Manchester City's controversial win – a one-team Premier League?

Manchester City have proven they are "the great untouchables of the Premier League" by securing a historic fourth successive title, said the BBC's Phil McNulty.

In beating rivals Arsenal and Liverpool to clinch victory yet again, Pep Guardiola's "all-conquering" team have "rewritten the record books". Yet their latest win "will barely provoke excessive comment", McNulty added.

That Man City will win the biggest footballing trophies in England – and the world – has become a given, prompting fears that the club's domination may lead to a one-team league.

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'Thoroughly boring' 

"Something odd has happened" to the Premier League, said John Nicholson on Football365. Recent Man City matches have "felt non-competitive, like a pre-season friendly", despite the high stakes and the presence of star players including Erling Haaland and Phil Foden.

The team operate in a way not dissimilar to a "cheat code", which ultimately "leaves you feeling empty because you didn't 'earn' the win". While Man City are "obviously brilliant", watching them put yet another goal into the back of the net ends up feeling "soulless".

Under the ownership of Sheikh Mansour, the vice president of the United Arab Emirates and one of football's wealthiest owners, the sheer "scale of investment" has "made the league thoroughly boring", said James Harris on CapX in 2023.

But worse is the controversy that continues to plague the club. The Premier League has charged Man City with 115 breaches of its financial fair play rules – allegations that the club strenuously denies.

So the unprecedented run of recent years "has an asterisk next to it" until the matter is fully resolved, said Richard Mills in Goal.

'Footballing beauty' 

"One can throw many accusations at City, but being boring is not one of them," said Matt Law in The Telegraph. The team brings a "brilliant joy" to the Premier League (except for when they are "pummelling the team you support"). 

So, "is it really Manchester City's fault there's no Premier League title race drama?" asked Sam Lee in The Athletic. The club's only real crime is that "essentially, they are too good" and fail to bring the "flaws and drama" many football fans have come to expect in a season.

Viewers of the game "want to see teams who at least appear fallible in their matches and title races", but City won't take the bait, and are "not giving their opponents a sniff".

"At the start, I was as ABC as the next man. Anyone but City, indeed," added Martin Samuel in The Times, but this record win "is only boring if you think genius is a snooze".

Although it is "not healthy for a league to be won four times on the spin", Man City have silenced their opponents through consistent "footballing beauty". This is a team that stands out from the rest, and "that's not tedium – that's talent".