{"id":682255,"date":"2026-05-20T04:31:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T04:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/682255\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T04:31:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T04:31:08","slug":"kroupi-goal-hands-title-to-arsenal-as-bournemouth-hold-off-late-city-rally-premier-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/682255\/","title":{"rendered":"Kroupi goal hands title to Arsenal as Bournemouth hold off late City rally | Premier League"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s where the story ends. \u00adCongratulations, Arsenal, \u00adchampions of England after 22 years<\/a>. Farewell then, Pep Guardiola, 10 years of\u00a0dominance ending in anticlimax. Two domestic cups counts as a \u00addisappointment in Pep terms. Eli\u00a0Junior Kroupi wrote his name in north London legend for ever, as the title race reached its conclusion on the south coast. Erling Haaland\u2019s late equaliser was nowhere near enough.<\/p>\n

Andoni Iraola has been able to keep his future movements far more secret, and he received a post-match send-off from a club grateful for three seasons of progressive, \u00adexciting \u00adfootball, capped off by qualifying for \u00adEurope for the first time. \u201cWhat a night,\u201d he said. \u201cWe played so well.\u201d<\/p>\n

A point was enough to claim that key objective as their opponents cracked under the pressure of their situation. \u201cThings have been so clear with the club,\u201d said Iraola. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a lot of time together, let\u2019s try and finish it well.\u201d If Champions League football maybe dropped from reach after Haaland\u2019s goal, Europa League football at least is confirmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a tough game and we knew it would be,\u201d said Guardiola. He was sporting in congratulating this \u00adseason\u2019s champions, and his former assistant, Mikel Arteta. \u201cOn behalf of everyone at Manchester City<\/a>, we \u00adcongratulate Mikel and all the staff, players and fans on winning the \u00adPremier League,\u201d he said. \u201cThey deserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond the serial collection of \u00adsilverware, Guardiola\u2019s bequest to City is healthy. A considerable rebuild has taken place since, in November 2024, a 2-1 defeat at the Vitality \u00adStadium signalled the end of an empire, his treble winners of 2023 flagging, the scoreline flattering City. The next manager in, presumed to be Enzo Maresca, will inherit the new breed, players brought in since then such as Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico O\u2019Reilly, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Antoine Semenyo. \u201cPep stay\u201d read one placard among away fans who begged for \u201cone more year.\u201d<\/p>\n

One last wild card from the\u00ad \u00adCatalan grandmaster of perplexing \u00adselection decisions? Mateo Kovacic had played only 39 minutes of Premier League<\/a> football all season. Alongside Kovacic, two of Guardiola\u2019s \u00adfavourite generals, Bernardo Silva, also waving goodbye to Manchester, and Rodri, who a return to Spain has been mooted for. All three struggled with Bournemouth\u2019s energy, Tyler Adams and Alex Scott both \u00adoutstanding. \u201cWe put a lot of midfield players to try to control their transitions,\u201d said Guardiola, explaining a strategy that did not bear fruit. \u201cThe players have given everything all season in difficult circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Erling Haaland scores for Manchester City in stoppage time but it was too late for his side to find a winner against Bournemouth. Photograph: Ian Walton\/AP<\/p>\n

The expected pattern of City \u00adpossession with Bournemouth<\/a> looking to speedy transitions soon came to pass but Guardiola\u2019s team were well below their best, short on penetration. Semenyo had the ball in the net in the 13th minute, only to be ruled offside. Soon after that, \u00adEvanilson\u2019s blushes were spared with a howling miss of an open net as the flag protected his modesty.<\/p>\n

Haaland was struggling for touch, forced to drop deep. When Kroupi scored his brilliant strike, laid up by Adrien Truffert\u2019s sizzling \u00adoverlap, Haaland grabbed the ball in \u00adfrustration, powerless to stop the rot. \u201cJunior has learned so much, how he has evolved,\u201d said Iraola of his \u00adteenage goalscorer. \u201cHe has found a lot of things other than the goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guardiola wore a similarly \u00admournful expression to Haaland as the second half resumed. Deep in conversation with Pepijn Lijnders, his assistant, he rubbed his cranium in trademark, distracted fashion. Within seconds of the restart, he was bellowing commands, far more energised than in a first half where he kept a solemn vigil. It almost had the desired effect, O\u2019Reilly carving towards a Haaland pass, only for Djordje Petrovic to save well.<\/p>\n

The better chances were still \u00adfalling Bournemouth\u2019s way, \u00adEvanilson \u00adforcing a Donnarumma save after another warp-speed counter. Soon enough, Guardiola rolled the dice with the introduction of Rayan Cherki, Phil Foden and Savinho, youthful legs replacing Silva and Kovacic departed, Semenyo, a Bournemouth hero until January, also coming off to applause from the home fans.<\/p>\n

Guardiola\u2019s turning of the dial offered Bournemouth space and opportunity. Kroupi might have scored his second, after Evanilson\u2019s flick, but blazed over. Rayan hit a post after chaos at a corner, before having a low shot saved. City rocked on their heels, close to punch drunk. When Donnarumma took his time over a goal-kick, he was \u00adbarracked by his manager, Guardiola sensing his team\u2019s fate.<\/p>\n

Pep Guardiola reflects on the defeat that ended his hopes of leaving Manchester City with a another Premier League title to his name. Photograph: Daniel Hambury\/EPA<\/p>\n

City were determined to show why they were once serial champions but not enough clean chances fell their way. Despite such heavy pressure, Bournemouth preserved an unbeaten record that stretches longer than any club in Europe\u2019s top five leagues.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Guardiola went through the public agonies that have played a full part in the supremacy that has dominated English football. He does not wear success lightly The old magic was not to be found, \u00adHaaland\u2019s stabbed, stoppage-time goal came too late. A dynasty had reached journey\u2019s end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s where the story ends. \u00adCongratulations, Arsenal, \u00adchampions of England after 22 years. Farewell then, Pep Guardiola, 10…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":682256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-682255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=682255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/682256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=682255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=682255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=682255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}