In the home finale at a sun-drenched Etihad Stadium on Sunday, Manchester City celebrated their Premier League champion by defeating Chelsea 1-0 with an early goal by Julian Alvarez.
Arsenal was defeated by Nottingham Forest on Saturday, and title-winning City won their 12th straight match in the top division.
They’ve played 36 games and have 88 points, seven more than Arsenal who’ve played 37 games. Chelsea, led by Frank Lampard, are in 12th place with 43 points and one game left.
After receiving a pass from Kyle Walker, Alvarez scored for a City team that was primarily made up of backup players in the 12th minute. Another of his goals was disallowed due to a handball in the build-up.
Pep Guardiola left his star players, including the prolific scorer Erling Haaland, on the bench for the majority of the game since there was nothing on the line on Sunday and two important games, the FA Cup and Champions League finals, were coming up. Regardless of the components the brilliant manager had to work with, the city nonetheless prevailed, demonstrating that they are a well-oiled machine.
When Arsenal’s 1-0 loss to the Londoners put an end to any prospects of catching them, City were declared champions for the third consecutive year and fifth time in six years a day sooner than anticipated.
Sunday had a joyful atmosphere. While tens of thousands of spectators poured onto the field following the final whistle, Chelsea showed sportsmanship by providing the City players, who had watched the Arsenal game together the previous night, a guard of honor prior to kickoff.
Despite being a late replacement, Haaland failed to add to his Premier League season record of 36 goals.
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