And so, some 136 years after the foundation of the Football League, England finally has a team who have done the quartet. Manchester City are the first team to become champions in four consecutive seasons. Pep Guardiola has a historic achievement – another one, given the rare and unique distinctions he has engineered and amassed amid his own track record of unparalleled success. There is a debate to be had about whether this City side are the greatest England has seen, but they can claim to be the most relentless. Since the Club World Cup, they have taken 57 points from a possible 63. If Arsenal’s excellence left them with little room for error in the run-in, City made none, finishing with nine straight wins, each by at least two goals. They have turned winning into a routine: across games, months, seasons and an era.
There remains the odd juxtaposition of 115 still unheard charges and the brilliance of the homegrown Phil Foden, but for now, the latter proved the determining factor. Anyone subscribing to the notion that West Ham could deliver Arsenal the title, the Premier League a seismic upset, and David Moyes a glorious farewell was swiftly disabused of it. While City have endured final-day drama before, Guardiola’s prediction that this would be like the nerve-shredding last game against Aston Villa in 2022 proved very wrong. Mohammed Kudus produced a late contender for goal of the season, but only when City were already up. A goal ahead inside 80 seconds, two to the good within 20 minutes, this was a saunter in the sunshine. City were dominant, Foden rampant, his early double a further illustration of his capacity to score goals that are both important and excellent.
