The final day of the Premier League season is often known as The Last Day and it was indeed a fight to the finish for many clubs. Some were competing for the league title, others were competing for a top-four position, and a few were battling relegation. As it turned out, there were hits and misses from matchday 38 of the PL.
League leaders Manchester City were home to Aston Villa as a win at home would see them win the title. Liverpool were home to Wolves and they were one point behind City. The battle for the title got underway at 4 pm, BST. Aston Villa took the lead with Matty Cash scoring in the first half to give Steven Gerrard’s side the lead. City began to attack and came close but Aston Villa’s defense was resolute.
Villa doubled their advantage and former Liverpool winger Philippe Coutinho found the back of the net courtesy an Ollie Watkins’s assist. It seemed that Aston Villa was going to win the league for Liverpool, but Liverpool was being held to a one-all draw by Wolves. However, Pep Guardiola made a couple of changes and brought on Raheem Sterling and also Ilkay Gundogan in hope that they could change the narrative.
At the 76th minute mark, Manchester City scored to bring the game back to life, with substitute Ilkay Gundogan scoring. In the 79th minute, the unexpected happened when Manchester City restored parity in the game to level it at two-all, with Rodri, firing the Cityzens to bring hope. At this point, City fans were bouncing in the stadium, urging their team for one last push.
It didn’t take long, as skipper Ilkay Gundogan scored in the eighty-second minute to give Manchester City the lead for the first time in the game. City at this stage were playing to the fans’ advice and were just running down the time. The final whistle blasted and it summarised a 38-week campaign for the Etihad faithful who clinched their fourth Premier League title in five years, having won it in 2018,2019,2021, and 2022.
Liverpool defeated Wolves 3-1, but the one-point advantage that Manchester City had was enough to win the title for the Blue Mancunians, who finished with 93 points, and Liverpool with 92 points, rather similar to the 2018/2019 season, when City still narrowly won the league title by a point’s difference.
Leeds United won their game and the victory would not have been enough if Burnley had defeated Newcastle. The Clarets lost 2-1 to Newcastle at Turf Moor and the result sees them relegated to the Championship after eight consecutive seasons in the Premier League. Burnley faced relation in the 2009/10 season and made a return to top tier football after four years. Watford and Norwich City are the other clubs that have been dropped to the Championship for the 2022/2023 season.
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