Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side clinched another Premier League title Sunday, becoming the first club in the 135-year history of England’s top flight to claim the crown in four consecutive seasons.
City sealed their latest triumph with a 3-1 victory over West Ham United on the final day of the season, a result that kept title hopefuls Arsenal at bay. The Citizens knew going into the contest that a win would secure the silverware, regardless of Arsenal’s result in their concurrent clash with Everton. Mikel Arteta’s team held up its end of the bargain, winning 2-1, but it wasn’t enough to end the club’s 20-year wait for a league title.
Phil Foden scored two early goals in front of an expectant crowd at the Etihad, including a wicked left-footed strike just 78 seconds into the match. A stunning overhead kick from Mohammed Kudus halved West Ham’s deficit going into halftime and gave Arsenal fans hope of a dramatic turnaround, but Rodri eased City’s nerves in the second half to put the result beyond doubt.
Man City, who closed out the campaign with nine successive wins to hold off Arsenal, have now hoisted the trophy in six of the last seven seasons. Guardiola has been at the helm for that entire spell.
City needed to be almost flawless to beat Arsenal to top spot for the second year running; the Gunners won 16 of 18 games in 2024, with just one draw. But a costly home defeat to Aston Villa last month nudged the door open for Guardiola’s men, who promptly stormed right through it and didn’t look back. The relentless champions dropped just six points, all coming in draws, from mid-December onward, going on one of their trademark late-season surges to leave everyone else in their wake and claim their 10th top-flight title overall.
“It’s not boring, it’s difficult,” Guardiola explained ahead of Sunday’s finale.
“They should be there. They are not there,” he said of peers like Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal, rejecting claims that City’s recent dominance is owed to the financial might of the club’s Abu Dhabi-based owners. That spending power has come under intense scrutiny, especially of late, as City, charged with 115 breaches of the league’s financial regulations over a nine-year period, await a ruling from an independent regulatory commission.
Whatever happens off the field, Guardiola’s impact on English football is undeniable.
With six Premier League titles, the Catalan tactician trails only iconic Manchester United bench boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who has 13 to his name.
Guardiola and City can add yet another accolade to their ever-growing cabinet when they take on United in the FA Cup final on May 25.
Win or lose at Wembley, City’s season will go down in the history books. Other English clubs have won four top-flight titles in five seasons – Aston Villa in the 1890s and Liverpool in the 1980s – and a handful have stood on the top step of the podium three successive times.
But nobody has raised the trophy four years in a row. Until now.
