In the end Arsenal passed the winning-post without either breaking their stride or using the whip. An emphatic 4-0 victory over Everton before an ecstatic crowd at Highbury confirmed their 11th championship - and their first as winners of the Premiership - and Arsene Wenger as the first foreign manager to lead a team to the English title.
Coronations should never be postponed - that only invites a coup - and there was never much chance of Arsenal having to wait any longer for the three points they needed to put themselves beyond the reach of Manchester United. They were in a different league from Everton, a statement which will become an actuality next Sunday if Bolton win at Chelsea or Coventry beat Howard Kendall's sagging side at Goodison.
Yesterday Everton's first relegation since 1951 appeared only slightly less of a foregone conclusion than Arsenal's first title since 1991. Their resistance, brief and passive, collapsed once Slaven Bilic had headed into his own net after four minutes.
A goal either side of half-time from Marc Overmars turned the rest of the match into a carnival and then Tony Adams, the Arsenal captain, provided the perfect ending with a fourth in the penultimate minute. It was Arsenal's 10th successive league victory, a club record, and extended their unbeaten run in the Premiership to 18 games.
Manchester United could not live with this inexorable surge, so reminiscent of Liverpool in the 1980s. Wenger picked out Arsenal's two victories over United as the crucial results, and rightly so.
Now the new champions have just under a fortnight to contemplate their second league and FA Cup Double. They meet Newcastle United at Wembley on Saturday week and are even stronger favourites to win this final than they were in 1971, when they beat Liverpool to add the Cup to the championship they had taken at Tottenham five nights earlier.
Certainly Wenger and his squad need the breathing space. Dennis Bergkamp, Arsenal's principal conjuror, is already missing the remainder of the league programme with a hamstring injury and is a major doubt for Wembley. For a time yesterday Arsenal feared they had lost Emmanuel Petit, one half of their inspired Gallic combination in midfield, who was put out of the match by a dreadful tackle from Everton's Don Hutchison at the end of the first half. Gerald Ashby, in his last game, ended with five Everton names in his book.
The Arsenal bench feared a broken leg when Hutchison went in high with both feet and tackled the Frenchman just below his right knee. Fortunately X-rays showed no fracture and Wenger hopes Petit will miss nothing more than Wednesday's lap of honour at Liverpool.
Before the end others who had contributed to Arsenal's triumph were able to take their bows. Ian Wright, having not started a match since mid-January, came on for the last 18 minutes. Steve Bould appeared for the last 10, played in midfield and produced the long pass which sent in Adams, his centre-back partner, for the last goal.
Yesterday there was no change to the patterns of passing and movement which had set Arsenal up for the title. During the first half, when game and championship were being won, Petit and Patrick Vieira, both strong in the tackle and quick to break out of defence, again provided the springboard for Arsenal's counterattacks.
With Overmars dropping deep at set pieces, Everton were at their most vulnerable when they pushed up for free-kicks and only an excellent save by Thomas Myhre denied Arsenal a goal in the opening minute after Christopher Wreh's shot had threatened to round off a brisk counterattack. Three minutes later Adams rose behind Bilic as Petit's corner swung towards the far post, only for the Croatian's head to do the job for him.
Arsenal had scarcely had time to show any nerves, and the rest was easy. Two minutes before the half-hour, with Petit still on the ground after an encounter with John O'Kane for which the Everton man was booked, Nicolas Anelka released Overmars, whose pace had already destroyed Everton on the left, and the Dutch winger ran half the length of the field before scoring with a shot which the diving Myhre allowed to slip through his arms.
Twelve minutes into the second half, with Highbury already in the throes of noisy celebration, Anelka exploited a mistake by Michael Ball to send Overmars past Dave Watson for Arsenal's third. Adams's late goal was a bonus for the team and a fitting reward for the way he has led the side to another championship. Now the Double beckons.
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Vieira, Adams, Anelka (Wright 72), Overmars, Wreh (Bould 80), Keown, Parlour, Petit (Platt 44). Subs Not Used: Manninger, Grimandi. Booked: Dixon. Goals: Bilic 6 og, Overmars 28, 57, Adams 89.
Everton: Myhre, Watson, Barmby, Ferguson, Hutchison, Short, Beagrie (Madar 46), Tiler, Ball, Bilic (Oster 46), O'Kane (Farrelly 46). Subs Not Used: Gerrard, McCann. Booked: Hutchison, O'Kane, Ferguson, Oster, Barmby. Arsenal Premiership Champions
Referee: G R Ashby (Worcester).
Arsenal's wounded hero Emmanuel Petit admitted last night that he feared a horror tackle by Everton's Don Hutchison had broken his leg. French midfield star Petit hobbled off in agony just before half-time. He was relieved when an X-ray revealed no more than bad bruising but said: "I feared the worst - and I was very angry that the referee did nothing about it."
