Manchester City are officially the champions of the Premier League for the third year running after Arsenal lost to Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening.
City came into the season as defending champions but by December, it was almost certain that they were going to lose their crown.
Arsenal, led by Cityzens’ former assistant manager Mikel Arteta, had shocked everyone with their impressive football and never-say-die mentality to grab hold of the top of the table and keep every other team at arm’s length.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup would come and go and Arsenal’s downfall would begin, handing City all the advantage. Pep Guardiola and his boys would slowly creep up on the Gunners, beat them twice, and eventually overtake them to make history in the English top flight.
They are now only the second team to three-peat the Premier League title after their derby rivals Manchester United, who did it twice in the 2000s.
Arsenal could have delayed the title celebrations till the last day of the league or outrightly stolen back the title if they had overcome Nottingham Forest at the City Ground and Chelsea pulled the impossible to beat Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday.
However, City fans will now celebrate the first of what is a possible treble this season and lift the Premier League trophy in front of their fans at the Etihad when they face Chelsea. This is regardless of the outcome of that game, as the worst case scenario will see Guardiola’s men finish with a one-point lead to retain their crown.
Celebrations have begun in earnest and the club’s players are at the forefront of it. They sat together as a squad to watch Arsenal take on Forest on Saturday afternoon and at the final blast of the whistle, jubilated wildly at achieving the historic feat.
Clips from Manchester City’s official social media handles showed Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden counting down the seconds to the last blast of the whistle in the Arsenal game which officially sealed their championship retention.
The squad would all take to social media to continue the celebrations.
Erling Haaland, whose record breaking debut season will see him end with his first league title in an European top five league as well as the golden boot, was the most visible on social media following the confirmation of Arsenal’s loss.
He posted a graphic of himself and the league title and captioned it, “Always give your best. Always believe. It pays off. C’MON CITY!”
They will now turn their attention to Chelsea as they look to finish the season strong.
