The club’s phenomenal wealth, and its supreme competence, has led to an excellence that is both predictable and a perhaps a little dull
There were, perhaps, being generous, around 20 minutes on Sunday, between Mohammed Kudus’s goal to pull West Ham within one and Rodri putting Manchester City 3-1 up, when there was something that, if you peered hard enough, looked a little like jeopardy. But, in truth, the final day was as good as done after 76 seconds when Phil Foden put City ahead. The great title race ended with a distinct sense of anticlimax.
When Arsenal drew at City at the end of March, Arsenal led the table by four points having played a game more. There was some thought then that the goalless draw suited Arsenal more because it maintained their lead. Win their seven remaining games and they’d be champions. But given how the March game went, its drabness, the relative comfort with which Arsenal contained City, there was also a sense that it represented an opportunity missed for Arsenal. Given City won just two of their 10 games against the top six this season; could Arsenal have been a little more proactive? Could they have put clear water between themselves and City? Because it turned out they needed it.
