked more dangerous and had two chances to increase its lead in the second half, missing both times when Morgan Gibbs-White found Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
On May 28, Arsenal plays their final match of the year against Wolves, while Manchester City still has three games left to defend its title as Premier League champion.
