Final push gives City League title

 

Having led for most of the season, Manchester City secured their fourth Premier League title in 5 years with a winning goal 9 minutes from time to finish a point ahead of Liverpool. Chelsea were third best, followed by Tottenham and Arsenal.  

Week 31 – Brentford bounced back from a goal down to brush Chelsea aside 4-1 with a brace from Vitaly Janelt at Stamford Bridge while Liverpool and Manchester City were 2-0 winners at home to Watford and away to Burnley respectively. Wolves defeated Aston Villa 2-1 at Molineux while there were 1-1 draws for Leeds at home to Southampton and Leicester at Manchester United and Brighton played a goalless match at home to Norwich City. On Sunday Newcastle took the lead but were demolished 5-1 at Tottenham while 10-man Everton lost 2-1 at West Ham and on Monday Crystal Palace swept Arsenal aside 3-0 at Selhurst Park. Everton came from a goal down to take the lead with 2 Richarlison penalties but lost 3-2 at Burnley on Wednesday evening.

Week 32 – On Friday evening, Wolves lost 1-0 to a penalty at Newcastle while Saturday began with the 1-0 defeat of Manchester United at Everton. Arsenal lost 2-1 at home to Brighton while Mason Mount and Timo Werner scored 2 apiece as Chelsea demolished Southampton 6-0 at St Mary’s and a Son Heung-min hat-trick helped Tottenham to a 4-0 win at Aston Villa. Leeds United enjoyed a 3-0 win at Watford while on Sunday Burnley lost 2-0 away to bottom-of-the-table team Norwich and Brentford picked up and important 2-0 home win against West Ham. Leicester were 2-1 winners at home to Crystal Palace and in the top-of-the-table clash, Manchester City and Liverpool drew 2-2 at the Etihad.  

Week 33 – In a weekend that saw Liverpool and Chelsea book their places in the FA Cup final at the expense of Manchester City and Crystal Palace respectively, Norwich City fought back from 2 Cristiano Ronaldo goals to draw level at Manchester United but lost 3-2 when Ronaldo completed his hat-trick while Tottenham lost 1-0 to a last-minute goal at home to Brighton and Arsenal suffered the same result at Southampton. Brentford scored a last-gasp 2-1 winner at Watford while on Sunday Bruno Guimaraes completed his brace with the last strike of the match to give Newcastle a 2-1 home win over Leicester and in their first match after the sacking of Sean Dyche, Burnley drew 1-1 at West Ham. In rearranged matches played during the week, Manchester United were brushed aside 4-0 at Liverpool with a brace from Mohamed Salah while an Eddie Nketiah double helped Arsenal to a 4-2 victory at Chelsea and Manchester City broke Brighton’s resistance with 3 goals in the second half at the Etihad. Everton cancelled out Leicester’s early goal to earn a 1-1 home draw in stoppage time while Crystal Palace fell to a single goal at Newcastle and on Thursday Burnley put 2 past their visitors from Southampton without reply.

Week 34 – Gabriel Jesus scored 4 times as Manchester City thumped Watford 5-1 at the Etihad while Arsenal defeated Manchester United 3-1 at the Emirates and Tottenham drew 0-0 at Brentford. A Joelinton brace helped Newcastle United to a 3-0 win at Norwich while Aston Villa played a goalless match at Leicester and on Sunday, having missed a late penalty at home, Chelsea broke the deadlock with a last-minute goal against 10-man West Ham. Southampton twice came from behind with goals from James Ward-Prowse to draw 2-2 at Brighton while Wolves lost 1-0 at Burnley and in the Merseyside derby Everton lost 2-0 at Liverpool. Leeds United drew 0-0 at Crystal Palace on Monday while on Thursday evening Chelsea drew 1-1 at Manchester United.

