BURNLEY: Manch­ester City ended Arse­nal’s six-month stay on the Premier League summit and condemned Burnley to relegation with a laboured 1-0 victory at Turf Moor on Wednesday.

Erling Haaland’s clinical finish after five minutes could have paved the way for a boost to City’s goal difference but they lacked a cutting edge as Burnley dug deep.

Haaland hit the post and had other chances as City tried to give themselves a safety margin but Pep Guardiola’s side had to make do with a surprisingly narrow victory.

After reeling Arsenal in they now lead the table on goals scored with both sides on 70 poi­nts from 33 games and with an identical goal difference of plus 37.

For Scott Parker’s Burnley the inevitable has now become a reality as they are stuck on 20 points, 13 points behind the safety zone with only four games remaining.

“We played a really good game, unfortunately we missed a lot of chances. We defended better in the second half. Second half we had less problems,” Guardiola, whose side face Southampton in the FA Cup semi-final on Satu­rday, told Sky Sports.

“It was such a dema­nding game on Sunday. It is not easy after three days but in the Premier League you have to adj­ust. We are used to doing it. We competed rea­lly well, we made a really good game but it’s a pity the chances we had.”

City’s fans sang “we are top of the league” at the final whistle as their team hit the top but it was with a mixture of relief as they could never truly relax as Burnley betrayed their lowly status with a spirited display.

While City may have hit the top after stretching their unbeaten lea­gue run to 11, they will need to play better in a relatively tough run-in to win a fifth title in six seasons.

They also are at a disadvantage with Arsenal playing twice in the league before City’s next league game away at Everton.

For Burnley it is a second relegation in three seasons, having come up from the Championship with 100 points.

“I came here with a dream to keep this club up,” Burnley captain Ky­le Walker, a multiple title winner with City, said. “Hopefully we can do the fans proud next season.”

Meanwhile, Bourne­mouth’s challenge to qua­lify for Europe for the first time was dented by Sean Longstaff’s 97th-minute equaliser for Leeds United in a 2-2 draw.

Junior Kroupi’s ope­ner for Bournemouth was quickly cancelled out by a James Hill own goal. Rayan’s strike had the Cherries on course for the top six until Lon­gstaff’s volleyed leveller.

A point edges Bourne­mouth above Chelsea, who sacked Liam Rosen­ior on Wednesday, into sev­enth. Leeds are now nine points clear of the relegation zone.

Standings

Teams played won drawn lost goals for goals against points):
Manchester City 33 21 7 5 66 29 70
Arsenal 33 21 7 5 63 26 70
Manchester United 33 16 10 7 58 45 58
Aston Villa 33 17 7 9 47 41 58
Liverpool 33 16 7 10 54 43 55
Brighton 34 13 11 10 48 39 50
Bournemouth 34 11 16 7 52 52 49
Chelsea 34 13 9 12 53 45 48
Brentford 33 13 9 11 48 44 48
Everton 33 13 8 12 40 39 47
Sunderland 33 12 10 11 36 40 46
Fulham 33 13 6 14 43 46 45
Crystal Palace 32 11 10 11 35 36 43
Newcastle United 33 12 6 15 46 49 42
Leeds United 34 9 13 12 44 51 40
Nottingham Forest 33 9 9 15 36 45 36
West Ham United 33 8 9 16 40 57 33
Tottenham Hotspur 33 7 10 16 42 53 31
Burnley 34 4 8 22 34 68 20
Wolverhampton Wanderers 33 3 8 22 24 61 17

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2026