Gunners End 22-Year Wait, Win EPL
Arsenal have been crowned Premier League champions for the first time in 22 years after Manchester City’s 1-1 draw with Bournemouth.
City’s failure to win at the Vitality Stadium on Tuesday means that Pep Guardiola’s men can no longer catch Arsenal when the final round of fixtures takes place this weekend.
The Gunners, who’ve been top of the table for the vast majority of this season, beat Burnley 1-0 on Monday to build a five-point gap between themselves and City.
Kai Havertz’s first-half goal made the difference against a Burnley side who’ve already been relegated. That put the pressure back on City to take all three points from their game in hand at Bournemouth.
The match took took 24 hours after the bombshell news broke that Guardiola will be leaving City at the end of the season, despite having one year left on his contract.
Eli Junior Kroupi gave Bournemouth the lead in the 39th minute which meant that City needed to score twice. The visitors were markedly improved after Guardiola made a triple substitution before the hour mark, giving them fresh attacking impetus.
But Bournemouth defended resolutely, as they have done all season under departing boss Andoni Iraola. The Cherries knew that a victory would put them within a point of fifth-placed Liverpool going into the final day, dreaming of Champions League football.
But after Erling Haaland smashed home an equaliser in stoppage time, they’ll likely have to settle for the Europa League – still a huge milestone. For City, however, it was too little too late, and the title race is now over.
Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.
