Manchester City defender Kyle Walker has insisted Arsenal deserve credit despite losing out on the Premier League title to Pep Guardiola's side. The Gunners held an eight-point lead heading into the season run-in before dropping points against the likes of Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton.
Arsenal suffered a 4-1 defeat against City at the Etihad Stadium in April - handing Guardiola's side a crucial advantage in the title race. The Manchester outfit were crowned champions for a fifth time in six years as the Gunners were beaten 1-0 against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Mikel Arteta admitted it was a sad day for the north Londoners before congratulating City on their title achievement. Arsenal proved to be the only real challengers for the title this term, but Guardiola's side went on to make history as they won their third consecutive title.
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Walker is hoping to help his side go on to win a famous treble this term but believes the Gunners deserve credit for a 'fantastic' season. "It’s been a little of madness in there [first-team building], but we’re fully focused on the Chelsea match," Walker told Man City’s official website.
"We’ll celebrate after tomorrow at some stage, maybe but we have more games coming up. I would have loved to have won it tomorrow and go out and beat Chelsea.
"Arsenal pushed us right to the limit they’ve been fantastic, so all credit to them. But we just went on an incredible run, they had a few hiccups and we capitalised on it and we’ve managed to end up where we have now.
"It’s the players we’ve got. We’re a bunch of lads who have achieved so much over the last number of years and we understand the standards we’ve set.
"As for inspiration, there’s the captains, managers and so on but we drive ourselves – we achieved so much over the past five or six years, but we knew the bar wasn’t high enough at the start of the season. It wasn’t good enough and when we came back after the World Cup, we had to kick on and fair play to the lads – that Liverpool game kicked it off.
"We wanted to prove anyone doubting us wrong – it wasn’t good enough. With the lads we have in the dressing room we always believe we can do something.
"It was the first season where we kept on scoring late goals so until the end, we know we can do it. The standards of Premier League have gone up, but this is what this club is built for, certainly that’s how it’s been for the six years I’ve been here, so fair play to everyone involved."
Arsenal will be hoping to raise their own performance levels next season and challenge for the title again with the addition of a few new signings. The Gunners make a return to the Champions League in the 2023/24 campaign as Arteta aims to continue developing his side and end the club's long wait for a Premier League title.
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