Manchester City won their 4th consecutive Premier League title

Manchester City cruised to their fourth successive English Premier League title and sixth in seven years with a characteristically dominant 3-1 win over West Ham on Sunday.

City went into the final day of the EPL two points ahead of Arsenal, knowing a win would bring yet another trophy. And to get that win — plus a celebratory home invasion — he didn’t have to worry or sweat.

Exactly 78 seconds after kick-off, Phil Foden fired City into the lead. Sixteen minutes later, Foden doubled the lead and put West Ham seemingly out of sight.

The Hammers responded with a bicycle kick goal from nothing just before the break – and suddenly, tentatively, there were minor doubts. But Rodri, another Man City star, erased them in the 59th minute and restored City’s comfort.

Arsenal, playing simultaneously 200 miles south in London, defeated Everton. But the Gunners, who pushed City to the wire, were powerless – as City had headed to the finish line unbeaten in all competitions since their December 6 defeat at Aston Villa.

As they always seem to do, the Citizens stepped up as winter turned to spring, easily blowing away inferior opponents. They have struggled against the EPL’s top six, winning just twice in 10 games; but in the end they won 26 of 28 against the bottom 14. They drew at Arsenal on March 31, then won each of their last nine league games – and stated their case as the greatest English team of all time.

No club in the 124-year history of English football has ever won four consecutive top-flight titles.

No club has ever won six in seven seasons.

No club has ever won back-to-back domestic doubles, which City could do if they beat Manchester United in Saturday’s FA Cup final.

And no English club has ever played the way City did under Pep Guardiola, dominating the ball, controlling games and tearing apart outmatched foes.

The caveat, of course, is that the club would be cheated. Asterisks may be coming. The Premier League charged City with 115 breaches of the rules, most of which related to false accounting and overspending. According to leaked documents published by German publication Der Spiegel, City, among other misadventures, virtually inflated the value of sponsorships so they could splash more money on players.

This money fueled City’s success. Since Sheikh Mansour and the Abu Dhabi royal family bought the club in 2008, they have spent around $2.8 billion on transfer fees. They brought players like Sergio Agüero and Yaya Toure, Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri, Ruben Dias and Erling Haaland. They won titles in 2012 and 2014; Guardiola then arrived in 2016 to turn them into a machine.

But their latest superstar, Foden, cost $0.

Born, raised and modeled in Greater Manchester. He came through City’s academy, progressed to the first team and contributed to the previous five titles in an additional role. On the way to the sixth, he became the main character.

In 2023-24, Foden established himself as one of the best players in the world. Earlier this week he was voted Premier League Player of the Season. And then on Sunday he capped off his breakout campaign with the goals that sealed City’s four-peat – and the club’s 10th title overall in England’s top flight.