Much has been made of how this weekend is a bit of a non-factor as far as the usual final day drama goes in the Premier League but boy were the sceptics wrong as despite there not being too much at stake for most teams, goals and last-gasp recoveries were in abundance as one the greatest Premiership seasons in recent memory came to an end.
Good Week For: Arsenal (Qualified for the Champions League after going unbeaten in their final 10 games), Norwich City (A win over a team the calibre of Manchester City is always something to be proud of), Fulham (A great win over Swansea cements a great end to the season)
Bad Week For: Tottenham Hotspur (Pipped to the post by cross-city rivals Arsenal right when it mattered), QPR (Even when the pressures off they still can’t get their act together)
The one true source of intrigue this weekend was Arsenal and Tottenham’s battle for the final Champions League spot. Both sides faced potentially tricky clashes against north-eastern opposition as Arsenal travelled to Newcastle and Spurs welcomed Sunderland to White Hart Lane. Both clashes were interesting as desperation was evident in Spurs and Arsenal’s play whereas the north-eastern clubs were playing with a freedom not seen for some months. Arsenal at least were making the chances though whereas Spurs’ solitary claim at a chance of scoring was when Gareth Bale controversially went down in the Sunderland box after some considerable pressure by Seb Larsson. Bale was booked for diving but replays showed that it was indeed a penalty, however the Welshman would get his revenge in due course. Revenge is something that Tottenham desperately seemed to need too as Laurent Koscielny had managed to put Arsenal ahead and into the winning position at St. James’ Park that they needed to ensure that no matter what Tottenham did, they wouldn’t be able to steal fourth. Then though, came Bale’s revenge as he belted a superb late winner for Spurs against Sunderland with a Ronaldo-esque finish into the far corner of the goal! Such a beautiful goal (it really needs to be seen to be truly appreciated) was fitting of a Champions League place but once again Spurs were destined to finish behind Arsenal in the league standings as Arsenal extended their run of qualifying for 17 Champions League competitions in a row. Big question marks will be thrown around as far as Tottenham are concerned now; holding onto Bale will be key for AVB if they’re to make any sort of improvements going into next season.
Champions elect Manchester United faced off against one of this season’s surprise packages, West Bromwich Albion, as Sir Alex Ferguson officially bowed out of football in spectacular fashion. Shinji Kagawa opened the scoring after a blistering start for the newly crowned Champions to open the floodgates in what would be a 10-goal game. In a rotated United side which was shy of the likes of Vidic, Ferdinand and Rooney, confidence was apparently at a high as the Reds were playing with great freedom and scored goals two and three before the half hour mark thanks to an own goal from Jonas Olsson and an Alex Buttner effort. Van Persie and Hernandez did go on to score again later on for the Champions but one of the stars of the season, Romelu Lukaku, led a fight-back for West Brom with a hat-trick and some all-round great play to take the scoreline to 5-5 by full-time. There’s barely been a dull moment for Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and this was a fitting end to his glittering career.
Something else that came to an end this weekend was Fernando Torres’ Premier League scoring drought. The Spaniard continued from where he left in winning the Europa League for the Blues by contributing massively, along with compatriot Juan Mata, towards the downfall of David Moyes’ Everton side. Goals from Mata and Torres sandwiched an effort from Everton’s Steven Naismith as the Blues secured a great end to the season under interim-coach Rafa Benitez. The almost certain arrival of Jose Mourinho has fans licking their lips ready for next season and with this squad it’s almost certain that Mourinho will be able to do great things!
Manuel Pelligrini looks to be in the driver’s to take over from Roberto Mancini at Manchester City and will have seen the size of the task at hand after the current squad struggled throughout against a dogged Norwich City. Last season’s were on the back foot right from the off as Norwich were never behind against this season’s runners-up. Goals from Pilkington, Grant Holt and a stunning late effort from Johnny Howson were enough to outweigh Jack Rodwell’s brace and secure the Canaries an 11th place finish.
Andy Carroll gave potential suitors an excellent showing of what they can expect from him if rumours of his imminent departure from Liverpool are to be believed. The striker was instrumental in West Ham’s 4-2 win over Reading as he turned provider on two occasions to supply the first two of Kevin Nolan’s three goals. Nolan then grabbed his hat-trick in the 87th minute and reached double-digits in scoring for the fourth season in succession but all the talking after the game was regarding Andy Carroll’s future. Apparently West Ham will be doing their utmost to keep him next season; whether any other clubs will have anything to say about that remains to be seen.
Elsewhere in the league, Swansea’s post League-cup winning slump continued as they were trounced 3-0 by Martin Jol’s Fulham side. Kacaniklic, Dimitar Berbatov and Emmanuelson were on the score-sheet for the Cottagers as Swansea were condemned to ending the season by claiming only nine points of the last 33 available to them.
Jamie Carragher got the perfect send off after completing his 737th and final game for Liverpool in a 1-0 win over relegated Queens Park Rangers. Liverpool’s newest superstar, Phillipe Coutinho, scored the only goal of the game but Liverpool fans were almost treated to the perfect moment as the outgoing Carragher rushed forward and lashed a shot straight at the post from 35-yards out; had that flown in it would have been the perfect send off but as it was, Liverpool got the three points and Carragher got a deserved standing ovation.
Wigan went down with a whimper as they drew 2-2 with Aston Villa at the DW. In what could have been a relegation decider, Wigan tried to no avail to put on a good show for the fans before there relegation to the Championship but it wasn’t to be; they’re the first team to win the FA Cup and be relegated in the same season.
And finally, Stoke drew 1-1 with Southampton at the Britannia Stadium. It’s been a dramatic week for Southampton fans with their manager threatening to quit over internal issues but this fixture was far less dramatic as both sides put in a good shift and came away with a fair result.
Well that’s it for this season guys. It’s been an absolute pleasure writing for you and I hope you’ll stick with us throughout the summer as we cover all the biggest news, kicking off with our season review which you can expect to see in five parts over the coming weeks!
Results:
Newcastle United 0 – 1 Arsenal
Tottenham Hotspur 1 – 0 Sunderland
West Bromwich Albion 5 – 5 Manchester United
Chelsea 2 – 1 Everton
Manchester City 2 – 3 Norwich City
West Ham United 4 – 2 Reading
Swansea City 0 – 3 Fulham
Liverpool 1 – 0 Queens Park Rangers
Wigan Athletic 2 – 2 Aston Villa
Stoke City 1 – 1 Southampton