Bournemouth 1-1 Man City: Josep Guardiola’s side missed out on a chance to challenge for the title on the final day of his final managerial season.
Josep Guardiola looks set to leave the Premier League without a title in his final season (Image: Getty Images)
You can almost hear the sounds of Arsenal’s celebrations on the south coast. Manchester City were unable to give Josep Guardiola his dream farewell gift, with Bournemouth gifting Arsenal the title instead.
There was no fairy tale ending for Guardiola as City were unable to muster one last heroic effort from the club’s greatest manager ever.
Guardiola will have to be content with just two trophies this season, the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup, to add to his 20 silver medals in a glorious decade, as Arsenal claim the biggest prize of them all.
It was an incredible race between the rivals, but in the end Arsenal came out ahead of City. The away fans chanted, “One more year, Guardiola, one more year.” But it was all in vain.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and his players will have watched on and urged Bournemouth to finish their job. And that’s exactly what they did.
Arsenal Premier League Champions – Special Edition now on sale
After 22 years of near misses, heartbreaks and drama, the Gooners are once again the best team in the land. The souvenir edition tells the story of an extraordinary season by Mikel Arteta’s men. Order your copy here
Join us on Facebook! For the latest news, analysis and more on our Mirror Football Facebook page
Arteta and his players finally ended their long wait to win the championship, with champagne and celebrations after the best night in 22 years.
City put in a last heroic effort to stay in the title race at least until the final day and give Guardiola the chance to give him a dream send-off on the final day.
But that wasn’t the case. City were overtaken, overtaken and overtaken by the press just once. Bournemouth put in a great performance while chasing their Champions League dreams.
Arsenal fans can finally celebrate (Image: Johnny Goldsmith)
Erling Haaland scored the equalizer late in stoppage time, but by then it was too late. The title was missing.
Guardiola said before kick-off that all this talk, and the worst secret of his departure in the summer, was not a distraction and had “absolutely no impact” on the team’s preparations.
It certainly was. City’s players were certainly motivated to win for their outgoing manager. But eventually, even superheroes run out of energy.
City won the FA Cup at Wembley on Saturday, but coming to Bournemouth just three days later was an incredible ask. It was win or lose and City were unable to create another miracle. Three games in seven days was too much for City.
Guardiola headed to the away fans at the final whistle, leaving both he and other City players in shock. they were overwhelmed.
Arsenal are crowned champions for the first time since 2004 (Image: Johnny Goldsmith)
Bournemouth had the best player on the pitch in Alex Scott, who led the game as a midfielder, dictated the pace and set the tempo. It would be unforgivable if England didn’t take him to the World Cup.
It was Scott who scored Bournemouth’s goal in the 39th minute. Marcus Tavernier took over and Adrien Truffert raced up the left flank and with a nice pullback Junior Crupi found the back of the net and curled a shot into the top corner.
Arsenal have always admired Crupi, and they must love him even more now. City did a great job chasing down Bournemouth, but their away matches have been inconsistent this season, and they ran out of gas in the second half, causing a slump.
Erling Haaland’s late goal was just a consolation (Image: Getty Images)
No matter how hard City tried, they could not turn things around. Guardiola brought in Rayan Cherki, Sabinho, Phil Foden and Omar Marmouche, but this time even the cavalry could not save City.
Haaland equalized five minutes into stoppage time as City’s indomitable spirit remained alive. Rodri hits the post and Haaland shoots the ball. But it was too late.
But there should be no excuses. They finished runners-up against Arsenal and are very worthy champions. Last month, Arsenal lost to the Etihad and lost their place at the top of the table, but they came back to claim the title. City and the team that sees off Guardiola really deserve it.
Join our new WhatsApp community! Click this link to receive daily Mirror Football content. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+ and Ultimate TV packages
Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundles to include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, plus 135 channels and complete coverage of the Premier League and EFL from Sky.
Sky has over 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more, with at least 215 of them live from the top flight, along with F1, darts and golf.