Week 35 – Norwich City were relegated after losing 2-0 at Aston Villa while Burnley came from an early goal down to win 2-1 with 2 late goals at Watford and Crystal Place came from behind to win by the same scoreline at Southampton. A single goal gave Liverpool all 3 points at Newcastle while Manchester City netted 4 times without reply at Leeds and Brighton enjoyed a 3-0 victory at Wolves. On Sunday Chelsea lost 1-0 at Everton while Arsenal were 2-1 winners at West Ham and Heung-min Son scored twice in Tottenham’s 3-1 home win over Leicester. On Monday evening, Brentford were beaten 3-0 at Manchester United.

Week 36 – Liverpool dropped points as they drew 1-1 at home to Tottenham while Raheem Sterling scored twice as a relentless Manchester City demolished their visitors from Newcastle 5-0 and Wolves trailed to a Romelu Lukaku double but fought back to earn a last-gasp 2-2 draw at Chelsea. Watford, who were reduced to 10 players, were relegated after losing to a penalty conversion at Crystal Palace while Burnley lost 3-1 at home to Aston Villa and Everton enjoyed a 2-1 win at Leicester City. Manchester United were embarrassed 4-0 at Brighton and West Ham enjoyed the same result at Norwich with Said Benrahma netting twice for the Hammers while Leeds United fell to 2 early Eddie Nketiah goals but pulled a goal back despite playing a large part of the game with 10 players and Brentford celebrated a 3-0 home win over Southampton.

Week 37 – During the week several rearranged matches were played. Kevin de Bruyne scored 4 times as Manchester City thumped Wolves 5-1 at Molineux while Liverpool came from an early goal down to win 2-1 at Aston Villa and Chelsea won 3-0 at 10-man Leeds United. A double from Jamie Vardy helped Leicester to a 3-0 home win over Norwich while Everton picked up a point in a goalless draw at relegated Watford and on Thursday evening Harry Kane scored twice as 10-man Arsenal lost 3-0 at Tottenham. There were no league matches on Saturday as Liverpool were winning the FA Cup on penalties against Chelsea while on Sunday Manchester City came from 2 Jarrod Bowen goals down to draw 2-2 at West Ham and a spot kick was the difference between Tottenham and their visitors from Burnley. Ten-man Everton took a 2-1 lead but conceded 2 goals in quick succession to lose 3-2 and finish the match with 9 players at home to Brentford while Jamie Vardy and Harvey Barnes scored 2 apiece as Leicester hit back to wallop Watford 5-1 at Vicarage Road and there were 1-1 draws for Norwich at Wolves and Crystal Palace at Aston Villa. Leeds United scored in stoppage time to earn a point in a 1-1 draw at home to Brighton while on Monday evening Arsenal suffered a 2-0 loss at Newcastle and on Tuesday Liverpool came from behind to win 2-1 at Southampton.

Week 38 – Before the final Sunday of the season, three matches were played on Thursday evening. Everton came from the abyss of a 2-goal deficit to win 3-2 at home to Crystal Palace and secure their safety in the Premier League while Burnley, who ended the match with ten players, drew 1-1 at Aston Villa and Chelsea fought back to draw 1-1 at home to Leicester.

On the final day Liverpool conceded an early goal but won 3-1 at home to Wolves while Manchester City, who were losing 2-0 at home to Aston Villa until the 76^th minute, scored 3 times in 5 minutes with a double from Ilkay Gundogan to win the Premier League. Leeds United scored a last-minute 2-1 winner at Brentford, who ended the match with 9 players through injury and dismissal, to stay up as Callum Wilson netted twice in Newcastle’s 2-1 win at Burnley who were relegated. Arsenal’s 5-1 win at home to Everton was not enough as Dejan Kulusevski and Heung-min Son scored 2 apiece for Tottenham who claimed the last Champions League place with a 5-0 victory at bottom-of-the-table Norwich. An Ayoze Perez double for Leicester sent Southampton home 4-1 losers and Manchester United lost 1-0 at Crystal Palace while West Ham took the lead but lost 3-1 at Brighton and Watford bowed out of the Premier League with a 2-1 loss at third place Chelsea.  

