(Sporting News)
By. Mihir Kore
The day has finally come, the season 2021-22 Premier League season has concluded after 38 long matches. We have a winner, a side that showed utmost passion when it mattered the most and they took away the trophy the grasp of their rivals, Pep Guardiola's Manchester City. The Blues clinched the trophy on the final day of their campaign in nail-biting fashion up until the end. Yesterday was not just a single battle for the title, but rather many teams battled for spots in the top four, avoiding relegation and trying to clinch European football for next season. Let's look at what went down on this final matchday.
The Relegation Battle:
(The Sun)
There was drama at the bottom of the table as the pressure was high for Burnley F.C and Leeds United F.C. who were neck and neck fighting for a spot in the premier league next season. The two spots below them, both Norwich City F.C. and Watford F.C. who had terrible seasons, had their fates already decided weeks ago as both had a record of 22 and 23 points sitting comfortably at 20th and 19th position.
The real question was who would be the third team joining them in the Championship next season and well, it was Burnley F.C who were relegated alongside the two after failing to beat Newcastle F.C. by 2 goals to their 1. The drama concluded at Brentford's Community Stadium when Leeds' Jack Harrison scored late in added time to keep Jesse Marsch’s side in the Premier League next season with a 2-1 win.
European competition teams:
(Getty Images)
In the end, we saw the teams who would be playing European football next season. West Ham United would be playing in the newly created UEFA Europa Conference League after failing to beat Brighton & Hove Albion F.C and losing 3-1 at the American Express Community Stadium and missing out on the Europa League.
On the other hand, Manchester United will be playing in the Europa League after losing to Crystal Palace F.C 1-0 but going through as they were ahead of West Ham on points. An extremely disappointing season finally came to a close for the Red Devils and for the first time Cristiano Ronaldo will be playing in the Europa League. However, with newly appointed manager Erik Ten Hag they seem to be determined to bring back their past glory.
Joining the Red Devils would be the Gunners, who, even after beating Everton F.C 5-1 and showed great commitment, failed to capitalize in the previous games and let their rivals Tottenham finish ahead in yet another season. An inconsistent season for Mikel Arteta’s side that had many ups and downs as they were the favourites to finish in the top four spots this season but just fell short after losing to Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United a few matchdays ago.
Thus, it was Antonio Conte’s Spurs who managed to finish in the 4th Champions League spot after beating newly relegated Norwich F.C 5-0 and ending their inconsistent season on a high note. For Tottenham this would be an incredible achievement as they went against the odds and managed to qualify for the prestigious Champions League next season. Chelsea would take the 3rd spot who had already confirmed it in their matchday 37.
The Title Race:
(The Gaurdian)
As this season ends, we finally got our Premier League Champions of the 2021-22 campaign and it was not without final matchday drama. Liverpool and Manchester City fought till the very end. Still, Liverpool fell short even after beating Watford F.C. 3-1 in an entertaining battle, as Manchester City overcame the odds and beat Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa in a breathtaking 3-2 comeback at the Etihad. It has been 10 years since that iconic Aguero moment and it felt almost identical with Gundogan's winning goal after being down 2-0 in the 75th minute. Pep Guardiola won his fourth Premier League title in five years for the Blues and concluded an overall thrilling and entertaining season of English Football.
Conclusion:
This Premier League season was nothing more than an iconic one and will go down in the history books. Liverpool were close but with Erling Haaland coming to Manchester City next season, can the Blues make the unthinkable happen and make it three in a row? Only one way to find out!