Manchester City’s 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday trimmed Arsenal’s lead at the Premier League summit to two points with two matchdays remaining, setting up a nail-biting conclusion to the 2025-26 title race — while across the Atlantic, the NBA playoffs delivered another night of dominant performances from the Knicks and Thunder.
What happened
Why it matters
What comes next
City struck through goals by Antoine Semenyo (32nd minute), Omar Marmoush (42nd), and Savinho (83rd), with Phil Foden supplying two assists in a statement victory at Selhurst Park. The win leaves Arsenal on 79 points from 36 games with a goal difference of plus-42, while City sit on 77 from the same number of matches — also with a plus-42 goal difference. It means Arsenal require four points from their final two games — against Burnley at home on May 18 and away to Crystal Palace on May 24 — to be assured of the title regardless of City’s results. City, meanwhile, must beat Bournemouth away on May 19 and Aston Villa at home on May 24 while hoping Arsenal slip.
The arithmetic grows more complicated given Arsenal’s scheduling squeeze. Mikel Arteta’s side face PSG in the Champions League final in Budapest on May 30 — five days after their final domestic fixture — raising questions about rotation in the title run-in. Arsenal reached that European showpiece by conceding just six goals across 11 wins and nine clean sheets, the competition’s stingiest defensive record. Wednesday’s hard-fought 1-0 win over West Ham, sealed by Leandro Trossard’s 83rd-minute strike, kept them on course for a potential historic double.
In the NBA, the Knicks are one win from their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2000 after brushing aside the Atlanta Hawks 140-89 in Game 6 on April 30 — a 51-point margin of victory that underlined their playoff-long dominance. They now await the winner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons series, with the Cavs holding a 3-2 lead ahead of Game 6.
The Oklahoma City Thunder stand between the Los Angeles Lakers and a second straight Western Conference Finals appearance after closing out their series against Phoenix with a 131-122 Game 4 victory — the second-highest-scoring game in Thunder playoff history. The Thunder now face either the Minnesota Timberwolves or San Antonio Spurs in the next round, with that series also tied at three games apiece heading into a decisive Game 7 on May 14. Should the Timberwolves prevail, they would likely meet Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in a blockbuster West semifinal, with Denver having edged past Minnesota 113-125 in Game 5 before the series swung back their way.
Champions League holders PSG, Arsenal’s final opponents on May 30, defeated Bayern Munich in their semi-final to confirm a repeat of last season’s last-four encounter — which PSG won 3-1 on aggregate. With kickoff at Puskás Arena scheduled for 17:00 BST and ticket prices ranging from €70 to €950, the stage is set for one of the most anticipated finals in recent memory. For Arsenal, it represents their first Champions League final in 20 years. For City and the Premier League title race, the outcome may hinge not on what happens on the pitch but on which competition Arteta prioritises in the season’s final, fractious weeks.