Monday 29 May 2023

City steam ahead to title

Having led the way for 248 days, Arsenal finally ran out of steam and Manchester City claimed their third Premier League title in a row. Manchester United finished third, followed by Newcastle United who also qualify for the Champions League.

Week 31 – In a week of important results, Aston Villa enjoyed a 3-0 home win over Newcastle with a double from Ollie Watkins while Brighton came from behind to win 2-1 at Chelsea and Fulham were 3-1 winners at Everton. Eberechi Eze scored both goals for Crystal Palace at Southampton while Bournemouth scored a last gasp 3-2 winner at Tottenham and Brentford lost 2-0 at Wolves. Another Erling Haaland double at the Etihad helped Manchester City to a 3-1 win against Leicester City while on Sunday Arsenal scored twice within the first 10 minutes at West Ham but for the second time in a week let their lead slip to draw 2-2 and Manchester United scored twice without reply at Nottingham Forest. On Monday evening Leeds United were humiliated 6-1 by Liverpool with Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota each netting a brace for the visitors.  

Week 32 – On Friday evening Arsenal salvaged a 3-3 draw with 2 goals in the dying minutes at home to Southampton while on Saturday Leeds lost 2-1 at Fulham and Wolves took the lead but suffered the same outcome at Leicester. Nottingham Forest twice fought back but were beaten 3-2 at Liverpool for whom Diogo Jota scored twice while Aston Villa drew 1-1 at Brentford and Everton finished a goalless match with 10 players at Crystal Palace. On Sunday Jacob Murphy and Alexander Isak scored twice each as Newcastle demolished Tottenham 6-1 with 5 goals in the first 21 minutes at St James’ Park and West Ham cruised past Bournemouth 4-0 at the seaside. Manchester City and Manchester United will meet in the FA Cup final after wins over Sheffield United and Brighton respectively.

Week 33 – In midweek, the much-anticipated match between the top two ended in a resounding 4-1 win for Manchester City over league leaders Arsenal with Kevin de Bruyne scoring twice in front of his home crowd while Newcastle triumphed 4-1 at Everton with a brace from Callum Wilson and Tottenham came from 2 down to draw 2-2 at home to Manchester United. Crystal Palace lost to goals at either end of the match at Wolves while a single goal gave Aston Villa a home win against Fulham and Leicester drew 1-1 at Leeds United. Brentford beat Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge while Brighton took the lead but lost 3-1 at Nottingham Forest and Liverpool came from behind to win 2-1 at West Ham. Bournemouth scored a vital goal to win at Southampton. Sheffield United were promoted to the Premier League.

Week 34 – In a 7-goal thriller, Crystal Palace won by the odd goal at home to West Ham United while Deniz Undav, Pascal Gross and Danny Welbeck each scored 2 goals as Brighton and Hove Albion ripped Wolves apart at the coast and Nottingham Forest took the lead but lost 2-1 to late goals at Brentford. On Sunday, Jefferson Lerma struck twice as Leeds United were humiliated 4-1 at Bournemouth while Newcastle fell behind but hit back with a double from Callum Wilson to win 3-1 at home to Southampton and Aston Villa lost to a single goal at Manchester United. Manchester City overtook Arsenal at the top with a 2-1 win at Fulham while Tottenham, who collapsed in the first 15 minutes at Liverpool, fought back from a 3-goal deficit to draw level in stoppage time but went home 4-3 losers. On Monday evening Everton drew 2-2 at Leicester while on Tuesday Martin Odegaard netted twice as Arsenal leap-frogged Manchester City with a 3-1 win over Chelsea at the Emirates. A day later, in rearranged matches Manchester City went back to the top with 3 second-half goals at home to West Ham while a penalty conversion in Liverpool’s favour was the difference between them and their visitors from Fulham and on Thursday Brighton broke the deadlock in front of their jubilant fans with the last kick of the match from the spot against Manchester United.

Week 35 – Chelsea scored 2 late goals to win 3-1 at Bournemouth while Aston Villa fell to an early goal at Wolves and there were 1-0 wins for Tottenham and Liverpool at home to Crystal Palace and Brentford respectively. Ilkay Gundogan scored both goals as Manchester City took a step closer to the league title with a 2-1 win at home to Leeds United, with Sam Allardyce in charge, while on Sunday Arsenal kept hot on their heels with a 2-0 victory at Newcastle and Manchester United lost 1-0 at West Ham. There were goals galore on bank-holiday Monday as Harvey Barnes scored twice for Leicester City who attempted to come back from 4 down but lost 5-3 at Fulham for whom Tom Cairney also netted twice while Everton ran riot at Brighton stunning their hosts 5-1 with Abdoulaye Doucoure and Dwight McNeil scoring 2 each and Taiwo Awoniyi scored a brace for Nottingham Forest who got the better of Southampton 4-3 at the City Ground.

