The Day Football Met Perfection
It was 13 May 2018, the final day of the Premier League season, when Gabriel Jesus struck deep into stoppage time at Southampton's St Mary's Stadium. The goal itself was routine – Kevin De Bruyne's pass, a clinical finish – but what it symbolised was anything but ordinary. Manchester City had reached 100 points, becoming the first team in English top-flight history to achieve the milestone.
Pep Guardiola leapt onto the field in jubilation, embracing his staff and players in the knowledge that they had created something unprecedented. The Centurions, as they would come to be known, had not merely won the title – they had redefined what dominance in English football could look like.
A Season of Records
The 2017-18 campaign was a procession unlike any before. City clinched the title with five games to spare, equalling the top-flight record also achieved by Manchester United (1907-08 and 2000-01) and Everton (1984-85). But it was the margins that truly astounded.
The 19-point gap to second-placed Manchester United broke the record for the biggest lead at the end of a campaign. City amassed 32 wins – the most in a single season – and scored 106 goals, another record. Their goal difference of +79 remains unmatched, as does their tally of 50 away points and 16 away victories.
The Previous Standard
Before City's Centurions, Chelsea held the Premier League points record with 95 in 2004-05 under José Mourinho. Adjusting Liverpool's 1978-79 First Division campaign to three points per win would have yielded 98 points. City surpassed them all, setting a standard that no team has since matched.
The only clubs to come close have been Liverpool in 2019-20, who finished on 99 points – still short of City's benchmark – and City themselves in subsequent title-winning campaigns.
Guardiola's Assessment
When asked what gave him the most satisfaction, Guardiola reflected not on the numbers but on the manner of victory. "We didn't play 38 games perfectly, but most of them we were so good, and most of the time we were better than our opponents," he said. "When you score a lot of goals and concede few, 100 points, all the records we have broken, it was a consequence of the way we've played."
A Legacy Unmatched
Seven years on, no team has reached 100 points again. City went on to win four consecutive league titles from 2020-21 to 2023-24, completing a domestic treble in 2018-19 and winning the Champions League in 2023. But that first 100-point season remains the foundation of everything that followed.
The answer to the question is simple: yes, someone has reached 100 points in the Premier League. Only one club. Only one season. Only one team of Centurions.
