The dust has settled on arguably the greatest ever Premier League season and the final day certainly didn’t disappoint.
With ten matches all kicking off at the same time, eight matches had something riding on them. With the title, Champions League spots, Europa league positions, and the battle to avoid the drop all being finalized – join us as we review some of the very best action from a dramatic final day.
Table of Contents
The race for the title
The Premier League is lucky to have two of the best teams in the world. Both Manchester City and Liverpool have taken the standard of the league to new heights, and have produced consistency like we have never seen before.
Heading into the final day, the advantage was with Manchester City who knew a win against Aston Villa would be enough to secure their 4th title in 5 seasons. Liverpool was waiting for any slip-ups and knew that if City were to drop points, a win against Wolves would keep their quadruple hopes alive.
Looking to race out of the blocks, Liverpool got off to a nightmare and start conceding a goal after just three minutes. Liverpool, who went through the season at home unbeaten, never wavered from their task and just fifteen minutes later were level thanks to a superbly taken goal from Sadio Mane.
The mood at Anfield was further lifted when news filtered through that Aston Villa had taken a shock lead at the Etihad – the quadruple was on!
It would stay that way until midway through the second half when the unthinkable looked like happening, as ex Liverpool midfielder Phillipe Coutinho expertly converted Aston Villa’s second goal. Liverpool knew a goal would be enough for them to take the title.
However, City showed their trademark signs of recovery and produced a remarkable ten-minute turnaround where they scored three goals in rapid succession. The irony was that as City scored their third, Mo Salah poked in Liverpool’s second only for their spirits to be squashed.
Aston Villa couldn’t muster up another chance and when the full-time whistle went it was Pep Guardiola’s men who were the Premier League champions, having won four titles in five years and their sixth Premier League title overall.
The battle to beat the drop.
Leeds and Burnley entered the final day level on points, but due to Burnley’s superior goal difference, the Clarets knew that they just had to match Leeds’ result to guarantee their Premier League status next season. Burnley faced Newcastle at Turf Moor, whilst Leeds faced the tricky task of traveling down to Brentford to try and get a much-needed win.
With nerves at their highest, it was Leeds who got the first boost after Newcastle’s Callum Wilson converted a penalty. Leeds would then flip the script on its head completely going 1-0 up thanks to a penalty of their own.
Leeds would try and hold onto their lead but were pegged back thanks to a superb Brentford equalizer. As Brentford equalized, Leeds was thrown a lifeline as Newcastle doubled their lead. Burnley wouldn’t be deterred and the excellent Maxwell Cornet fired home a volley to get Burnley right back into the contest.
Knowing another goal would place Leeds back into the bottom three, Burnley missed chance after chance, and they were left to rue them. With almost the last kick of the game, Leeds’ Jack Harrison fired home a superb volley to send the faithful away support into raptures. With not enough time on the clock, Burnley’s fate was sealed and it will be them playing in the Championship next season.
The race for 4th
With Manchester United having one of the worst seasons in their recent history, both Arsenal and Tottenham kicked off on the final day knowing that a 4th place finish and with it, a place in next season’s Champions League was up for grabs.
It was Spurs who had the advantage knowing that a draw against bottom side Norwich would have been enough to see them grab that lucrative 4th spot. Arsenal was waiting in the wings if Spurs were to slip up, as a Gunners win against Everton coupled with a Spurs loss would be enough for the Gunners to sneak in ahead of their North London rivals.
Spurs, who have often succumbed to the pressure before, are a different beast under Antonio Conte and the loss of the 4th spot was never in danger. Taking the lead in just the 16th minute, Spurs were home and hosed after Harry Kane doubled their lead midway through the first half.
Spurs would go on to score five, with the excellent Son Heung Min scoring two that would see him share the Golden Boot with Mohammed Salah.
Arsenal would also score 5 against a poor Everton side but had to settle for a 5th place finish and a place in next season’s Europa League.
The battle to finish 6th
The final matter to be settled on the final day of the season was to see who would finish 6th and earn a place in the Europa League. Manchester United started the day in 6th with West Ham just behind them in 7th.
With two points between the teams, United needed a win to secure their spot in the Europa League but it was a place that looked in jeopardy.
A Wilfried Zaha goal was enough for Palace to record a crucial 1-0 victory but Utd’s blushes were spared thanks to Brighton winning 3-1 against the Hammers. It will be West Ham who will be playing in the Europa Conference League next year.