The final Premier League table for 2021-2022

Pos	Team	Points	GD
1	Manchester City	93	+73
2	Liverpool	92	+68
3	Chelsea	74	+43
4	Tottenham	71	+29
5	Arsenal	69	+13
6	Manchester United	58	0
7	West Ham United	56	+9
8	Leicester City	52	+3
9	Brighton	51	-2
10	Wolves	51	-5
11	Newcastle	49	-18
12	Crystal Palace	48	+4
13	Brentford	46	-8
14	Aston Villa	45	-2
15	Southampton	40	-24
16	Everton	39	-23
17	Leeds	38	-37
18	Burnley	35	-19
19	Watford	23	-43
20	Norwich	22	-61

 

 

Narrowing the gap

 

After 30 weeks, with many teams still with games in hand, Liverpool are within one point of Manchester City and with the quadruple still a possibility while Chelsea, with their uncertain future due to sanctions, are in third place. Arsenal lead Tottenham and Manchester United as favourites for Fourth.

Week 21 – The year began with league leaders Manchester City coming from behind to beat 10-man Arsenal 2-1 in a controversial match at the Emirates while Manuel Lanzini scored 2 of West Ham’s 3 first-half goals at Crystal Palace who mounted a late unsuccessful comeback to lose 3-2 and Tottenham broke the deadlock deep into stoppage time to win at Watford. On Sunday, Chelsea came from 2 down to draw 2-2 at home to Liverpool with 2 goals just before the break and Brentford came from behind to send Aston Villa home 2-1 losers while an Anthony Gordon double at Goodison Park was not enough as Everton lost 3-2 to Brighton and Leeds United won 3-1 at home to Burnley. Leicester against Norwich and Southampton against Newcastle were postponed while on Monday evening Manchester United lost 1-0 at home to Wolves.

Week 22 – Before the weekend matches began, in rearranged midweek matches, Brentford suffered a 4-1 loss at Southampton and Tottenham lost 1-0 at home to Chelsea. On Friday evening, Brighton and Hove Albion earned a late 1-1 draw at home to Crystal Palace and on Saturday Manchester City took another step towards the league title with a 1-0 home win over Chelsea while Aston Villa came from 2 Bruno Fernandes goals down to draw 2-2 at home to Manchester United. Watford scored a late equaliser to draw 1-1 at Newcastle while Wolves were 3-1 winners at home to Southampton and Everton’s 2-1 defeat at Norwich resulting in the sacking of Rafa Benitez. On Sunday, Jack Harrison scored a hat-trick for Leeds United who enjoyed a 3-2 win at West Ham while Liverpool put 3 past their visitors from Brentford without reply. Arsenal’s match at Tottenham was postponed due to a shortage of available players.

Week 23 – In midweek matches Chelsea drew 1-1 at Brighton and Manchester United were 3-1 winners at Bretford while Steven Bergwijn scored twice in the last seconds of stoppage time as Tottenham came from 2-1 down to win 3-2 at Leicester. On Friday Josh Sargent scored twice as Norwich City won 3-0 at Watford who ended the match with 10 players while on Saturday Aston Villa were 1-0 winners at Everton and Newcastle enjoyed the same outcome at Leeds. Manchester United scored with the last kick of the game to beat West Ham United 1-0 at Old Trafford while Manchester City drew 1-1 at Southampton and Wolves returned from Brentford with a 2-1 victory. On Sunday Tottenham lost 2-0 at Chelsea and Liverpool won 3-1 at Crystal Palace while Brighton drew 1-1 at Leicester and there was a goalless match between Arsenal and Burnley at the Emirates.

Week 24 – Before the midweek matches began, Watford drew 0-0 at Burnley who were hosts again where they drew 1-1 against Manchester United while Watford lost 1-0 at West ham and Newcastle enjoyed a 3-1 win at home to Everton. On Wednesday Southampton were 3-2 winners at Tottenham while Crystal Palace drew 1-1 at Norwich and Manchester City put 2 past their visitors from Brentford. In a thriller at the Villa, Leeds United took the lead but needed 2 more goals to make up a 2-goal deficit and draw 3-3 with Aston Villa who finished the match with 10 players for whom Jacob Ramsey scored twice while Daniel James netted twice for the visitors and on Thursday it was 1-0 to 10-man Arsenal at Wolves while Diogo Jota scored both goals in Liverpool’s 2-0 win at home to Leicester.

