The Red Devils beat Leicester 0-1 in a direct fight from Bruno Fernandez's penalty • The Blues beat Wolves 0-2 at home thanks to a goal and a brace from Mason Mount • Bournemouth and Watford relegated to the Premier League • Tottenham will play in the Europa League
United players celebrate, tonight Blaster
Photo:
Reuters
Even if there weren’t the usual pictures of fans crowding the stands, clinging to mobile devices and gnawing their nails, the final cycle of the weirdest and longest Premier League season ever was suspenseful and dramatic until the last minute. In the end, the ascents to the European establishments and the descents to the championship were determined, and individual and team records were broken and exciting separations were recorded from great players, which was their last game in the league.
Liverpool, who had long since secured their championship, ended the season with a 1-3 draw at Newcastle in a game in which they fell behind after 26 seconds. Despite this, Virgil Van Dyke, Debbie Origi and Sadio Mane turned the score around and set the champion a new club record of 99 points per season.
Chelsea players celebrate qualifying for the Champions League, tonight // Photo: AP
Manchester City also reached the final round against Norwich knowing their final position, second place, but it also had goals. One of them was to help Kevin de Bruyne equal the record of 20 cooks for the season set by Thierry Henry in 2003, and possibly set a new record as well. The Belgian midfielder managed to equal the Frenchman's record with a 20-yard touchdown to Raheem Sterling's 20th goal of the season, but failed to cook more than that. Instead, de Bruyne scored a brace and led City to 0-5. Another goal for City was to say goodbye to David Silva, who tonight played his 309th and final game in City's uniform. The 34-year-old Spaniard, who played 10 years at the club and was a partner in four championships, was replaced in the 85th minute and received applause from all present.
Under the first two, a three-way battle took place over the other two places in the Champions League. For Chelsea, who have already acquired Timo Werner and Hakim Zeish and are close to joining Kai Haberts as well, it was very important to get one of those tickets. Frank Lampard took the coffee off the bench and put 38-year-old Willie Cbajero in the goal, but the Argentine remained out of work. Chelsea were better and in extra time of the first half Mason Mount scored with a free kick and cooked for Olivier Giroud on the way to a 0-2 draw that sends the Blues to the home stage next season.
Guardiola says goodbye to David Silva in his last game at City, tonight // Photo: EP
Manchester United will also be there after 0: 2 over Leicester in the direct battle for the extra ticket. Brendan Rogers' side have been in the top four since September, but their decline after the break allowed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side to overtake them in the last straight thanks to a 14-game unbeaten streak. Bruno Fernandez, the main culprit for the upheaval made by the Red Devils, scored in the 70th minute his eighth goal of the season from the 14th penalty that United received this season (a new league record). In added time Jesse Lingard took advantage of a serious mistake by Caspar Schmeichel and scored his first goal of the season. Leicester will settle for the title of top scorer won by Jamie Vardy who finished the season with 23 goals and a place in the Europa League. Tottenham and Jose Mourinho will also be in the second most important factory after a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace.
A big drama was at the bottom when Aston Villa completed their heroic survival campaign with a 1-1 draw against West Ham that kept them in the Premier League and sent Bournemouth Watford to the Championship. Villa were seven points below the red line just two weeks ago, but the last four rounds without a loss have left Dean Smith's side in the league.
Troy Dini understands that next season he will play in the sub-league, tonight // Photo: Reuters
Jack Grillish, the team's big star, scored the important advantage and also pushed in the West Ham equalizer that was already unimportant. Villa could have gone down if Watford had managed to beat Arsenal in the Emirates, but a terrible opening start that included a penalty, errors in defense and a 0-3 deficit after 33 minutes with a pair of Pierre-Emerick Obmiang decided the fate of the Wasps. Troy Dini and Danny Welbeck may have shrunk, but it was too little and too late.
Bournemouth, who needed a win over Everton and losses to Watford and Aston Villa to survive, did its part in the deal. Joshua King, Dominic Solenka and Jr. Stanislas scored in a 1-3 win over Carlo Ancelotti's side, but following Villa's draw, Eddie Howe's favorite side separates from the Premier League after five marvelous and surprising seasons. More tonight: Southampton - Sheffield United 1: 3.