Nottingham Forest secure safety and hand title to Manchester City

And with that it was done. A title race that had promised so much came to its formal and premature end in bright spring sunshine as Arsenal’s failure to defeat Nottingham Forest ensured that, for the fifth time in six seasons, the Premier League was won by Manchester City, who have three games still to play. But if that side of the equation was ultimately anti-climactic, for Forest there was ecstasy: they will be playing Premier League football again next season.

For others, next week’s trip to Crystal Palace, blithely mid-table, might seem the perfect final-day fixture for a team in need of points. Palace’s job is already done, their suitcases are already packed; they have no need for a dogfight. But Forest’s away form is so poor – just seven points gathered in 18 games on the road this season – there was an awareness they could do with securing survival before then. Offered the opportunity by Everton’s draw at Wolves earlier in the day, they seized it eagerly.

Whether you define what has happened to Arsenal as a choke or the inevitable consequence of chasing an almost indestructible opponent with a squad clearly lacking depth in certain key areas, or some combination of the two, what is undeniable is that Arsenal’s season has dwindled miserably. Since throwing away that 2-0 lead at Anfield, they have won just two of eight games.

Arsenal, their pursuit of the implacable excellence of Manchester City no more than perfunctory, their place in next season’s Champions League already secure, gave the sense of playing without a great deal of purpose. It wasn’t that they were at half-pace or that a lot of players had been rested, but the lack of intensity was discernible. Everybody knew the title race was done, the mood of