*Bayern Win Bundesliga For 35th Time
The margins were always likely to be tight. In the event, with so much on the line, namely the possible destination of the Premier League title, they were excruciatingly so on Sunday.
It was a day when the division’s two heavyweights went toe-to-toe and served up a thriller, a contest to absorb the nation and many more around the world.
When it was over, it was Manchester City who had landed what could prove to be the telling blow.
Because once they are ahead on the count in these situations everybody knows how it tends to end. There is no better finisher than Pep Guardiola and the momentum is now firmly with him. A seventh championship in 10 seasons is within his grasp.
The game turned around the hour mark. Mikel Arteta had promised that his Arsenal team would come to play, to fight for the win. No half measures, no parking the bus.
They played. It could have turned out differently if Eberechi Eze’s fizzing shot from the edge of the box had been better placed by six inches. Instead it struck the inside of the post, rolled in front of the line and was cleared.
Minutes later, City went up to the other end to score the decisive goal. It was a flowing move, started by goalie Gianluigi Donnarumma and saw Nico O’Reilly swap passes with Jérémy Doku before crossing for Rodri.
Arsenal’s defenders were drawn towards the City midfielder and nobody was tight enough to Erling Haaland. Which was a big problem. Haaland swept home and City were on their way to cutting Arsenal’s lead at the top of the table to three points.
City have a game in hand. They play at Burnley on Wednesday night.
It was not over. Not by a long way. Arsenal will argue the same about the title race and there was hope for them in the performance, if not the result.
Gabriel Magalhães would send a deflected header against the post in the 73rd minute and, deep into stoppage time, after a driven cross by the Arsenal substitute Leandro Trossard, there was Kai Havertz, unmarked in front of goal. He headed fractionally too high and City could celebrate.
It was kind of game in which the intrigue was everywhere, very much in keeping with the overall spectacle.
There were lashings of event glamour, the little quirks, too; the meme-able content. Such as the guy at the makeshift stall outside the ground selling water or, as he would have it, Arsenal tears. Only £2 a bottle, with the emphasis on bottle. Etc and so on.
Early Part Of Match
It was a blistering start and the opening goal from the City midfielder Rayan Cherki was a celebration of his impishness, the quickness of his feet.
Picking up the ball to the right of the Arsenal area, he had plenty to do as he accelerated into it. In a flash he had tricked around Gabriel before swerving the other way before Declan Rice could challenge.
The coup de grâce was the beautifully balanced low finish into the far corner. He also supplied a few afters when he stood in front of the Arsenal fans, glaring at them before breaking into a smile.
Arsenal Equalizes Via Donarumma’s Mistake
Arsenal’s response was immediate and what a calamity the equaliser was for Donnarumma. At the start of the game, the Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya had almost been caught with the ball at his feet by a charging Haaland. Raya got away with that one.
In a similar situation, Donnarumma did not. Collecting possession to the right of his goal, flush to the byline, his touch was a little heavy and Havertz was on to him. The successful tackle turned into a shot that flew home.
Guardiola had predicted that Arteta would adjust something in terms of his approach and so it proved.
The Arsenal manager’s major decision was Havertz in as the No 9, Viktor Gyökeres among the substitutes and the pre-match boost was provided by Martin Ødegaard’s return to fitness and the lineup.
It meant Eberechi Eze on the left wing and a greater emphasis on technique; the ability to retain possession. Just to carry the fight in open play.
Cherki hit the inside of a post on four minutes with a shot that deflected off Gabriel; the ball bounced back and across into Raya’s grateful arms. And it was City’s first half – certainly in terms of chances created.
Battle Between Haaland & Gabriel
Haaland’s battle with Gabriel was hugely physical, relentlessly so, with the ever-present possibility that it might bubble over in something more.
There was the moment when Haaland took off his shirt to show how Gabriel had ripped it and towards the end of the game, when the pair went forehead-to-forehead, Gabriel made an aggressive movement towards Haaland which brought a yellow card.
Guardiola wanted a red for a butt. To his credit, Haaland did not go down.
In between times in the first-half, the City striker missed a pass that could have got Antoine Semenyo away.
He also snatched at a presentable shooting opportunity. City could also point to the moment when Cherki bamboozled Gabriel with a series of stepovers before going right to Semenyo, whose shot was blocked by Piero Hincapie; a huge defensive intervention.
Guardiola Vs Arteta On The Sidelines
It was fun watching how Guardiola and Arteta lived it all. Which manager would out-do the other in terms of total immersion and dramatic gestures? It was a close run thing.
