Man City fans celebrate as club wins record fourth straight EPL title

MANCHESTER, England (AP):

Manchester City fans could hardly stand the wait for the final whistle.

Not because they feared a last-minute twist and the unlikeliest of comebacks from West Ham.

The tension during the dying moments of the English Premier League season at Etihad Stadium was simply because fans couldn’t wait to get the party started after a record fourth straight English top-flight title for Pep Guardiola’s dominant team.

A 3-1 win on the day made certain of that, and soon, a sea of light-blue shirts flooded the field. Flares and the smell of sulphur filled the air, and delirious fans danced, posed for selfies, and simply savoured the moment - ignoring the futile pleas from the stadium announcer and messaging on the big screens instructing them to return to their seats.

Winning has become a familiar feeling in these parts. And there is no sign of it getting old.

“It feels just as amazing as the first one. We worked so hard for it,” City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne said. “It has been a tough battle with Arsenal and Liverpool this year, and, you know, to be here again doing something historic is amazing.”

Four titles in a row is also six in seven seasons for Guardiola, who has won 17 trophies, and counting, since heading to the blue half of Manchester in 2016. That number could rise to 18 as soon as this week when City play Manchester United in the FA Cup final.

In all, Guardiola has won 38 trophies as a coach at Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and City to strengthen the case for him to be considered the greatest manager of his era. By comparison, Carlo Ancelotti has won 28, including a record four Champions League titles – one more than Guardiola – and the chance to make that five when Real Madrid meets Borussia Dortmund in this year’s final of European club football’s most prestigious competition.

“Everyone in football is in awe of his (Guardiola’s) coaching, but there is more to it than that,” outgoing West Ham manager David Moyes said. “Four in a row is incredible.”

Another question that will be debated long and hard is whether this City team should be considered English football’s greatest of all time.

No other English team has won four titles in succession. Not during Liverpool’s dominant era in the 1970s and ‘80s - and not during United’s in the ‘90s and 2000s.

That alone sets City apart - and by winning the Champions League last season, they also completed a full set of major trophies during an era of unprecedented success.

“In terms of numbers, nobody has been better than us - the records, the goals, the points, and four in a row,” Guardiola said. “If I land here tomorrow and you say I will win six Premier Leagues in seven years, I would say ‘Are you crazy?’ It’s impossible. We have done something unbelievable.”

Arsenal have taken up the fight - previously offered by United and then Liverpool - and pushed City to the wire this season, having fallen away during the run-in a year earlier.

Still, Mikel Arteta’s team couldn’t quite get over the line and finished two points behind the champion after a 2-1 win against Everton in their final game yesterday.