was won in 2016<\/a> and they have had six runners-up finishes since, including second place in the shortened Spring Series as the competition moved from its previous summer scheduling.<\/p>\nOn 16 May there will be a party atmosphere in Dagenham instead of a tense one, their final game of the season against West Ham turned into an exhibition match instead of a must-win thanks to Arsenal\u2019s dropped points.<\/p>\n
The City manager, Andr\u00e9e Jeglertz, praised how his players have \u201cmet every challenge in front of them head on\u201d this season, having not released the stranglehold they have held on top spot since 9 November. They have been champions in waiting since, losses to Brighton and Arsenal and a draw with Aston Villa immaterial thanks to the large points margin they had built up.<\/p>\n
\u201cHelping guide this team to the WSL title is something I will never forget,\u201d said Jeglertz. \u201cThe girls have met every challenge in front of them head on and have been an absolute joy to coach this season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scheduling issues meant Arsenal had three games in hand over the league leaders going into Wednesday\u2019s game in Crawley. They needed to win all of those to keep the title race alive but fell at the first hurdle against Brighton, despite coming from behind to earn a 1-1 draw after Fuka Tsunoda had given the hosts the lead.<\/p>\n
Ren\u00e9e Slegers\u2019 side could feel aggrieved that two penalty shouts were waved away, the first when the scorer of the equaliser, Frida Maanum, was downed by Charlize Rule and the second when Alessia Russo took an elbow to the head deep into injury time, but their hangover from Saturday\u2019s Champions League semi-final exit proved costly in a sluggish first half.<\/p>\n
Manchester City begin the celebrations after Rebecca Knaak\u2019s late winner against Liverpool on Sunday. Photograph: Tim Williams\/Action Plus\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n
It was always going to be a tricky task for Arsenal in Crawley. Brighton have been in formidable form, having not lost since a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on 18 March. Since then, results have included a 2-0 win against Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-finals, a 3-2 defeat of City and a 1-1 draw with Manchester United. Dario Vidosic, the Brighton manager, made seven changes to the team which shared the spoils with United on Saturday, Fran Kirby and Kiko Seike on the bench with one eye on Sunday\u2019s FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool, but they were the brighter side and worthy of a point and another huge confidence boost as they aim for the FA Cup final at Wembley.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Arsenal finish the season disappointed, with just the Fifa Champions Cup to their name. \u201cCongratulations to Man City who have now won the league. It was disappointing today,\u201d said Slegers. \u201cCredit to Brighton who are a very tough opponent to play against and they did well, but we have to look at ourselves and we are very disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arsenal looked deflated at the final whistle, but the reality is that City\u2019s last-gasp winner against Liverpool on Sunday had already dealt a blow to any hopes they had of a title upset. Rebecca Knaak\u2019s 91st-minute header demonstrated a ruthlessness to City that has been missing in previous seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the good moments and the bad, they\u2019ve always stuck together and found a way to win \u2013 something that all great champions do,\u201d said Jeglertz.<\/p>\n
Arsenal\u2019s Smilla Holmberg looks downcast at the final whistle against Brighton. Photograph: Gareth Fuller\/PA<\/p>\n
\u201cThis wouldn\u2019t have been possible\u00a0without the incredible effort, belief, passion and dedication of my\u00a0colleagues, the players and the\u00a0fans. They\u2019ve all been a credit to the club\u00a0as well as themselves and deserve to celebrate this amazing\u00a0moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
They have been a rejuvenated force under Jeglertz, who arrived last summer, but the changes have been deeper, with the club investing in the leadership team responsible for the women\u2019s side. They are also on the verge of opening a new \u00a310m facility for the team.<\/p>\n
The champions have been formidable in front of goal, with Khadija Shaw, Vivianne Miedema and Kerolin in the top six WSL goalscorers, Shaw leading the way with 19 goals and four assists in 21 games. Having finished fourth in the league last season, City missed out on Champions League football, allowing them to focus on the league and domestic cup competitions. They were knocked out of the League Cup by the eventual champions, Chelsea, at the semi-final stage and they meet their rivals again on Sunday at the same stage of the FA Cup with a Double still possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t the end of the road,\u201d said Jeglertz. \u201cWe still have plenty to fight for this season and in the coming years. I\u2019m excited by what the future holds for this amazing group of players and this fantastic club.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester City are Women\u2019s Super League champions for the first time in 10 years after Arsenal were held…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[218,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-569981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-football","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}