Manchester City were crowned Premier League champions for the third season running over the weekend, after second-placed Arsenal went down 1-0 to relegation battlers Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The defeat for the Gunners meant coach Pep Guardiola’s team wrapped up the title even before taking the field at home against Chelsea on Sunday and with three games to go.
Fullback Kyle Walker says they were pushed all the way by the Gunners, who had an eight-point lead last month and had led the league for 248 days, but they saved the best for last.
Goodnight! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/T37ansa5BR
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 21, 2023
Before Sunday night’s match, City had won 13 out of their last 14 matches and Walker says: “Arsenal pushed us right to the limit, they’ve been fantastic, so all credit to them. We just went on an incredible run, they had a few hiccups, we capitalised on it and we’ve managed to end up where we have.
“It’s the players we’ve got. We’re a bunch of lads who have achieved so much over the last number of years and we understand the standards we've set.
“As for inspiration, there’s the captains, managers and so on but we drive ourselves. We achieved so much over the past five or six years, but we knew the bar wasn’t high enough at the start of the season.”
Today's winner! 🤟 pic.twitter.com/4wVBB9yqhT
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 21, 2023
With their fifth title in the last six seasons in the bag, City celebrated in style in front of the Etihad faithful, klapping Chelsea 1-0 thanks to clinical finish from Julian Alvares after only 12 minutes.
The Derby 🤩
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) April 23, 2023
It'll be an all-Manchester Final for the pinnacle of the 2022/23 #EmiratesFACup 🏆 pic.twitter.com/bgMobg4Qd8
City now look emulate neighbours United’s treble-winning season in 1998/99 and will face the Red Devils in the FA Cup final on June 3 and Inter Milan at Istanbul in the Champions League final the week after that.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za