City make history as win over West Ham secures record fourth title

Phil Foden took just 79 seconds to fire us into the lead before doubling our advantage when he turned in Jeremy Doku’s pinpoint cross in the 18th minute.

West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus pulled a goal with a stunning overhead kick just before half-time before Rodrigo’s elegant finish restored our two-goal lead.

It secured the 10th top-flight title in our history and sixth in seven seasons and Pep Guardiola’s side wrapped up the Premier League by remaining unbeaten at the Etihad throughout the campaign. 

WHAT HAPPENED

No matter how successful City have been in recent years, there’s always plenty of nerves around on big occasions such as these.

Guardiola was aiming for his 17th trophy since taking over at the Etihad and our third this season after lifting the UEFA European Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

City fans were hoping to be able to enjoy the glorious Manchester sunshine but famous last day title-winning occasions against QPR and Aston Villa have shown that these matches cannot be taken for granted.

We had to win to be assured of beating Arsenal to the Premier League and we made the perfect start with just over a minute gone when Foden fired us ahead. 

In the week he was named Premier League Player of the Season to go with the FWA Footballer of the Year he won earlier, the Academy graduate smashed an unstoppable strike from 20 yards arrowing into the top corner, sending an already raucous Etihad into delirium.

FOUR IN A ROW | CITY’S HISTORY MAKERS

It was one-way traffic in the early stages as we tried to kill off the game as soon as possible, with Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku twice bringing good saves from Alphonse Areola in the opening quarter of an hour.

A thrusting run from Hammers’ full-back Emerson Palmieri showed that the visitors weren’t here to make up the numbers on David Moyes last game in charge, but Kyle Walker was alert to clear the danger. 

And shortly after, City cut through the Hammers again with a neat passing move that ended with Doku picking out Foden to sweep home our second in the 18th minute.

We immediately went in search of a third and went close. Haaland couldn’t quite connect with a spectacular attempt from close range while Areola punched away Foden’s vicious, swerving strike and got fingertips to De Bruyne’s curling effort.

But it wouldn’t be a final without a few twists and turns and a brilliant overhead kick from Kudus just before half-time brought the visitors back into the game.

De Bruyne and Foden went close to re-establishing our two-goal advantage after the break but their long-range strikes drifted agonisingly inches wide of the target. 

Despite our lead and domination of the ball, fingernails were being gnawed with the potential of a West Ham second denying us the title.

Anxieties were finally eased a little when Rodrigo’s shot found a way through a packed penalty area to put us 3-1 ahead. 

Edge-of-the-box sidefoot finishes against Aston Villa on the final day two years ago and in the Champions League final win over Inter from the Spanish midfielder have come at big moments for the Blues. 

And it was another of those trademark clutch finishes from Rodri as he slid a shot into the bottom corner of the net with players and fans celebrating wildly at the breakthrough. 

City kept pushing forward with Foden close to his third hat-trick of the season with a clever free-kick that hit the side-netting while Bernardo and Doku had shots blocked and Haaland’s header drifted narrowly wide. 

But there was the threat of late drama when Tomas Soucek had the ball in the back of the net with the goal awarded.

Replays showed the defender had used his arm and the goal was rightly ruled out by VAR to spare us what could have been a very uncomfortable five minutes of stoppage time. 

It meant we were able to count down the final few moments in style as Guardiola and his brilliant side claimed a record-breaking title. 

TEAMS

City: Ortega Moreno, Walker, Akanji (Ake 71), Dias, Gvardiol, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Foden (Kovacic 90), Doku, Haaland.

Subs not used: Carson, Stones, Grealish, Alvarez, Nunes, Bobb, Lewis.

West Ham: Areola, Coufal, Zouma, Mavropanos, Cresswell, Emerson (E Alvarez 71), Ward-Prowse, Soucek, Paqueta (Ings 86), Kudus, Antonio (Earthy 81).

Subs not used: Fabianski, Johnson, Casey, Ogbonna, Cornet, Mubama.

WATCH: Brief highlights: City 3-1 West Ham

PLAYER OF THE MATCH

Foden has been outstanding from our opening day victory over Burnley throughout the season. 

A boyhood City fan, ballboy and Academy graduate, he is living the dream of every Blue supporters.

And he etched another place in the history books with a brilliant double on the final day with his fantastic first a special moment.

He has already won two individual awards for the season and there could be more to come in the future as he keeps getting better and better. 

WE FIGHT ‘TIL THE END

It’s now six times we have clinched the title on the final day of the season, and once again we held our nerve on a tense day to get the job done. 

Guardiola has done it on three occasions now and on the two previous last-day triumphs, we conceded the first goal, before beating Brighton 4-1 in 2021 and Aston Villa 3-2 in 2023. 

This was a little more straightforward, although a goal from Kudus made it a nervy half-hour until Rodri struck again. 

It’s a day that will go down in history and will forever be remembered by City fans just as the last-day dramas in 1968, when we beat Newcastle 4-3, Sergio Aguero’s unforgettable late strike in 2012 and Manuel Pellegrini’s title triumph two years later.

GUARDIOLA REACTION

“For Arsenal to push us to another level - before it was Liverpool and the last two seasons it’s been Arsenal. This one has been incredible. We get the message, we know they will be there for many years.

“A young manager with big talent - they sent us a message that you have to be careful for the next few years.

“When I moved here if someone had said I would win six leagues in seven seasons I would say you’re insane - no way. All these players for Manchester United and Liverpool and Chelsea, all these teams. Now is our period. We are part of that.”

FODEN REACTION

“It’s so hard to put into words what we’ve done today.

“We’ve put ourselves in the history books. No team has ever done it. You see what it means to the fans and what it means to us. Working all year for this moment, it’s such a special feeling to share it with the fans.

“Now we can say we are the first team to do it. I’m lost for words.

“I’ll never get bored of it. I want this feeling every time. When you win something there is no better feeling and I just want to keep winning as much as I can.”

WHAT IT MEANS

City are champions of the Premier League! We won the title by two points from Arsenal to secure it for the 10th time in our history. 

WHAT’S NEXT

We go back to Wembley for our last game of the campaign as we face Manchester United in a repeat of last season’s FA Cup final. 

The kick-off in the capital is 15:00 (UK) on Saturday 25 May as we try to win the trophy for a second successive season and become the first Club in English history to win successive doubles.