Soccer-Man City's title hopes extinguished with draw at Bournemouth


Soccer Football - Premier League - AFC Bournemouth v Manchester City - Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, Britain - May 19, 2026 AFC Bournemouth's Junior Kroupi scores their first goal REUTERS/Dylan Martinez EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO USE WITH UNAUTHORIZED AUDIO, VIDEO, DATA, FIXTURE LISTS, CLUB/LEAGUE LOGOS OR 'LIVE' SERVICES. ONLINE IN-MATCH USE LIMITED TO 120 IMAGES, NO VIDEO EMULATION. NO USE IN BETTING, GAMES OR SINGLE CLUB/LEAGUE/PLAYER PUBLICATIONS. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE FOR FURTHER DETAILS..

BOURNEMOUTH, England, May ⁠19 (Reuters) - Manchester City's Premier League title dreams were ⁠snuffed out on the south coast on Tuesday ‌with a heartbreaking 1-1 draw at Bournemouth that handed Arsenal an unassailable lead at the top, and their first league trophy after ​a 22-year wait.

Needing victory to keep ⁠alive the race ahead ⁠of Sunday's season finale, City were undone by Eli Junior ⁠Kroupi's ‌brilliant first-half strike at Vitality Stadium, extinguishing City's hopes of a seventh league title ⁠for Pep Guardiola in what is expected to ​be his ‌final season after a glittering decade as manager.

The draw ⁠left City ​on 78 points, four behind Arsenal. Bournemouth -- unbeaten in 17 league games and sixth on 56 points -- secured European ⁠qualification for the first time.

Kroupi fired ​Bournemouth in front in the 39th minute when Adrien Truffert was played through down the left and he picked ⁠out the 19-year-old Frenchman, who took a touch before unleashing a brilliant curving shot just inside the far post past Gianluigi Donnarumma, who was rooted to ​the spot.

City's Erling Haaland pulled back ⁠a goal deep in injury time, when Rodri's shot bounced ​off the post and dropped ‌to the Norwegian but the ​final whistle sounded seconds later to seal City's fate.

(Reporting by Lori Ewing; editing by Clare Fallon)

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