Kroupi goal hands title to Arsenal as Bournemouth hold off late City rally

Congratulations, Arsenal, champions of England after 22 years . Farewell then, Pep Guardiola, 10 years of dominance ending in anticlimax. Two domestic cups counts as a disappointment in Pep terms.

There will be no treble celebration at Manchester’s Co-op Arena leaving party on Monday. Eli Junior Kroupi wrote his name in north ­London legend for ever, as the title race reached its conclusion on the south coast. Erling Haaland’s late equaliser was nowhere near enough. Andoni Iraola has been able to keep his future movements secret and he received a post-match send-off from a club grateful for three seasons of progressive, exciting football, capped off by qualifying for Europe for the first time. A point was enough to claim that. His team’s determination to complete the job was too much for opponents who cracked under the pressure of their situation, perhaps distracted by overnight news of the huge change coming their way. Beyond the serial collection of silver­ware, Guardiola’s bequest to City is rich. A considerable rebuild has taken place since, in ­November 2024, a 2-1 defeat at the ­Vitality ­Stadium ­signalled the end of an empire for his treble ­winners of 2023, the scoreline flattering City. The next manager in, presumed to be Enzo Maresca, will inherit the new breed, players brought in since then such as Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico O’Reilly, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Antoine Semenyo. “Pep stay” read one placard among away fans who begged their manager for “one more year”. In pre-match, Guardiola continued the club policy of avoiding the elephant in the room by saying Monday’s breaking news would have “absolutely zero” effect on his team. For Bournemouth, with Ryan Christie suspended after his red card at Fulham, Tyler Adams returned to central midfield, where he faced Mateo Kovacic.

Key points

• There will be no treble celebration at Manchester’s Co-op Arena leaving party on Monday.
• Eli Junior Kroupi wrote his name in north ­London legend for ever, as the title race reached its conclusion on the south coast.
• Erling Haaland’s late equaliser was nowhere near enough.
• Andoni Iraola has been able to keep his future movements secret and he received a post-match send-off from a club grateful for three seasons of progressive, exciting football, capped off by qualify…
• A point was enough to claim that.