Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola may have handed the EPL trophy to Arsenal even as he said he would play the remaining matches to win.
“The Premier League is so complicated to take it right now. It’s completely in the hands of Arsenal.”
City take on Chelsea in the FA Cup final on Saturday before a trip to Bournemouth on Tuesday. “The manager is here to take the risk,” he added. “We have to make decisions before and after, it depends on results, whether we judge it nicely or the opposite. We have to take it.
“People don’t believe me, but the players who sometimes don’t play, we trust them, otherwise they would not be here.”
Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku – all crucial to getting City back into the title race in the second half of the season – were rested, but their replacements repaid the faith shown in them by their manager.
The wait goes on for a Phil Foden goal – it’s 27 games and counting – but he had two assists by half-time and would have had a hat-trick of them, which would have doubled his tally this season, had Dean Henderson not pulled off a very smart save to deny Josko Gvardiol’s header after a delightful clipped cross from the playmaker just before the break.
He miscontrolled the ball for Omar Marmoush to double City’s lead but deserved that fortune after his absolute genius to break the deadlock at the Etihad. Arsenal are very unlikely to drop points against Burnley and on the evidence of this Palace display they have little to fear from Oliver Glasner’s side on the final day of the Premier League season, just three days before the Eagles take on Rayo Vallecano in the Conference League final.
At this stage Arsenal failing to win their first title in 23 years is almost too shocking to comprehend.
They simply have to do it from here. But there’s a positive for City to cling to – Guardiola won’t be going anywhere as a result.