It looked as though Arteta was about to melt down on 53 minutes when Abdukodir Khusanov, who was the last City defender, got in front of Havertz and the Arsenal player went to ground. Arteta howled for a foul and a red card. There was not enough in it.
Second Half Proceedings
City had pressed on to the front upon the restart. Haaland swiped a shot against the outside of the post after a corner while Semenyo took a terrible touch as a one-on-one beckoned with Raya and Doku worked the goalkeeper.
Back came Arsenal. The paucity of their recent attacking performances was forgotten. The adrenaline surged.
Eze and Ødegaard worked a fabulous opening for Havertz on the counter only for Donnarumma to deny him with a one-on-one block. Gabriel Martinelli, on as a substitute, could not get in on the rebound.
Then Eze, out of very little, dropped his shoulder on the edge of the area and was denied by the upright. So close. Haaland made him and Arsenal pay finally.
RESULTS OF MATCHES PLAYED ACROSS EUROPE, SUNDAY 19 APRIL:
ENGLAND: Premier League
Aston Villa – Sunderland 4:3
Everton – Liverpool 1:2
Nottingham – Burnley 4:1
Manchester City – Arsenal 2:1
FRANCE: Ligue 1
Monaco – Auxerre 2:2
Metz – Paris FC 1:3
Nantes – Brest 1:1
Strasbourg – Rennes 0:3
PSG – Lyon 1:2
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Freiburg – Heidenheim 2:1
Bayern Munich – Stuttgart 4:2
B. Monchengladbach – Mainz 1:1
ITALY: Serie A
Cremonese – Torino 0:0
Verona – AC Milan 0:1
Pisa – Genoa 1:2
Juventus – Bologna 2:0
Bayern Munich Win 35th League Title
Bayern Munich secured their 35th German league title by beating Stuttgart 4-2 to open up an unassailable lead with four games to play. Sunday’s result sent Bayern 15 points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund.
The Bavarian side, who face Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup semi-final next week before taking on Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on 28 April, were a goal down before scoring four times to quickly turn the game around.
“It’s been a fantastic season for us,” said Harry Kane, who was also on target on Sunday. “To finish the league off in the way we have with the goals we scored … credit to the lads … we still have a lot to play for … but all the hard work, this makes it all worth it.”
Bayern have been dominant once more in the Bundesliga this season, shattering the all-time league record for goals scored in one campaign (101), having already netted 109 times with four matches remaining.
Kane, who is the Bundesliga’s top scorer with 32, will need to score nine times in the remaining games if he is to equal Robert Lewandowski’s record of 41 goals in a season.
But the England captain is already on track to win the top scorer trophy, and if he does then he will be the first player to win that title in his first three seasons in the Bundesliga.
With back-to-back German league titles in his two seasons in charge, Vincent Kompany, who took over from Thomas Tuchel in 2024, has quickly succeeded in re-establishing Bayern’s domestic dominance after Leverkusen broke their stranglehold with an unbeaten domestic double in 2024.
“The season is not over yet. There are still things to be won,” said Kompany. “PSG in the Champions League, the defending champions, it’s probably the toughest challenge. But before that we have Leverkusen. I don’t want to stop here. Now come the decisive weeks. We’re looking forward to them, but we also know how difficult it will be. Our belief is there, and that’s worth a lot in football.”
Bayern last won the Champions League in 2020, the same year they reached their last German Cup final in Berlin.
“We will have enough time to celebrate what we have achieved but now it is about what we can still achieve, so we need that full focus,” Kompany said. “The players have to recover and prepare the game for Leverkusen. But you can have a glass of red wine in the evening and go to work tomorrow. We will celebrate but obviously not really today,” he added.
But it all kicked off with a Stuttgart goal on Sunday with Chris Führich silencing the home crowd when he slotted in from a Bilal El Khannouss assist to put the visitors in front in the 21st minute.
Bayern did not need long to bounce back, scoring three times in six minutes. Raphaël Guerreiro opened their account when he tapped in after a superb solo run and cutback from Jamal Musiala in the 31st minute before Nico Jackson slotted in to put the hosts in front two minutes later.
Alphonso Davies completed their first-half turbo comeback with another goal in the 37th.
They kept scoring after the break and the substitute Kane added another from close range seven minutes after the restart before Stuttgart pulled a goal back with Chema Andrés late on.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Haaland (right,in blue) races off after scoring with joyful teammates chasing.
