It is official: Arsenal are no longer the Premier League's bottlers. On Tuesday night, the Gunners clinched the title without kicking a ball, sparking massive celebrations in north London as their 22-year wait for a league championship came to an end. Arsenal fans were spared final-day anxiety at Crystal Palace thanks to Manchester City's failure to beat Bournemouth. Erling Haaland's fine injury-time equalizer proved too little, too late for Pep Guardiola's side, who could not step up when it truly mattered.
This sequence sums up City's season. There is little shame in losing to Bournemouth these days; Andoni Iraola's team has lost only one game since the turn of the year, against the newly crowned champions back in January. Bournemouth even dealt a blow that once seemed destined to destabilize Arsenal's hopes, winning 2-1 at the Emirates in early April. No one has been safe from the south coast outfit.
But Arsenal are finally the bride after years as the bridesmaid. Three consecutive second-place finishes, including devastating capitulations, saw them labeled the league's bottle jobs—a label they have worn too often over the past two decades. When they lost the Carabao Cup final and crashed out of the FA Cup within weeks, old fears resurfaced and peaked after a loss to City at the Etihad last month. One City fan went viral with a homemade Arsenal bottle that day, reveling in the misery. He might now be the most mocked man in the country.
The perennial fear for Arsenal was that City could go on a relentless winning run, as they had in previous seasons. But it never happened, and there was little evidence that they had it in them. In the end, Arsenal held their nerve—something City repeatedly failed to do this term.
New Year's Hangover
The gap at the top was just two points at the turn of the year, but three consecutive draws for City allowed Arsenal to set the pace. A stalemate at Sunderland was followed by a 1-1 draw with Chelsea, who had parted ways with head coach Enzo Maresca days earlier. Three days later, more points were dropped at home to Brighton. After FA Cup and League Cup duties, a trip to Old Trafford for Michael Carrick's first game as Manchester United boss saw City blown away 2-0 on derby day.
In early February, City meekly surrendered a 2-0 lead at Tottenham in a surreal match. The gap soon stood at nine points again.
Dropped Points Against Lower Sides
On a Wednesday night in March, City and Arsenal kicked off simultaneously, with City hosting Nottingham Forest and Arsenal traveling to Brighton. Despite a seemingly easier match against a relegation-threatened side, City stumbled to a 2-2 draw while Arsenal won on the road. The following week, City could not produce a winner in a 1-1 draw at West Ham, who were stranded in the relegation zone. Meanwhile, Max Dowman inspired Arsenal to another huge win against Everton.
Arsenal did throw City a lifeline. After beating Mikel Arteta's side in the Carabao Cup final, momentum shifted as City thrashed Chelsea while Arsenal lost to Bournemouth. That set up a titanic showdown at the Etihad on April 21, where City's 2-1 win moved them within three points with a game in hand. Their celebrations suggested a pivotal moment, but they never capitalized.
Going back to the 2011-12 season, City beat Manchester United to the title on the final day, but a manic 4-4 draw with Everton three weeks earlier had set alarm bells ringing for Sir Alex Ferguson. This season, the same opposition landed a devastating blow with a 3-3 draw at the Hill Dickson Stadium in early May, meaning Arsenal's destiny was back in their own hands. They made that reprieve count.
City might argue that the furore over Guardiola's future this week was an unwanted distraction, but that topic has raged all season. In January, they spent £85 million on Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi, the league's in-form winger and arguably England's best centre-half. Yet this City squad lacks the ruthless winning spirit embodied by former heroes like Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne, and Ilkay Gundogan. Like Arsenal, they have had ample opportunity to rebuild, spending almost £240 million over the last 12 months—just shy of Arsenal's £250 million.
City's trophy room is a testament to their quality, and the Carabao Cup and FA Cup represent a respectable haul this season. But the days of relying on Arsenal losing their nerve are over. Now it is down to City to rediscover theirs.
