Is Man City making history under a dark cloud?

The hair is down, City are on the up and a true reflection of a night that Manchester City have looked like true champions. With his blonde mane flowing behind him, Erling Haaland thumped the ball into the goal and slid into the corner in celebration. Manchester City 4, Arsenal 1. This looked like the moment Man City appeared to take the Premier League title. Can anyone stop them? Has Arsenal choked? Are we looking at a historic treble for City? And how might it all be coloured by the ongoing financial foul play accusations? Is history being made under a dark cloud? I'm Patrick Stack, this is ABC Sport Daily. Richard Bayliss is the head of football at IMG in England. He's been covering the Premier League for more than a decade. Rich let's set the scene. Arsenal arrived in Manchester with a five point lead in the league. City had two extra games in hand. While there's still a month of fixtures remaining, this felt like a grand final. What did football fans say on the pitch? It certainly did feel that way, Stacky. The build up to this, you know, given the fact that there is so much football still to be played, says everything about the momentum that A, Manchester City have had, and B, Arsenal have lost over the past month in particular. You know, Arsenal have led for so long in this title race, but it's been, you know, looking in that rear view mirror, knowing that this huge machine Manchester City has been there, thereabouts, just creeping up on their tails. And so it proved it was Manchester City once again, not only beating Arsenal, they annihilated Arsenal for the 12th straight time in the Premier League. They beat the Gunners. As the final whistle blows, and the job is emphatically done. The pupil still has some learning to do from the master. Pep Guardiola remains top dog for now. That's an incredible record, and that momentum going into the game, it carried through into a remarkable performance. And 4-1 really kind of flatters Arsenal, you have to say, because City could have been three or four up by halftime. Haaland, De Bruyne in particular, they absolutely dismantled the Gunners. There was an element of big brother versus little brother. City manager Pep Guardiola against his former assistant Mikel Arteta, now in charge of Arsenal. Is this defeat simply part of a learning process for the Gunners? Perhaps, and you have to go back only maybe 18 months ago. You know, last time in the league, Arsenal went to the Etihad in Manchester. They were beaten 5-0. So they've come a long way in a short space of time. They've stuck by a manager who, for a lot of the fan base, they weren't sold on Arteta when they were sort of mid-table struggling, particularly towards the early stages of last season. So they've kind of come out of nowhere to mount this title challenge. And even if they do fall short, I think on the broader picture, you would have to say that Arsenal have overachieved and done really well. However, in terms of that, you know, master-apprentice storyline, I think what's really interesting is Pep Guardiola has been keen to distance that storyline, saying, look, Arteta is his own man. He's gone with his own ideas, you know, and he had our blessing to leave Manchester City when he was Pep's assistant to go to Arsenal. But the real story is that it's Pep Guardiola that's taken new ideas. You know, he has changed the way this Manchester City machine has performed. We're used to seeing them obviously dominate possession, just absolutely strangle teams in their own half, playing, you know, short pass football, possession-based football. And whilst they still love having the ball, in having De Bruyne and Haaland up top in this one, they were so direct in the way they were able to get at Arsenal in that first half. They had so much space to operate. De Bruyne's first goal is a work of art in his finish and the way he found space, but Arsenal were backing off him and looked like they were scared of this player who was unbelievable. And that's without Haaland scoring until the latter stages, you know. So it's Guardiola really that has, I guess, defied his critics. He's become a little bit more pragmatic when he needs to. He has different gears in the way Manchester City plays. And if they go on and win one trophy, let alone three, it will be his genius, I think, that's come to the fore. We'll touch the treble in a moment, but just starting with Arsenal for now, in many ways, as you say, they've overperformed this season. How big has their lead been at times? And despite the vast improvement, is there still a sense that we've just watched the North London club choke? Well, they've had the opportunity to go well into double figures in terms of that lead. City have always been behind the eight ball in terms of games played. And right now, as we sit here, Arsenal is still the leaders. This is the incredible thing about what will be the storyline today of, you know, Manchester City are almost home. They're still behind, two points behind Arsenal with two games in hand, though. And that's the key thing, isn't it? Like they've always had the inside running, but the pressure that's created, you have to tip your cap to Manchester City by always being able to stick with Arsenal. Over the past four games, Arsenal have not won. You know, they led 2-0 at Anfield against Liverpool. They let that slip. It was a draw. They led 2-0 against West Ham at London Stadium. Let that slip. It was a draw. And despite coming from behind against Southampton and fighting back to get a point, they haven't won in four games now. For a second successive Sunday, Arsenal two up and peg back, see two points go west. They've gone from a situation where they could have led by 12 points, really now the fact that they came in with a five-point lead, people were writing them off going into this match. And then anyone that watched the 90 minutes that the Yeti had, it will be even more so because Manchester City were a class above, to say the least. Speaking of a class above, Erling Haaland scored again. His contribution this