Martin Odegaard lifted the Premier League trophy for Arsenal after the club’s final game of the season at Crystal Palace, ending a 22-year wait for the title and capping a campaign in which they had been consistently top since October.
The final weekend played out across 10 grounds and produced a string of decisive results. Arsenal had already clinched the championship before the last round, but Sunday’s fixtures finalized Europe and relegation places: West Ham United beat Leeds United 3-0 yet still went down to the Championship for the 2026–27 season, while Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers also dropped out of the top flight. Aston Villa’s 2-1 win over Manchester City moved them up to fourth, securing Champions League football after their Europa League success midweek — a victory that ensured English clubs will have five Champions League places next season and ended talk of six.
The conclusions reshaped English football’s continental map. Bournemouth sealed European qualification for the first time in their history after a midweek draw with Manchester City and finished sixth after a Sunday draw with Nottingham Forest. Sunderland beat Chelsea 2-1 to snatch the remaining European berth, rising from 10th to 7th in the table; the club also became one of 10 in Premier League history to qualify for the Champions League in their first season back in the competition. Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United had already secured Champions League places beforehand.
Arne Slot — whose side met Arsenal during the season — offered a measured appraisal. "Congratulations to them," he said, and added a wider critique of what the title now represents: "But for me they have been a different champion to the last 10 seasons. It is the first time in 30 years that 40 per cent of goals had come from set-pieces." Mikel Arteta, when asked about the day, replied simply: "What a surprise" — a dry summation that cut through the ceremony and the noise.
This is not a tidy ending. Aston Villa’s Europa League triumph in midweek altered the distribution of European places and left clubs that might have planned for an extra Champions League slot recalibrating on the final day. Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea, Brentford and Sunderland had been fighting for a remaining Europa League place; Sunderland emerged the beneficiary. Bournemouth’s rise to the top seven, after securing their first-ever European campaign, underlined how narrow margins and a midweek result can reshuffle a season.
There is also a persistent friction to the story: Arsenal won the title amid sustained criticism of their playing style, and those critiques did not dissolve with the trophy. The season featured public complaints about time-wasting in March from Fabian Hurzeler and repeated questions about how Arsenal generated goals. Slot’s set-piece statistic amplified that tension — a champion who has relied heavily on dead-ball situations will not silence analysts or rival managers simply by hoisting a cup.
For supporters and neutrals alike the scene at Selhurst Park was simple and absolute: Odegaard, the captain, on the podium with the silverware, the wait ended. For Arsenal the conclusion is unambiguous — a long drought closed and a season fulfilled. For the rest of the league, the end of this weekend rearranged ambitions and incomes, from European nights for Bournemouth and Sunderland to the financial reset relegation brings for West Ham, Burnley and Wolves.
The clearest consequence is forward-looking: Arsenal will enter next season as champions and targets for every rival, while the new continental allocation forces clubs and coaches to rethink transfer plans and tactical priorities now that five Champions League spots are confirmed. Martin Odegaard walked off with the trophy at Crystal Palace carrying more than a title — the proof that, for now, Arsenal’s methods delivered the one measure that matters most.
