Manchester City have officially retained their Premier League title thanks to Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 win over Arsenal, which also confirmed survival for Steve Cooper’s men.
Needing to win to delay the Citizens’ coronation for at least 24 hours, Mikel Arteta’s men produced a toothless performance and succumbed to a first-half Taiwo Awoniyi winner in front of a party atmosphere at the City Ground.
Electing to bench Kieran Tierney from the first whistle and start Thomas Partey in a largely unfamiliar right-back role, Arteta’s experiment immediately backfired during a torrid first half for those in black
The Gunners had begun to get a foothold in the game after a quick start from Forest, but in the 19th minute, a loose pass from Martin Odegaard set Morgan Gibbs-White away, and the attacker slipped through Awoniyi to find the far corner despite the best efforts of Gabriel Magalhaes and Aaron Ramsdale.
The Tricky Trees’ gameplan was clear – allow Arsenal to knock the ball around and try to hit on the counter – and it was being executed to a tee. With an unfamiliar system and every Forest player behind the ball, Arsenal were stagnant and devoid of ideas when they ventured into the hosts’ half.
The visitors’ only real sights of goal came via two Leandro Trossard volleys from Bukayo Saka corners to the edge of the box, but both of the Belgian’s attempts were wild, as Arsenal failed to convert 83% of possession into anything meaningful.
Arteta faced a pivotal 45 minutes to try to prolong the title race for at least another day, and even though Arsenal’s build-up play on the left was non-existent in the first half, Arteta left Tierney on the bench and sent out an unchanged XI for the second half.
Forest very nearly doubled their lead just three minutes after the restart, as Ramsdale had to be alert to palm a close-range Felipe effort round the post, and the Gunners’ efforts to claw their way back into the match continued to prove fruitless.
Tierney and Eddie Nketiah were introduced just before the hour mark, but Arsenal were nearly the architects of their own downfall again, as Gibbs-White dragged a shot into the side netting from a tight angle following a White error in the 67th minute.
Try as they might, Arsenal just could not break down a Forest rearguard defending for their lives, and the Tricky Trees comfortably navigated seven additional minutes – albeit with an injury to Keylor Navas – to retain their Premier League status and officially and Arsenal’s title fantasy.
With Everton failing to win earlier in the day, Forest have secured their top-flight survival with a game to spare, while Arsenal are now confirmed to be finishing second after spending 248 days at the top of the rankings.
Cooper’s men now travel to Crystal Palace next week for a final-day dead rubber, while an ailing Arsenal round off an otherwise positive season at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
