……Chelsea Clinch European Place.
Emmanuel lkpeama
Manchester City on Sunday made English Premier League history by becoming the first side to clinch four consecutive titles after beating West Ham at the Etihad stadium as no side in the history of the English top flight had ever won four successive titles, but City have become accustomed to rewriting the record books under Pep Guardiola.
The Catalan coach has masterminded six Premier League wins in the past seven seasons by beating West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium to retain the Premier League title for the fourth time in a row.
This is the first time in the history of the Premier League that a club has won the league four consecutive times, all thanks to the ingenuity of coach Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
Manchester City proved to be unstoppable from the start of their last game of the campaign as they scored the match opener in the second minute through the boots of Phil Foden.
In the 18th minute of the game, Foden showed why he won the Premier League Player of the Season by scoring the second goal of the game.
Interestingly, West Ham United tried to stage a comeback toward the end of the first half as Mohammed Kudus got one back for his team in the 42nd minute,but unfortunately for coach David Moyes and his boys, that was the best they could get as Rodri sealed the 3-1 victory for City in the 59th minute of the game.
On the other hand,Arsenal’s dreams of a first Premier League crown in 20 years were dashed as their 2-1 win against Everton was rendered irrelevant by Manchester City’s title-clinching victory over West Ham.
Mikel Arteta’s side had gone into the last day of the season needing to beat Everton at the Emirates Stadium and hope City drew or lost in Manchester if they were to steal the title in miraculous fashion,but the Gunners were forced to settle for second place after relentless champions City beat West Ham 3-1.
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It will be recalled that Arsenal chased Manchester City from April to the last day of the season as they hoped to win their first Premier League title in 20 years. The Gunners expected City to lose to West Ham, while they beat Everton but things didn’t go as planned.
On the other hand, Arsenal came from behind to defeat Everton 2-1 thanks to goals from Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kai Havertz, but the win didn’t make any difference thanks to City’s victory at the Etihad Stadium.
Hence, Manchester City led by Pep Guardiola won the 2023-2024 Premier League title with 91 points in 38 games, two points above second-place Arsenal.
Idrissa Gueye put Everton in front late in the first half before Takehiro Tomiyasu quickly equalised.
By the time Kai Havertz scored Arsenal’s winner in the 89th minute, City were already well on course to retain the title as they finished two points behind City, who have won an unprecedented four successive titles and six in the last seven years.
Before now,Arsenal staff were seen rehearsing a mock title presentation at the Emirates on Saturday, complete with replicas of the trophy and medals, as well as signs emblazoned with the slogan ‘Premier League champions’.
But there would be no genuine title party in north London as Arteta’s heartbroken players were forced to accept their fate.
Arsenal fans had strolled down the sun-baked Holloway Road towards the Emirates more in hope than expectation of seeing a title-winning team, while some even wore West Ham shirts rather than their own clubs in a nod to the favour required from their London rivals 200 miles to the north.
In another development,Chelsea secured a 2-1 win over Bournemouth and a place in Europe next season with a magnificent lobbed goal from the halfway line by Moisés Caicedo and a twisting effort from Raheem Sterling in their final Premier League game on Sunday.
The result means Chelsea finish sixth and will play in the Europa League if Premier League champions Manchester City win the FA Cup final next weekend or the Europa Conference League if Manchester United with the Wembley showpiece.
The south-coast side had only 39% possession but 22 shots against 16 from the hosts. They should have equalised in the dying moments but former Chelsea striker Dominic Solanke, who came on as a substitute, fired over the bar from close range,as Chelsea were on top from the start at Stamford Bridge.
Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto rushed out of his area in the 17th minute to stop the advancing Sterling but his clearance dropped to Caicedo and the Ecuadorean lobbed a perfect shot from the halfway line into the net for his first Chelsea goal.Two minutes into the second half, Sterling doubled the lead by rounding two defenders before slipping the ball through Neto’s legs at the near post.
Barely a minute later, though, Bournemouth got one back when Enes Ünal’s shot took a big deflection off Chelsea defender Benoît Badiashile and flew into the net.
The outcome was more than Chelsea fans might have expected after a misfiring start to the season under Mauricio Pochettino.
The London side were languishing in 12th place at the start of last month, despite having more success in the domestic cups having reaching the League Cup final and FA Cup semi-finals
On Sunday no fans were booing or calling for Argentine Pochettino to go as they had earlier in the year. Instead they celebrated Chelsea’s fifth win in a row.
There were tears from former Brazil defender Thiago Silva, who at 39 played his last game after four years at the club. His team mates gave him a guard of honour before doing a customary season-ending lap of honour.
Victor Boniface, striker for the Super Eagles, as usual, engaged in the festivities in grand fashion, flying the Nigerian flag in honour of his native country while rehearsing his signature dance move with his colleagues. With two championship matches remaining this season (the DFB Pokal and the Europa League), Leverkusen have gone undefeated in 51 matches in all competitions.
