Manchester City are on the brink of winning the English Premier League title after Arsenal on Sunday crashed to a shock 3-0 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Mikel Arteta’s side were rocked by second-half goals from Julio Enciso, Deniz Undav and Pervis Estupinan at the Emirates Stadium.
Second-placed Arsenal trail City by four points and a defeat for the Gunners at Nottingham Forest on Saturday would hand Pep Guardiola’s men their fifth title in six years.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Fired by Ilkay Gundogan’s brace and Erling Haaland’s latest goal, City’s 3-0 win at Everton earlier on Sunday had moved them within touching distance of the title.
Arsenal’s dismal loss makes the silverware almost certain to remain in Manchester.
Even if Arsenal beat Forest, City would be champions for a third successive season if they defeat Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Speaking after City’s win at Goodison Park, Guardiola reveled in his team’s ability to dominate in the title race, while also competing for the UEFA Champions League and the FA Cup.
City host Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final second leg tomorrow with the tie level at 1-1 and face Manchester United in the FA Cup final.
“It’s a dream come true being here. The only team in Europe to be fighting in all competitions,” Guardiola said. “From minute one we took the game in our hands. It was a brilliant performance at the end of the season. Still it is not over, in the Premier League is it never over. I said to the players try to relax and just do what you have done for the last four or five years.”
City have three games to play, with the Chelsea clash followed by trips to Brighton and Brentford, while Arsenal have just a home match against Wolverhampton Wanderers after their trip to Forest.
While battle-tested City are powering toward the finish line, Arsenal’s young team have choked away their bid to win a first title since 2003-2004.
Arsenal’s four-game winless run, including a 4-1 thrashing at City, allowed their rivals to seize top spot, an opportunity they have exploited in ruthless fashion.
“We have a very experienced team and it’s not really a new situation to us, competing for the last few games of the season with someone else,” City midfielder Gundogan said. “The margin for mistakes is very slim, we know that, and that we were able to live these moments already in the past helps us a lot.”
Although Arsenal’s unexpected title challenge seems destined to fall short, it has still been a hugely encouraging season for the north Londoners after more than a decade of underachievement.
There is no shame in coming second to a team of treble-chasing City’s class, although Arteta will be frustrated they failed to last the pace after leading the table for long periods.
“We gave a silly goal away and the team had no answers from 2-0. We have to apologize to our people for the second half. It was not acceptable,” Arteta said. “Mathematically, it’s still possible, but it’s impossible to think about it. We need to digest the result, understand why and have a different reaction. I have no idea if Man City will lose it, but I have to think about what we can do to beat Nottingham Forest.”
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard went close with a stinging shot that whistled just wide before their second-half collapse against Brighton.
Leandro Trossard almost netted against his old club when the Arsenal forward’s effort clipped the top of the bar, but Brighton landed their knockout blow in the 51st minute as Enciso made the breakthrough.
Estupinan’s initial cross was blocked, but he knocked the rebound toward Enciso and he headed home while Arsenal appealed in vain for a foul on Jakub Kiwior.
Undav bagged Brighton’s second goal in the 86th minute as Trossard carelessly lost possession, allowing the forward to lift a deft lob over Aaron Ramsdale.
Estupinan sent Arsenal fans streaming to the exits deep into stoppage-time when he slotted home after Undav’s shot was parried by Ramsdale.
Elsewhere, Brentford defeated West Ham United 2-0 to ensure they will finish the season in the top half of the table.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday sparked defending champions Oklahoma City to victory, while Anthony Edwards led Minnesota’s last-minute fightback to beat San Antonio. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points while adding eight assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s 124-112 home victory over Miami, improving the NBA’s best record to 33-7 after outscoring the Heat 70-53 in the second half. “We locked in defensively. We were finally able to get some stops,” Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins said. “We were able to get out in transition a little bit, get going offensively and find the flow.” Jalen Williams scored 18 points, while
RSS