Manchester City won a record fourth straight English top flight title by beating West Ham United 3-1 on Sunday. The following is a timeline on how Pep Guardiola won his six Premier League titles since he took charge at City in 2016:
2017-18
After Guardiola had a season to acclimatise to the Premier League, his City side set a host of records in his second campaign as it cruised to the title.
The title was sealed and delivered in April before City then became the first team ever to reach 100 points when it scored an added-time winner on the final day of the season, finishing 19 points ahead of second-placed Manchester United.
- Points total: 100 (record)
- Goals scored: 106 (record)
- Goals conceded: 27
- Top scorer: Sergio Aguero - 21 goals
2018-19
Guardiola’s second Premier League title was far from a comfortable ride as Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool were with them every step of the way until the final day of the season.
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But City kept its nerve, winning its last 14 games to claim the title with 98 points, while Liverpool -- which lost only once -- finished second with 97 points, the highest total in English top-flight history for a team finishing runner-up.
City also became the first English side to complete a domestic treble, as it also won the League Cup and FA Cup.
- Points total: 98
- Goals scored: 95
- Goals conceded: 23
- Top scorer: Sergio Aguero - 21 goals
2020-21
After stumbling in the 2019-20 season when City finished runner-up, 18 points behind champion Liverpool, Guardiola’s side found itself in the chase, yet again in a season largely played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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But Liverpool suffered a major slump in form in the new year, which included six straight defeats at Anfield, a stadium that was a fortress where they had not lost for four years prior.
City went on a 15-match winning streak to storm to the title while Liverpool finished third, behind Manchester United.
- Points total: 86
- Goals scored: 83
- Goals conceded: 32
- Top scorer: Ilkay Gundogan - 13 goals
2021-22
With fans returning to stadiums, Liverpool was back to its best and again it was a two-horse race in the final weeks of the season after Chelsea briefly threatened the duopoly.
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City lost three games all season while Liverpool lost two as Klopp’s side competed on four fronts. The title was decided on the final day again with one point between the two teams.
Liverpool beat Wolverhampton Wanderers while leaders City fell 2-0 behind with half an hour to play before scoring three goals in six minutes to win 3-2 and claim a fourth title in five years.
- Points total: 93
- Goals scored: 99
- Goals conceded: 26
- Top scorer: Kevin De Bruyne - 15 goals
2022-23
Having lost out on signing England’s Harry Kane the previous year, City wasted no time looking for another striker with Norway’s Erling Haaland arriving from Borussia Dortmund in what would become a season-defining transfer for the ages.
Haaland laid waste to Premier League defences and broke the single-season record for most goals in a campaign (36) while he racked up 52 goals in all competitions.
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Arsenal were the surprise package, and Mikel Arteta’s young team led the table for several months until a late-season collapse allowed the far more experienced City to close the gap.
An exhausted Arsenal conceded defeat in the title race when it dropped points in April and May, while City’s 12-match winning run from February to May gave it the title with two games to spare.
- Points total: 89
- Goals scored: 94
- Goals conceded: 33
- Top scorer: Erling Haaland - 36 goals (record)
2023-24
Arsenal learnt its lesson after its capitulation in the previous season’s title race that saw it crumble despite topping the points table for 248 days, with Mikel Arteta’s side challenging until the final day of the campaign.
From the turn of the year, Arsenal had been in red-hot form, losing one of its 18 league matches and scoring 54 goals as it achieved a club record 28 wins in a top-flight season.
But that was not enough as Guardiola’s well-oiled winning machine meant business as usual, arriving on the final day with a two-point lead over second-placed Arsenal despite going on a four-match winless run at one point in the campaign.
Kyle Walker of Manchester City lifts the Premier League Trophy after their team’s victory during the Premier League match between Manchester City and West Ham United at Etihad Stadium on May 19, 2024 in Manchester, England. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Losing three league games all season, as opposed to Arsenal’s five and third-placed Liverpool’s four, City went on a 23-match league unbeaten run to chase down another crown.
While midfielders Rodri and Phil Foden were at the heart of that incredible spell, City found an unlikely hero in 22-year-old Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol.
Gvardiol had not scored in his previous 32 appearances for City since his close-season move from RB Leipzig but netted five times in his last seven games to help his side secure an unprecedented fourth successive title.
Liverpool, until early April, appeared poised to write their beloved manager Jurgen Klopp a fairytale ending in his last season at Anfield, but its title challenge fell apart in the final stretch with out-of-form forwards and a sloppy defence.
- Points total: 91
- Goals scored: 96
- Goals conceded: 34
- Top scorer: Erling Haaland - 27 goals
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