Man City and Leeds were the big winners on the final day
Man City and Leeds were the big winners on the final day

How Man City pipped Liverpool and Leeds stayed up on mad final day


The final day of the Premier League season was packed with drama from the top to the bottom of the table. We track how it all played out.


Drama started with team sheets

With Liverpool in search of three points against Wolves in the hope Steven Gerrardโ€™s Aston Villa could take points off Manchester City to hand them the Premier League title there was plenty of refreshing of Twitter feeds around 15:00 BST to see what each team's starting XI looked like.

Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk were only fit enough to start on the Liverpool bench, John Stones returned for City but Kyle Walker could only be named as a substitute.

Pep Guardiola chose to name Stones in a back four alongside Aymeric Laporte, veteran midfielder Fernandinho and Joao Cancelo, opting to leave recognised defenders Walker, Nathan Ake and Oleksandr Zinchenko on the bench.

Meanwhile, Villa were without first choice keeper Emi Martinez, meaning Robin Olsen played in goal in his place.

Perhaps the intriguing tidbits that came out then should have been a clue that some serious drama was about to unfold...

3 mins: Wolves bite early

The idea that this final day was going to be a formality was blown out of the water when Liverpoolโ€™s title hopes suffered a blow in only the third minute at Anfield as Pedro Neto gave Wolves a shock lead.

19 mins: Blow for Burnley

At this point there was no real drama, as although Liverpool trailed Wolves, every expected outcome in terms of league finish was on track.

A Newcastle goal, Callum Wilson scoring from the spot, with 19 minutes gone at Turf Moor changed all of that with Burnley going down and Leeds staying up as things stood.

...and it almost got worse

Almost simultaneously, Joe Gelhardt raced through to fire home and put Leeds ahead away at Brentford and turn the relegation battle on its head. By a hair's breadth, it was rightly ruled offside by VAR.

24 mins: Liverpool level

Liverpool were pushing hard for the two goals they needed and the first came when Thiago Alcantaraโ€™s clever back heel in midfield sent Sadio Mane away to score a goal that took on further importance less than a quarter of an hour later.

37 mins: Villa shock City

Tension had grown as the first half went on at The Etihad and that tension turned into full-blown anxiety when Villa full-back Matty Cash headed home late in the first half. Cue an Anfield eruption.

Half-time problems

Liverpool suffered a major blow just before the break as Thiago limped down the tunnel. He was then replaced for the second half by James Milner. Wolves were forced into a change in goal, veteran John Ruddy coming on for arguably this season's outstanding top-flight keeper Jose Sa.

Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola brought on Oleksandr Zinchenko to replace Fernandinho after the City skipper had struggled as a makeshift centre-back in what his final appearance for the club.

50 mins: (Almost) Liverpool lift-off

Anfield went wild within five minutes of the restart as Liverpool thought they'd scored the goal they craved, only for Mane to be flagged offside after dinking the ball over Ruddy. Replays showed the decision was correct.

56 mins: Huge moment for Leeds

Already sitting outside the drop zone thanks to Burnley trailing Newcastle, Leeds moved another step closer to securing Premier League safety when they broke through from the penalty spot at Brentford, Raphinha firing home after goalkeeper David Raya hacked him down following a poor clearance.

60 mins: Burnley as good as down...

Any faint hopes Burnley had of mounting a late fightback were dealt a huge blow on the hour mark as Callum Wilsonโ€™s second goal made it 2-0, meaning a huge swing at Turf Moor or the Brentford Community Stadium was needed in the final half-hour of the season if the Clarets were to survive.

69 mins: A mad few minutes

Out of nothing, Maxwel Cornet then got a goal back in the 69th minute to give Turf Moor some hope. One more for the Clarets, coupled with a Brentford equaliser against Leeds would be enough to seem them safe.

Meanwhile, in Manchester... City were laying siege to the Villa goal but failing to create anything.

Villa stunned the Etihad Stadium again, with (of all people) former Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho firing in to make it Manchester City 0-2 Aston Villa.

76 mins: Gundogan sparks remarkable fightback

Ilkay Gundogan had been on the pitch for a matter of seconds when Manchester City fell 2-0 down, but within a few minutes he'd made the impact Pep Guardiola had hoped for by heading in at the back post to give his side hope of what had seemed like an unlikely comeback.

77 mins: Leeds let it slip but Brentford down to nine

Down at the other end of the table, what had been looking rosey for Leeds after an hour now looked precarious thanks to Sergi Canos' equaliser for Brentford. A further goal for either Burnley or Brentford would send the Whites down.

But the Bees' decision to hit the self-destruct button could not have come at a better time for Leeds United.

Having been booked for taking his shirt off in celebration, Canos was then shown a second yellow card for a foul on Raphinha. This came only moments after Kristoffer Ajer was forced off with an injury after Thomas Frank had used all of his substitutions.

Brentford would have to see out the final quarter of an hour with nine players.

78 mins: Rodri makes amends

Then just like the previous weekend at West Ham, City recovered from two goals down to level as Rodri drilled a stunning effort in from 20 yards just two minutes later to make up for being at fault for Villa's second goal and send The Etihad wild.

82 mins: City complete comeback

And in scenes reminiscent, although slightly less dramatic given the time left in the match, of Manchester City's maiden Premier League title triumph when Sergio Aguero wrote his name into club folklore, Kevin De Bruyne drove a low cross to the far post for Gundogan to tap home and complete a remarkable comeback.

84 mins: Still hope as Salah strikes

The incredible turnaround at Etihad Stadium meant the atmosphere around Anfield was becoming increasingly desperate but, with time running out, they finally found a second goal when a goalmouth scramble ended with substitute Salah poking over the line six minutes from time.

89 mins: All in vain for Liverpool

Liverpool made sure of the victory in the final minute of normal time with Andrew Robertson grabbing their third, but hope around Anfield was beginning to fade.

94 mins: Leeds over the line

Any lingering doubts Leeds had over clinching survival were put to bed deep into stoppage time when Jack Harrison scored from just outside the box to secure a 2-1 win spark wild celebrations both on the touchline and in the stands.

Moments later, their safety was confirmed by full-time whistles in both Brentford and Burnley.

Full-time: City clinch it

Liverpool's win proved to be in vain, as Manchester City saw out victory against Aston Villa to clinch back-to-back titles - holding the Reds off by a single point.

Premier League final day results

Liam Kelly's data-driven 'alternative' Premier League Team of the Season for 2021/22
ALSO READ: Our data-driven 'alternative' Team of the Season


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