Week 25 – Raheem Sterling netted a hat-trick as Manchester City won 4-0 at Norwich while Southampton drew 1-1 at Manchester United and Leeds lost 3-0 at Everton. Brighton won 2-0 at Watford and Crystal Palace played a goalless match at Brentford while the match between Chelsea and Arsenal was postponed, as Chelsea were winning the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi. On Sunday Tottenham lost to 2 early goals at home to Wolves while West Ham scored in the last minute to draw 2-2 at Leicester and there were 1-0 wins for Liverpool at Burnley and for Newcastle at home to Aston Villa. On Tuesday evening, 10-man Brighton lost 2-0 at Manchester United.

Week 26 – Manchester City levelled from the spot in stoppage time, but Harry Kane completed his brace with the last kick of the match as Tottenham won 3-2 in Manchester while Chelsea scored the only goal of the match in the last minute at Crystal Palace and Liverpool came from a goal down to beat Norwich 3-1 at Anfield. Burnley celebrated a 3-0 victory at Brighton and Southampton were 2-0 winners at home to Everton while Newcastle drew 1-1 at West Ham. Arsenal defeated Brentford 2-1 at the Emirates and Watford picked up a 1-0 win at Aston Villa while on Sunday Manchester United enjoyed a 4-2 win at Leeds and Leicester lost 2-1 at Wolves.

Week 27 – Before the weekend several rearranged matches took place in which Leeds United were smashed 6-0 at Liverpool with Mohamed Salah scoring 2 penalties and Sadio Mane grabbing a late brace while Wilfried Zaha scored 2 late goals as Crystal Palace Walloped Watford 4-1 at Vicarage Road and Tottenham lost 1-0 at Burnley. On Thursday Arsenal came from behind to beat Wolves 2-1 with the last kick of the match at the Emirates. The week’s fixtures began on Friday evening when Norwich lost 2-0 at Southampton and on Saturday Leeds were battered 4-0 at home to Tottenham which resulted in the sacking of Marcelo Bielsa while there were 2-0 away wins for Aston Villa at Brighton and for Newcastle at 10-man Brentford. Manchester City won by a single goal at Everton while Burnley drew 1-1 at Crystal Palace and Manchester United were held to a goalless draw at home to Watford. On Sunday while Liverpool were winning the League Cup on penalties against Chelsea, one goal gave West Ham all 3 points at home to Wolves and in a rearranged match on Tuesday Leicester scored 2 late goals to win at Burnley.

Week 28 – Aston Villa celebrated a 4-0 victory at home to Southampton and Chelsea achieved the same result at Burnley with Kai Havertz netting a brace for the Blues while Leeds United, under new manager Jesse Marsch, lost 1-0 at Leicester. Ivan Toney scored all 3 goals for Brentford at Norwich who hit back with a single goal in the last minute while Crystal Palace scored twice to win at Wolves and Newcastle netted 2 early goals as they enjoyed a 2-1 home win against Brighton. West Ham lost 1-0 at Liverpool while on Sunday Manchester City triumphed 4-1 over their neighbours Manchester United with Kevin de Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez scoring 2 goals each and Arsenal were 3-2 winners at Watford. On Monday evening Everton came unstuck 5-0 at Tottenham for whom Son Heung-min and Harry Kane scored 2 apiece.

Week 29 – Several matches were played on Thursday. Watford fell apart 4-0 at Wolves and Leeds suffered a 3-0 loss at home to Aston Villa while Newcastle came from behind to win 2-1 at Southampton and Chelsea were 3-1 winners at Norwich. On Saturday Tottenham lost 3-2 at Manchester United with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring all 3 goals for the Red Devils while Ivan Toney scored a late double as Brentford picked up a 2-0 home win over Burnley who had a player dismissed in stoppage time and Liverpool scored twice without reply at Brighton. On Sunday Newcastle fell to a last-minute goal at Chelsea while Cucho Hernandez netted a brace as Watford won 2-1 at Southampton and West Ham enjoyed the same result at home to Aston Villa. Norwich levelled at Leeds in stoppage time but the host made it 2-1 with the last kick of the match while 10-man Everton lost 1-0 at home to Wolves and Arsenal were 2-0 winners at home to Leicester. On Monday evening league leaders Manchester City drew 0-0 at Crystal Palace.

