Arsenal are champions after 22 years. What a night for the Gunners, what a release, and what a reward after everything this team had to survive on the road to title number 14.
After Burnley, Mikel Arteta already looked like a man who sensed his team were right at the edge of something historic. Many questioned why he was speaking with such warmth before the job was mathematically finished, especially with City still having games in hand. In the end, he read the moment correctly.
Bournemouth crowned their dream season with a point against Manchester City. They led for long stretches, even had moments to finish the job completely, but that one point was enough for Arsenal. Sometimes history does not need perfection. Sometimes it only needs the rival to blink once.
It is hard not to feel that the noise around Pep Guardiola's departure shook City more than expected. Whether it was the main reason or not, they did not look like the machine that always finds a final answer. Arsenal, meanwhile, did what champions eventually have to do: stay alive long enough for the door to open.
Arteta has delivered on his promise. We all went through the same frustration at times, whether it was the line-ups, the dropped points or the self-inflicted suffering, but the only thing that matters now is that the title is back in north London. Fourteenth league title, and one that felt like it carried every one of those 22 years on its back.
Arsenal now sit third on the all-time list behind Liverpool and Manchester United on 20 each. That is a target for another day. Tonight is about finally ending the wait. Had this one slipped away too, the club might have carried another wave of scars and mockery for years. Instead, Arsenal are first, and there is no better feeling.
Thierry Henry had effectively challenged Arteta to bring the title home by any means necessary. He did exactly that. Not perfectly, not calmly, and never without stress, but he did it. That is what history will remember.
Now the trip to Palace comes with calmer minds, before the attention turns fully to the Champions League final against PSG in Budapest on May 30. This title brings relief, but it should also bring sharper belief. One giant barrier is gone.
Boys, thank you for everything. Rest, recover, and sharpen yourselves for the trophy this club still craves.
COYG.