season, astounding. As Messi and Ronaldo fade and Kylian Mbappe was seen as their heir apparent to that mantle of world's best. How much will Erling Haaland have to say in that conversation? Well, he could be the first man in 92 years to play his football in England and score 50 goals in a season. He's 49 now in all competitions. And you have to say that at a snip, at only around 100 million Australian dollars, he absolutely was worth that. You see so many players cost so much more. Jack Grealish for Manchester City a couple of years ago cost well beyond that. He's a bargain already. Regardless of what happens from this point, he scored 33 league goals. He's one off the record. He'll do that in the next couple of games, no doubt. They've got Fulham, Leeds and West Ham. You would think they cement their position and he goes on and breaks those records. He has been unbelievable. It was a great symbolism in this one, the fact that he was the creator for Kevin De Bruyne's double in this. And right at the end, he pops up with, of course, his customary goal. It was amazing to see the scenes as he sort of wheeled off and of course, you know, just celebrated another goal. It's a scene that not only City fans will be used to, but opposition defences, opposition players and fans will be having nightmares about for a long time to come because the man is phenomenal. He's going to levels, not only in the Premier League we haven't seen, but really in terms of an athlete on the global stage right now, there aren't too many that are having the impact that Erling Haaland is. You know I like to get carried away, Rich. You do? Yeah, I can't just enjoy the moment. It's next thing, next angle, next storyline. And now that we've effectively crowned City as Premier League champions with them having still seven matches to play, let me get greedier still for City fans. They're in play for a historic treble, Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League. Are they going to do it? Well, you know, you would have to put this team alongside the great eras we've seen, certainly in the Premier League so far. Manchester United teams, obviously, under Sir Alex Ferguson, have that mantle. But really, if they had to go and win Premier League for a start, it would be their seventh title in a little over a decade. You know, they'll go into the FA Cup final against Manchester United, the first ever all-Manchester FA Cup final as big, big favorites. And then, you know, against Real Madrid, I think a lot of people have kind of just written Real Madrid off in the Champions League. I think that will be much, much tighter than people give that tie credit for. They'll have to work for it, undoubtedly, if they are to do it. Of course, they've never won the Champions League before. But if there is a side, if there's a squad, a manager, a club, a movement, if you like, that's, you know, really kind of built to this moment, it is Manchester City. And really, if they don't win at least two trophies this season, you would have to say they've underperformed, because the position they're in and the football they're playing, they are irresistible and very rarely in history have we seen a team so incredibly dominant in one league. Jack Grealish, he's deserved that. The goals flow and flow from Manchester City, leaving Liverpool not knowing what has hit them today. You know, we're getting into the territory of what PSG do in France, what Bayern Munich have done for a long time in Germany, and what Juventus until a couple of years ago were doing in Italy. This is what's happening now in England, and it's Manchester City who are so incredibly dominant. If today is a sunny day for Manchester City, the dark cloud on the horizon is Premier League's accusations of financial foul play. What are the chances this wondrous acquisition of trophies could be tainted? And what chance do we see some kind of action from the relevant body any time soon? Well, it's amazing. You know, you mentioned a dark cloud, Stacky. The crazy thing is it's almost kind of gone by the wayside, this discussion, you know, it's lingering in the background, but not too many people want to tackle it. It needs to be said, of course, that the Premier League through this independent investigation, there are over 100 allegations against Manchester City, but they only go up until 2018. I say only. I mean, it's from 2009 to 2018. They had a fair bit of success in that time. You know, they won three Premier Leagues and some domestic trophies in that time as well in terms of the Cups. So it would be enormous if they're found guilty in any of that. They're in a situation where they've got to fuel the success, and they have the money to spend, but they also have to bring so much revenue into the club. So no wonder that there have been so many eyeballs in the forensics, you know, across the accounting of Manchester City, and that's where the allegations lie, where their account's legit, if you like. And we don't know, you know, we don't know the answer to that. But the fact that it's a discussion point, obviously will taint not only that period, but everything that's happened since. So to answer your question, of course, if they go and win this title, if they win the FA Cup or the Champions League, it will always be the question mark over this club and over the team until they clear their name, which of course they have the opportunity to do. They're answering the critics if there are any left, obviously, on the pitch. It's now a question of can they do it in the boardroom, potentially in the courtroom? And if they do that, hey, hats off to them. Rich Bayless, thanks so much for staying up late for us in London to take us through what is an enthralling story right now. Cheers, Dacky. All the best. If you want to understand the whole Man City financial foul play story a bit better, listen to Poppy Penny's conversation with Daniel Garb. The link to that is in our show notes. Headlines. Speculation is growing that Andrew Dillon will be crowned the next AFL chief executive. 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