Week 30 – On Wednesday Liverpool narrowed the gap at the top to one point with a 2-0 win at Arsenal while Tottenham were 2-0 winners at Brighton and on Thursday 10-man Everton defeated their visitors from Newcastle with the winner coming deep into stoppage time. The Friday evening match saw Leeds United score in added-on time as they came from 2 down to win 3-2 at 10-man Wolves. With the quarter finals of the FA Cup taking place, there was only one match on Saturday in which a single goal gave Arsenal a win at Aston Villa and on Sunday Son Heung-min scored twice as Tottenham enjoyed a 3-1 win at home to West Ham and Leicester defeated Brentford 2-1 at the King Power Stadium.

Faltering followers

At the end of 2021, Manchester City are running towards another league title as Chelsea and Liverpool have begun to drop points in a season where postponed matches have started to stack up.

Week 11- The weekend’s fixtures began on Friday evening with an early goal that gave Southampton a home win over Aston Villa while on Saturday Manchester City put 2 past Manchester United at Old Trafford and Burnley earned a 1-1 draw at league leaders Chelsea. Norwich City picked up their first win of the season with a 2-1 victory at Brentford while Wolves lost 2-0 at Crystal Palace and Newcastle drew 1-1 at Brighton who finished the match with 10 players on the field. On Sunday, West Ham United defeated Liverpool 3-2 at the London Stadium and Arsenal were 1-0 winners at home to Watford who ended the match with 10 players while Tottenham drew 0-0 at Everton who also suffered a late dismissal and Leicester City drew 1-1 at Leeds United.

Week 12 – Chelsea powered past their hosts Leicester in the early kick-off while Manchester United, who were reduced to 10 players, were thumped 4-1 at Watford resulting in the termination of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s managerial contract and Arsenal were swept aside 4-0 at Liverpool. Brentford drew 3-3 at Newcastle and there was a 3-3 draw at Burnley with Christian Benteke scoring a double for Crystal Palace while Brighton fell to 2 late goals at Aston Villa with Steven Gerrard at their helm. Under the leadership of Dean Smith, Norwich City picked up a 2-1 home win against Southampton and West Ham United lost 1-0 at Wolves while on Sunday Manchester City put 3 unanswered goals past Everton at the Etihad and Leeds United, who had taken a first-half lead, lost 2-1 at Tottenham.

Week 13 – Two goals after the break gave Arsenal a home win over Newcastle United and Liverpool eased 4-0 past Southampton with a double from Diogo Jota at Anfield while Aston Villa were 2-1 winners at Crystal Palace and there were goalless draws for Norwich at home to Wolves and for Leeds United at Brighton and Hove Albion. Jamie Vardy scored twice in Leicester’s 4-2 home win over Watford and West Ham lost 2-1 at Manchester City while Manchester United drew 1-1 at league leaders Chelsea and a single goal gave Brentford all 3 points at home to Everton. Tottenham’s match at Burley was postponed due to heavy snow.

Week 14 – In midweek matches Mohamad Salah netted a brace as Liverpool battered Everton 4-1 at Goodison Park while Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in Manchester United’s 3-2 defeat of Arsenal at Old Trafford and Manchester City were 2-1 winners at Aston Villa. Brighton scored a last-minute goal to draw 1-1 at West Ham while Southampton twice took the lead but drew 2-2 at home to Leicester and Chelsea won 2-1 at Watford. Newcastle United, who played most of the match with 10 players in front of their home crowd, drew 1-1 with Norwich City and Leeds United broke the deadlock with a last-minute penalty at home to Crystal Palace while Brentford lost 2-0 at Tottenham and Burnley drew 0-0 at Wolves.

