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City defender Kyle Walker praised Arsenal's performance while reflecting on the exhilarating title race, but said that they remained convinced that Arsenal will eventually fold as the race intensified.
Manchester City celebrated their fifth Premier League title in six years after a captivating season filled with twists and turns.
Arsenal emerged as worthy contenders, but eventually bottled their chances, ending their pursuit of a first league title since 2004 with a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The Gunners led the way with almost a third of the season played, and despite holding an impressive eight-point lead at the top of the table, their form faltered in the final two months.
Man City capitalized on this opportunity, securing an unassailable lead with three games to spare.
City defender Kyle Walker praised Arsenal's performance while reflecting on the exhilarating title race, but said that they remained convinced that Arsenal will eventually fold as the race intensified.
"Arsenal pushed us right to the limit, they've been fantastic, so all credit to them," Walker acknowledged, recognizing the challenge posed by the Gunners.
"We just went on an incredible run, they had a few hiccups, we capitalized on it and we've managed to end up where we have."
"It's the players we've got. We're a bunch of lads who have achieved so much over the last number of years, and we understand the standards we've set," he said.
"We wanted to prove anyone doubting us wrong - it wasn't good enough," Walker explained, emphasizing the team's determination to silence their critics.
It is only the fourth time that a team has been as many as eight points clear after at least 28 Premier League games and failed to win the title.
Only one team has ever had 69 points with 10 games remaining - as Arsenal did - and failed to win the title. That was Liverpool in 2018-19, when they finished on 97 points, one behind City.
But City have won 11 league games in a row - and dropped just two points from a possible 42 - to overhaul Arsenal and clinch the title with three games remaining.
City are only the fifth club to win three successive top-flight titles in England, following Huddersfield Town (1924-26), Arsenal (1933-35), Liverpool (1982-84) and Manchester United, who did it twice under Sir Alex Ferguson (1999-2001 and 2007-09).
It is also the third occasion Guardiola has managed to win three league titles in a row, having done so in La Liga with Barcelona from 2009-11 and in the Bundesliga from 2014-16 with Bayern Munich.
They also have a chance to claim the Treble, with FA Cup and Champions League finals to come next month.
Only Manchester United, in 1998-99, have previously achieved that feat - and it is their derby rivals whom City will meet at Wembley on 3 June, before facing Inter Milan a week later in Istanbul, where they will hunt a first Champions League triumph.
City will lift the trophy after they play Chelsea on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium.
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