Arsenal have won the Premier League to end a 22-year wait for a title and break a run of three successive seasons as runners-up.
The Gunners were confirmed as champions with a game to spare thanks to Man City slipping up at Bournemouth in a 1-1 draw, with the gap still four points with only one game remaining.
Mikel Arteta’s side will now travel across London to Crystal Palace on the final day of the 2025/26 season as champions, having clinched the club’s 14th title, the third-most in English football history.
Arsenal had applied the pressure to Pep Guardiola’s side with a narrow 1-0 win over Burnley on Monday night thanks to Kai Havertz’s goal, forcing City to win to extend the title race and narrow the five-point gap at the top.
But City, with Guardiola set to leave this summer and end his 10-year dynasty at the club, could not hold their nerve, held by the Cherries, who qualified for Europe thanks to a goal from Eli Junior Kroupi, with Erling Haaland’s stoppage time goal not enough to extend the title race.
“Congratulations to Arsenal, but for City, we just expect a little bit more, when it was in their hands, they couldn’t get it over the line,” said former City defender Micah Richards. “It’s a bad day. To fall away how they have, Everton is tough, Bournemouth too, but we expect more.”
It is Arsenal’s first title since Arsene Wenger guided the club to the third of three titles in his famous reign, with a side that became known as ‘The Invincibles’ after completing an unbeaten 38-game Premier League campaign.
But in the seventh full season of Arteta’s spell in charge at Emirates Stadium, having rebuilt the club, Arsenal have finally returned to the top of English football.
Wild scenes across north London unfolded, with fans gathering in pubs to watch the game in hope of celebrations without their team playing.
Winning the title was in doubt just last month, however, when Arsenal fell to Man City at the Etihad Stadium last month, but the Londoners have since won four games without conceding a goal, with Declan Rice hailing his side’s mentality.
“We knew on the inside that we had the belief and we could still win it [after losing at Man City],” Rice said. “But it’s emotional because where this club has come from over the last 10 years – the ups and downs.
“I wasn’t here before, but I knew about it, I heard about it and to be a part of what is going on now is so special. This club deserves really good things and we have worked really hard towards that, so let’s keep pushing.”
Arsenal can now capture an unprecedented double by winning a first Champions League title in their history next Saturday against Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest.
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