Man City beat Chelsea on Premier League title day

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City sealed their fifth league title in six seasons a day earlier when second-placed Arsenal were beaten 1-0 at Nottingham Forest. That has given Guardiola the luxury of having most of his stars rested to focus on the FA Cup final (against Manchester United on June 3) and Champions League final (against Inter on June 11) as they aim for a historic treble.

Haaland is one of the inspirations that helped Man City successfully defend the English championship.

City's domestic dominance has been hailed as one of the best in English football history. But Guardiola admits there is still work to do, beating Inter Milan to win Europe for the first time in the club's history next month. "We have the feeling we have done something special. To be considered one of the greatest teams, we have to win in Europe, the Champions League. Otherwise, people will say our time here was not enough," said Guardiola.

Admiration for City's footballing quality during Guardiola's seven seasons has also been met with questions about their finances. A takeover by Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour in 2008 transformed the club's fortunes but the Etihad outfit have faced more than 100 Premier League charges for breaching financial rules between 2009 and 2018.

Man City fans flooded the field to celebrate

The strength of City's squad was underlined by Julian Alvarez, who has spent much of the season playing understudy to Erling Haaland. He scored his 17th goal in the win over Chelsea, extending the English champions' unbeaten run in all competitions to 24 games. Guardiola made nine changes to the side that beat Real Madrid 4-0 in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final in midweek. The youthful hosts were still too sharp for their beleaguered visitors early on and took the lead after 12 minutes through Alvarez, who converted a pass from youngster Palmer.

The defeat means Chelsea will end a miserable season in the bottom half of the table with their lowest ever Premier League points tally. A familiar lack of sharpness in front of goal shows why the Blues have struggled under three different managers this season. But the home fans were largely unconcerned with what was happening on the pitch as they sang their title triumph and turned their backs on the pitch to celebrate in Poznan.

Coach Guardiola (right) and Man City are aiming for a treble of titles

Guardiola gave the home crowd what they wanted by bringing Haaland on from the bench. But the Norwegian was unable to get his 53rd goal of the season. "These are memories I will remember for the rest of my life," Haaland said after the game. "First season, 36 goals (in the Premier League), the Premier League title and two finals coming up. Not bad."

A full festival was held as thousands of fans stormed the pitch despite requests from the club to stay in the stands. After a long delay, the trophy presentation ceremony took place. "You work for 11 months to get this. It's a day to celebrate with the fans and family. It's fantastic," said Man City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne.

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