Arsenal champions as Man City’s pursuit of another Premier League title ends in draw at Bournemouth
Arsenal were crowned Premier League champions for the first time in 22 years after second-placed Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw by a Bournemouth side bound for Europe.
Amid reports manager Pep Guardiola will step down at the end of the season, City needed to win at Vitality Stadium to take the title race to the final day.
Erling Haaland equalised in added time to cancel out Junior Kroupi’s record-breaking 13th top-flight goal of the campaign but the visitors were unable to force a winner as Guardiola was denied a potential fairytale farewell.
Bournemouth’s historic achievement was a fitting way to mark the final home game of head coach Andoni Iraola, who was given a rousing send-off at full-time ahead of being replaced by Marco Rose in the summer.
Following a remarkable 17th league game without loss, the Cherries are guaranteed a top-seven finish and remain in contention for Champions League football ahead of Sunday’s season finale at Nottingham Forest.
City are now an insurmountable four points adrift of the table-topping Gunners, with speculation Guardiola is set to end his contract a year early and be succeeded by Enzo Maresca after the weekend visit of Aston Villa.
The 10-time English champions arrived on the south coast three days after lifting the FA Cup but with news of Guardiola’s possible departure dominating the headlines.
Travelling fans chanted “one more year, one more year, Guardiola” at regular intervals, while one fan unfurled a bedsheet with ‘Pep Stay’ written on it.
Published: by Radio NewsHub