Week 36 Southampton were the first Premier League team to be relegated after losing 2-0 at home to Fulham while Leeds United, who ended the match with 10 players, missed a penalty in front of their home crowd and drew 2-2 with Newcastle for whom Callum Wilson netted twice from the spot. Taiwo Awoniyi and Raheem Stirling scored 2 apiece for their respective teams as Nottingham Forest drew 2-2 at Chelsea while Tottenham lost 2-1 at Aston Villa and there were 2-0 home wins for Manchester United against Wolves and Crystal Palace against Bournemouth with Eberechi Eze scoring both goals for the Eagles. Manchester City moved to within 2 points of the league title after a brace from Ilkay Gundogan helped them to a 3-0 win at Everton while Arsenal crumbled 3-0 at home to Brighton. West Ham lost 2-0 at Brentford while on Monday evening Curtis Jones struck twice as Liverpool won 3-0 at troubled Leicester and in a rearranged match on Thursday Newcastle enjoyed a 4-1 home win with 2 late goals against Brighton.

Week 37 Nottingham Forest celebrated survival in front of their home crowd with a 1-0 win over Arsenal that handed Manchester City the league title while Liverpool scored a last-minute goal to earn a 1-1 draw at home to Aston Villa and an early goal gave Manchester United 3 points at Bournemouth. Brentford fell behind but bombed back in the second half with a brace from Bryan Mbeumo to win 3-1 at Tottenham while Crystal Palace drew 2-2 at Fulham with Aleksandar Mitrovic scoring both goals for the hosts and Everton scored right at the death to pick up a vital 1-1 draw at Wolves. On Sunday Leeds United took the lead were dragged back into the relegation zone after conceding 3 goals at West Ham while Brighton secured a place in Europe as Evan Ferguson scored twice in their 3-1 home win against Southampton and finally newly crowned champions, Manchester City, lifted the trophy in front of their jubilant supporters after a 1-0 win over Chelsea. On Monday evening Newcastle made sure of a Champions League place with a goalless draw against Leicester at St James’ Park and in rearranged matches Brighton earned a 1-1 draw at home to Manchester City that took them into the Europa League competition on Wednesday while on Thursday evening Manchester United thumped Chelsea 4-1 at Old Trafford to qualify for the Champions League.

Week 38 – Leeds United were relegated on home soil after being swept away 4-1 by Tottenham for whom Harry Kane scored twice while Leicester City won 2-1 at home to West Ham United but were also relegated as Everton celebrated survival in front of their home supporters with a single goal against Bournemouth. Manchester City lost 1-0 at Brentford while Granit Xhaka hit a quick double as Arsenal finished the season in style with the 5-0 mauling of Wolves at the Emirates and there were 1-1 draws for Newcastle at Chelsea and for Nottingham Forest at Crystal Palace. Aston Villa secured a European spot with a 2-1 victory at home to Brighton while Manchester United came from behind to beat Fulham 2-1 at Old Trafford and Southampton bid farewell to the Premier League in an entertaining match at St Mary’s where having gone 2 down, they took a 4-2 lead with 2 goals from Kamaldeen Sulemana but ended up drawing 4-4 with Liverpool. Luton Town were promoted to the Premier League after beating Coventry on penalties at Wembley.  

 The final Premier League table for 2022-2023


Pos Club Pts GD
1  Man City   89  61
2  Arsenal   84  45
3  Man Utd   75  15
4  Newcastle Utd  71  35
5  Liverpool   67  28
6  Brighton   62  19
7  Aston Villa   61  5
8 Tottenham  60  7
9  Brentford   59  12
10  Fulham   52  2
11  Crystal Palace   45  -9
12  Chelsea   44  -9
13  Wolves   41  -27
14  West Ham Utd  40  -13
15  Bournemouth   39  -34
16  Nottingham Forest   38  -30
17  Everton   36  -23
18  Leicester City  34  -17
19  Leeds Utd  31  -30
20  Southampton   25  -37