Manchester, May 14: The Premier League title race is not over yet.
Manchester City cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the standings back to two points after beating Crystal Palace 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium.
With two rounds of the season to go it means Arsenal will have to wait another week at least to be confirmed champion.
Mikel Arteta’s team plays relegated Burnley on Monday and a victory would leave City needing to beat Bournemouth 24 hours later to take the title race into the final day of the season.
“We’ve seen a lot of things can happen on the final day,” City forward Phil Foden told Sky Sports.
“I’ve experienced it many times when the game doesn’t go your way, so we just have to keep pushing and doing our part.”
City plays Chelsea in the FA Cup final before all that and Pep Guardiola appeared to have Saturday’s Wembley showdown in mind by making six changes to his team. But even without Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku in his starting lineup, City won comfortably.Foden – making a rare start in recent months – provided assists for both of City’s first half goals.
His backheel created an opening for Antoine Semenyo to open the scoring after 32 minutes and he set up Omar Marmoush for City’s second eight minutes later.Savinho added a third in the 84th.The size of City’s win could yet be significant as it moved one ahead of Arsenal on goal difference.
Guardiola is targeting his seventh league title at City. He has never gone back-to-back seasons without winning a league title in his entire coaching career at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City.
“Unfortunately it’s not in our hands,” Guardiola said.
“It’s not easy, but it’s important that we are there. This group of players are all extraordinary.”
Yet, for all the pressure Arsenal continue to exert at the summit, Manchester City once again sent out a chilling reminder that in the closing stretch of a title race, experience can often matter as much as momentum. Guardiola’s side looked calm, clinical and utterly relentless against Palace, qualities that have defined their dominance over the past decade, and with the goal difference now swinging marginally in City’s favour, every strike, every save and every moment could prove decisive in what is turning into another breathless Premier League finish. Arsenal may still hold the advantage, but the defending champions have made it abundantly clear that they are not prepared to surrender their crown without a fight, and with Guardiola’s serial winners chasing history once more, the possibility of another dramatic final-day twist looms large over English football.
For the neutral, it is precisely the kind of nerve-shredding title battle that makes the Premier League so compelling; for Arsenal supporters, however, the wait for glory continues, while City remain ominously poised, stalking from just behind with the belief, pedigree and ruthlessness of champions who have been here many times before.
What will further encourage City is the manner in which they dispatched Palace despite Guardiola heavily rotating his squad ahead of the FA Cup final, underlining the extraordinary depth and mentality within the reigning champions’ ranks. Players who have often been limited to cameo appearances stepped in seamlessly, with Foden orchestrating attacks with elegance and precision, while Marmoush and Savinho delivered in crucial moments, proving once again that City possess match-winners across every area of the pitch. Arsenal, meanwhile, now face the psychological burden of knowing that even the slightest slip could hand the initiative straight back to a side that has built its modern legacy on relentless late-season surges. (AP)
