Manchester City won the Premier League for the fifth time in six seasons after Arsenal fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

Mikel Arteta’s side are now four points behind City with one game remaining, and the Gunners’ challenge has finally evaporated.

As a result of Taiwo Awonyi’s first-half goal, Forest avoided relegation in their first season back in the Premier League in 23 years.

City’s third consecutive English championship has transformed Sunday’s home league match against Chelsea into a celebration match.

Pep Guardiola’s squad will attempt to complete a treble when they face Manchester United and Inter Milan in the FA Cup and Champions League finals, respectively, next month.

Since 2008, when an Abu Dhabi-backed takeover transformed their fortunes, City have become the dominant force in English football.

But admiration for the quality of their football under Guardiola has been accompanied by concerns about their finances, with City facing 115 charges for violating Premier League regulations.

Despite this, City captain Ilkay Gundogan insisted that his team had been challenged throughout the season.

“The Premier League is without doubt the most demanding and competitive league in the world so that tells you everything about what an achievement this is,” he said.

However, former Guardiola assistant and Arsenal manager Arteta pondered what might have been for the longtime leaders.

“First of all congratulations to Manchester City for winning the championship but it is a sad day for us,” Arteta told Sky Sports.

“Now we have to face the reality, today we gave a goal away and we were not good enough to break them down. We could play for three hours and we would not have done it.”

By contrast, Forest manager Steve Cooper told the BBC: “We limited them (Arsenal) to very little, incredible desire and we got over the line. It was everything we wished for from today. It is what the players and the supporters particularly deserve.”