The reigning Premier League champions cruised to a 4-1 victory over their nearest rivals thanks to a tactical masterpiece from manager Pep Guardiola.

So, that settles everything. After Manchester City's thrashing of Arsenal on Wednesday, it must be over for the Premier League championship fight, which has been one of the greatest in recent memory.
Kevin De Bruyne scored twice to lead Pep Guardiola's team to a 4-1 victory over the Gunners. The Belgian playmaker also contributed significantly to City's offensive success.

For Mikel Arteta's underdogs, Rob Holding's late goal was a consolation after goals from John Stones and Erling Haaland at the conclusion of each half.
Although they only have a two-point advantage, Arsenal looks certain to miss the playoffs after losing nine points in their past four games and with City still having two games in hand.

Meanwhile, City are legitimate title contenders. They have a shot at winning the Premier League, have already reached the FA Cup final, and need to beat Real Madrid in two games to get to the Champions League final. Is there anyone who can stop them now?

The victors and vanquished of the Etihad Stadium are analyzed by GOAL.

WINNER: Kevin De Bruyne Erling Haaland's partnership

Usually De Bruyne is the one preparing the feasts for Haaland's goals, but in this case, it was the Norwegian who was providing the gasoline for City's offense.

Haaland continued moving backwards into the middle of the field, winning a slew of duels with Arsenal players, and then passing the ball to Kevin de Bruyne instead of shooting every time he had possession.

However, credit must be given to the Belgian who broke through the center and finished the opening goal with a beautiful strike into the bottom corner.

De Bruyne put the game beyond Arsenal's grasp with another strike that oozed perfection, slipping the ball through Rob Holding's knees and into the bottom corner after Haaland had been oddly wasteful in front of goal for much of the night.

The question is, who gave them the pass? It was Haaland once more, capitalizing on a poor pass by his countryman Martin Odegaard.

Haaland scored late in extra time to break Mohamed Salah's record of 32 goals in a Premier League season. It would not have been fitting for such a momentous game to conclude without a goal.

LOSER: Thomas Partey

Big games are when your star players really need to shine, and Thomas Partey is one of Arsenal's few true stars.

The Gunners were always going to need Partey to attempt to assert himself in this match and help steady the ship in the middle of the field.

The Ghanaian national team player had a tough time of it throughout. De Bruyne, who kept slinking behind Partey and orchestrating home-team success, was too much for him to handle.

From Arsenal's perspective, the opening goal was set up poorly as the City captain breezed past Partey.

To be fair, Rob Holding should have done a better job of handling the high ball before Haaland delivered it to De Bruyne. The Belgium international breezed past Partey and into the gap between the central defenders, but Partey appeared to be coasting along in second gear.

That scene was representative of the evening for Partey. He was completely outmatched by De Bruyne and City's skipper ended up controlling play.

WINNER: Pep Guardiola

Guardiola's squad turned in their greatest performance of the season against the league's top team.

City completely controlled the match. At times, they completely flummoxed Arsenal with their pinpoint short passing game, zipping the ball across the field and not letting Arsenal get near it. Shortly thereafter, Haaland was mauling Granit Xhaka or Odegaard on long punts downfield.

Haaland was intercepting and playing lovely outballs, but Jack Grealish was dominating in every physical battle. everything was a flawless display, and you can thank Guardiola for everything.

After losing Nathan Ake to injury and juggling two other contests, the coach came up with the ideal game plan.

Once again, the teacher triumphs over the learner.

LOSER: Rob Holding

For Holding, tonight was doomed to be a trying one. Haaland was bound to try to face him in one-on-one situations as much as possible, as he was the clear focus of City's attack.

The big concern was how Holding would handle the situation. The solution was obvious very immediately.

The Arsenal center back struggled to keep up. He attempted to take the initiative by pressing high, but City just played around him and then sped into the void he created.

To be fair to Holding, not few defenders could tolerate Haaland's temper right now. Moreover, the City attacker gave William Saliba a hard time at the Emirates Stadium.

There's no denying that Saliba's injury and the subsequent addition of Holding to Arsenal's starting lineup have significantly altered the course of the season. As a result, performance has plummeted, which is hardly a coincidence.

Holding took his late goal extremely nicely, but that can't and won't make up for his many flaws.

WINNER: City's treble hopes

City still have seven Premier League games to go, but it appears like they have completed the first phase of the triple after their domination here and how they have come into their own at the key part of the season.

City may still be two points behind Arsenal, but they have two games in hand, and their only remaining potentially challenging assignment is a road trip to Brighton.

Arsenal has to travel to Newcastle and host Brighton, but has a favorable schedule at home against Leeds, West Ham, and Chelsea.

If City can get their championship bid back on track and feel confident that they can win the title despite missing points, they will be able to rest key players for the first and second legs of their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.

Even though tensions will be high in the derby at Wembley, the 14-time European winners appear to be the biggest impediment to City's treble dreams, as they look considerably superior than FA Cup final opponents Manchester United.

While Arsenal were still considered serious championship contenders as recently as the end of March, they are now clearly not a threat, and the once-improbable prospect of collecting all three major trophies is becoming increasingly realistic.

LOSER: Arsenal's title dreams

That settles it, then.

Although mathematically possible, Arsenal's title prospects are virtually vanished.

They had a fantastic run, but they petered out just when it mattered. Men versus boys became apparent within the first few minutes of what was supposed to be a championship showdown between the two greatest teams in the country.

Arsenal simply couldn't match City's brilliance. The home team was in another league and deserved a far bigger victory margin than three goals.

Even if Arteta's team is now in first place, it won't last forever. With the deficit down to two points and the two games still in hand, a third consecutive Premier League title for City appears certain.

That's not anything Arsenal should feel embarrassed about. They have played so brilliantly that they have been at the head of this City team for nearly the whole season.

But they were unable to keep up with the pace. Guardiola's squad has been persistent in their chase, and they've finally produced the game-changing play.