“Drop points and we’re not going to win” – that was the pep talk by Pep Guardiola before the final game of the season against West Ham. No mocking about, no quoting the famous generals etc. Kevin De Bruyne revealed this to Sky Sports cameras as the Citizen needed a victory in order to win their fourth consecutive title and get themselves in the history books of all English leagues. And they did it with another dominant performance and defeated West Ham 3-1 to retain their title, their sixth in the last 10 years. Arsenal needed a win and at least a draw in Manchester but managed only a triumph at the Emirates with a Havertz goal in the 89th minute. After all, the Citizens earned the right to decide on their own destiny when Arsenal lost to Aston Villa 2-0 in April, and they kept their nerve until the very end. They destroyed already uninterested West Ham managed a total of 28 shots on goal, and made an unprecedented success in England. Until the Premier League gets to the bottom of the 115 charges they brought up against City, they will be the undisputed champions with a result that no one ever made in the history of English football, and we all know how competitive that league is. With the quality of the competition, we can argue that they even made a better result than Sir Alex Ferguson’s generation.Bukayo Saka misses out the final game with a slight muscle injury and was replaced in the line-up by Gabriel Martinelli, who made his first Premier League start since the 6-0 win at Sheffield United on March 4. It’s hard to tell if that was the reason they failed to score the winner until the very end or they were just mentally ‘killed’ by an early lead in Manchester. Surely they knew that there are second to non-chances for City to fail. On the other side, Guardiola made one change, and that was the offensive one – Doku instead of Mateo Kovacic. Phil Foden has now won six Premier League titles, more than Andy Cole, Wayne Rooney and John Terry. He’s only 23-years-old. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/ktFn1Ojbsf— Squawka (@Squawka) May 19, 2024 The result of the first half at the Etihad was not so strange, as everybody expected the Citizens to lead, but the number of misses in the first 45 minutes was staggering. After Phil Foden scored within the first 90 seconds of the game and then added another one after 16 minutes, City looked like they will score at least five goals until the end of the half, but Haaland missed two sitters, Rodri missed the post and Areola saved De Bruyne’s shot. In total, City had 10 shots on target and ended up with only two goals. So, when Mohammed Kudus scored a fantastic bicycle kick goal with West Ham’s only second shot on target, Pep Guardiola was caught by cameras swearing in Spanish. There was no peace at the Etihad until Rodri put the game away in the 59th minute. After that the celebration could begin, since the Hammers were not really interested to push the Citizens anyway. Above all, Arsenal was only 1-1 at the time with Everton and half an hour before the final whistle in the Premier League, everything was over.Phil Foden totally killed the mood at the Emirates. Everything was set for a quick win; the fans believed that maybe some sort of miracle was possible in Manchester, but the cameras were concentrated on the Arsenal fans, who were non-stop on their phones when the news of his goal came after only 90 seconds. When he doubled the lead, the atmosphere was more like on a memorial service then on a football field. The Hammers tried and tried but Martinelli’s and Rice’s shots were saved by Pickford. Then Gueye stunned the home fans with a free kick, which touched Rice and changed direction to give the Toffies a 1-0 lead. Tomiyasu levelled just a minute after Kudus in Manchester, and the Emirates exploded. The joy lasted until Rodri’s goal, and the dream was over. Havertz scored the winner at the last minute of the match but nobody cared at that point. There is always the next season.PREMIER LEAGUE – FINAL MATCHDAYManchester City – West Ham 3-1 (2-1)/Foden 2,18, Rodri 59 – Kudus 42/Arsenal – Everton 2-1/Tomiyasu 43, Havertz 89 – Gueye 40/Brighton – Manchester United 0-2 (0-0)/Dalot 73, Hojlund 88/Liverpool – Wolverhampton 2-0 (2-0)/Mac Allister 34, Quansah 40/Burnley – Nottingham Forest 1-2 (0-2)/Cullen 72 – Wood 2,14/Chelsea – Bournemouth 2-1(1-0)/Caicedo 17, Sterling 48 – Badiashile 50og/Crystal Palace – Aston Villa 5-0 (2-0)/Mateta 9,39,63, Eze 54,69/Brentford – Newcastle 2-4 (0-3)/Wissa 70, Janelt 48 – Barnes 21, Murphy 36, Isak 38, Guimaraes 77/Luton – Fulham 2-4 (1-2)/Morris 45+1 pen, Doughty 55 – Traore 43, Jimenez 45+3, 49, Wilson 68/Sheffield Utd – Tottenham 0-3 (0-1)/Kulusevski 14, 65, Porro 59/
