Champions Manchester City gave their departing midfield colossus Yaya Toure the ideal Etihad send-off by returning to record-breaking mode with a 3-1 rout of Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday.
Goals from Danilo, Bernardo Silva and Fernandinho saw City, who had suffered a goalless blip against Huddersfield Town on Sunday, take their season’s total to 97 points, eclipsing Chelsea’s Premier League-era record of 95 set in 2004-05.
Ivorian Toure could not land the dream goal to cap his splendid City career, but their two first-half strikes, separated by a Leonardo Ulloa header for Brighton, ensured another record for most goals in a Premier League campaign.
City, who notched a 105th of the campaign through Fernandinho after the break, can now become the first English top-flight team to finish a season with a century of points and 32 wins should they prevail at Southampton on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger’s penultimate game in charge of Arsenal ended in depressingly familiar fashion as the 10-man Gunners were defeated 3-1 at Leicester.
Arsenal remain the only team in England’s top four leagues without a point away from home this year, having now lost seven straight Premier League games on the road.
Kelechi Iheanacho had already fired the Foxes into an early lead, before Arsenal were reduced to 10 men when Konstantinos Mavropanos was shown a straight red card for hauling down Iheanacho.
Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang scored his ninth Arsenal goal in just 13 appearances since a club record move from Borussia Dortmund in January to draw the visitors level.
But Arsenal were left ruing another refereeing decision as Demarai Gray tumbled inside the area, and Jamie Vardy rifled home the resulting penalty before Riyad Mahrez added a late third for Leicester.