Arsenal’s hopes of winning their first Premier League title in 20 years were crushed after their 2-1 win against Everton was overshadowed by Manchester City’s title-winning victory over West Ham.
Mikel Arteta’s team went into the final day of the season needing to beat Everton at the Emirates Stadium and hope City drew or lost in Manchester if they were to miraculously win the title.
However, the Gunners were forced to settle for second place after champions City defeated West Ham 3-1.
Idrissa Gueye pushed Everton ahead late in the first half, but Takehiro Tomiyasu promptly equalised.
By the time Kai Havertz scored Arsenal’s winner in the 89th minute, City were already on track to retain the title.
Arsenal had been nearly faultless in 2024, with 16 victories and one draw, away to City, in 18 league games.
However, a crucial error in a 2-0 home loss to Aston Villa last month proved decisive in denying them their first trophy since Arsene Wenger’s ‘Invincibles’ in 2004.

They finished two points behind City, who had won four consecutive championships and six in the last seven years.
Arsenal staff were spotted rehearsing a mock championship presentation at the Emirates on Saturday, replete with replicas of the trophy and medals, as well as posters bearing the words ‘Premier League champions’.
However, there would be no genuine title celebration in north London, as Arteta’s distraught players were forced to accept their fate.
Arsenal fans had marched down the sun-baked Holloway Road towards the Emirates, hoping rather than expecting to witness a title-winning squad.
Some even wore West Ham shirts instead of their own clubs, an homage to their London rivals 200 miles north.
A boisterous version of the club’s ‘North London Forever’ hymn before kickoff heightened the excitement.
Silence in the stands

Despite the absence of injured star Bukayo Saka, Arsenal could have taken the lead in the first minutes when Tomiyasu headed wide from close range.
However, at that very moment, the atmosphere fell absolutely flat as word spread of Phil Foden’s second-minute opening for City.
A resigned quiet fell over the sell-out 60,000 audience, but Arsenal tried their best to refocus.
Foden’s second goal in the 18th minute silenced the Arsenal crowd, as Everton fans ridiculed them with chants of “You nearly won the league”.
Everton seized the lead in the 40th minute when Gueye’s free-kick deflected off Declan Rice’s head as he jumped to block it, looping past Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya and into the far corner.
To their credit, the Gunners refused to give up, equalising three minutes later when Tomiyasu met Martin Odegaard’s ball with a magnificent strike that blasted past Jordan Pickford from just inside the box.
When Arsenal fans learned that Mohammed Kudus had halved West Ham’s deficit late in the first half, they put out a loud yell.
They were briefly celebrating when a false rumour circulated that West Ham had equalised.
Arsenal were four points behind City in the ‘as it stands’ table at halftime, having gone from despair to optimism and back again in a matter of seconds.
Arsenal’s players huddled as they prepared to make one last drive in the second half, but Havertz squandered two chances to offer them hope, nodding wide and then headed against the crossbar.
Rodri’s 59th-minute goal for City was greeted with hush throughout the Emirates Stadium.
And by the time Havertz scored in the dying moments, Arsenal had already accepted that their title ambitions were over.