Kyle Walker has said Manchester City capitalised on Arsenal’s slip ups to retain the Premier League title.
Arsenal led in the title race for most part of the season and looked set to be crowned champions for the first time since 2004.
But Mikel Arteta’s side lost form at the worst possible moment, winning just two of their last eight games.
Champions Manchester City ended the season with 100 goals at home after their 1-0 win over Chelsea at the Etihad on Sunday. City’s fifth Premier League crown in six seasons was confirmed on Saturday as title rivals Arsenal lost 1-0 at Nottingham Forest, so Pep Guardiola made changes for the game against the Blues.
City have now lifted the Premier League title in five of the past six seasons and could still win a historic treble with FA Cup and Champions League finals to come next month.
Reflecting on the title race, Walker admitted the Gunners pushed City to the limit but crumbled at crucial stages in the season.
“Arsenal pushed us right to the limit, they’ve been fantastic, so all credit to them,” Walker said on City’s website.
“But we just went on an incredible run, they had a few hiccups and we capitalised on it and we’ve managed to end up where we have now.
“It’s the players we’ve got. We’re a bunch of lads who have achieved so much over the last number of years and we understand the standards we’ve set.
“As for inspiration, there’s the captains, managers and so on but we drive ourselves – we achieved so much over the past five or six years, but we knew the bar wasn’t high enough at the start of the season.“
The England international disclosed the game that turned City’s season around.
“It wasn’t good enough and when we came back after the World Cup, we had to kick on and fair play to the lads – that Liverpool game kicked it off.
“We wanted to prove anyone doubting us wrong – it wasn’t good enough. With the lads we have in the dressing room we always believe we can do something.
“It was the first season where we kept on scoring late goals so until the end, we know we can do it.”
Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta has urged Arsenal to heal as a team after handing Manchester City the Premier League title on Saturday with a 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest.
Arteta said: “Now we must heal. It is very painful. I have to find a way to lift the players and we have a tough week ahead of us.
“It is a really sad day. A lot of difficult emotions. We lost the game and we lost the championship after 10 and a half months fighting for it and nine and a half months almost on top.
“We built a lot of enthusiasm and belief that we could go all the way and win it. At the end we fell short. First of all, congratulations to Man City. They are the champions and they deserve to be champions. They’ve done it for 38 games.
“We haven’t been able to do that. That’s it. From my side, I apologise because we have generated that belief that we could do it and at the end the team couldn’t do it. That’s my responsibility.”
Asked to pinpoint where the title slipped from their grasp, Arteta cited last month’s draws at Liverpool and West Ham when they led 2-0 in both games only to finish 2-2.
“It started with what happened at Anfield in the 90th minute,” he added. “Then at West Ham if you put it away to make 3-1 everything changes. We have conceded a lot of goals.
“We have given 16 goals away in those matches. It’s a lot. You cannot sustain that. In this league you have to be exceptional with everything because there are no margins. That team doesn’t give you any margins. We have extended those margins too much and that’s why we lost the league.”