Week 15 – Chelsea twice took the lead but lost 3-2 at West Ham and their top spot as a Bernardo Silva double helped Manchester City to a 3-1 win at Watford and Liverpool broke the deadlock deep into stoppage time to take all 3 points at Wolverhampton while Burnley lost 1-0 at Newcastle and Brighton salvaged a 1-1 draw with a last gasp goal at Southampton.On Sunday, Leeds scored late to draw 2-2 at home to Brentford and Crystal Palace lost to a single goal at Manchester United while Ezri Konsa scored both goals as Aston Villa were victorious 2-1 at home to Leicester and Tottenham scored 3 unanswered goals against their visitors from Norwich. On Monday evening Everton came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1 with 2 late goals at Goodison Park.

Week 16 – Brentford converted a stoppage-time penalty to win 2-1 after falling behind at home to Watford on Friday evening while on Saturday the penalty theme continued as Jorginho scored his second penalty in added-on time to give Chelsea a 3-2 home victory over Leeds United and there were 1-0 home wins thanks to penalties for Manchester City against 10-man Wolves and Liverpool against Aston Villa while a spot-kick at Norwich settled the match in Manchester United’s favour. Arsenal eased past Southampton 3-0 at the Emirates and on Sunday, with Tottenham’s match at Brighton being postponed due to covid, Leicester City swept their visitors from Newcastle aside 4-0 with the help of a Youri Tielemans double while Conor Gallagher scored a brace as Everton were beaten 3-1 at Crystal Palace and West Ham United were held to a goalless draw at Burnley.  

Week 17 – In midweek Kevin de Bruyne scored twice as Manchester City demolished Leeds United 7-0 at the Etihad and Aston Villa scored twice at Norwich without reply while Southampton scored twice in quick succession to turn an early setback at Crystal Palace around but drew 2-2 and Wolves were 1-0 winners at Brighton. Arsenal defeated 10-man West Ham 2-0 at the Emirates to overtake them in the table while Liverpool came from behind to win 3-1 at home to Newcastle and Everton drew 1-1 at Chelsea. The matches between Brentford and Manchester United, Burnley and Watford and Leicester against Tottenham were all postponed due to positive covid tests.

Week 18 – Arsenal outclassed Leeds United 4-1 at Elland Road with Gabriel Martinelli netting a brace in the only match of the day on Saturday as the matches at Manchester United, Aston Villa, Southampton, West Ham and Watford against Brighton, Burnley, Brentford, Norwich and Crystal Place respectively were all postponed due to covid. With Leicester’s match at Everton being postponed on Sunday, Manchester City banged in 4 goals without reply at Newcastle while 10-man Liverpool drew 2-2 at Tottenham and Chelsea played in a goalless match at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Week 19 – On a Boxing Day bonanza Leicester City were blown away with 4 goals in the first 25 minutes at Manchester City but hit back with 3 goals in quick succession after the break only to lose 6-3 with a double from Raheem Sterling while Bukayo Saka also scored twice as Arsenal thumped Norwich 5-0 at Carrow Road and 10-man Crystal Palace lost 3-0 at Tottenham. Southampton were 3-2 winners at West Ham while Chelsea came from behind to win 3-1 at Aston Villa with 2 penalties from Jorginho and Brentford lost 2-0 at Brighton. The matches between Liverpool and Leeds, Wolves and Watford and Everton’s match at Burnley were all postponed. On Monday evening Manchester United salvaged a 1-1 draw at Newcastle.

Week 20 – In the last matches of 2021, played in midweek, Liverpool lost 10 at Leicester while Tottenham drew 1-1 at 10-man Southampton and Crystal Palace put 3 past Norwich without reply. Watford took an early home lead but were beaten 4-1 by West Ham while on Wednesday Brighton and Hove Albion earned a last gasp 1-1 draw at Chelsea and a single goal gave Manchester City a win at Brentford. With the matches between Arsenal and Wolves, Leeds and Aston Villa and also Newcastle’s trip to Everton all being postponed, the final match of the calendar year was played at Manchester where United enjoyed a 3-1 victory over Burnley.