Manchester City’s players bouncing upon a stage with the Premier League trophy seems as good a prompt as any to close this blog down. Rob Smyth is however still going, so don’t go anywhere! Bye!
And here once again is Andy Hunter’s match report. Bye again!
Updated
Someone has given Divock Origi a camera, which he seems completely incapable of holding still.
A message from the man himself 🤳
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 22, 2022
Still one more big one to come ✊ pic.twitter.com/L3h9RG9pio
Here’s Andy Hunter’s match report from Anfield:
Anfield dared to believe in number 20 and the unprecedented quadruple, until a small eruption occurred in the corner of the stadium in the 81st minute. Wolves fans had news of Manchester City’s comeback against Aston Villa and wasted no time announcing Liverpool’s heartbreak.
Jürgen Klopp’s team got the victory that would have seen them crowned Premier League champions but for Ilkay Gündogan’s late winner at the Etihad Stadium. They finished instead with supporters’ chants about running around Paris with the cup, and they will take a repeat of 2019 should the season end with another Champions League triumph against Real Madrid next Saturday, but there was also unmistakable deflation at the end of a day that promised so much only to deliver a tale of what might have been. Liverpool end the season with the third highest points total in the club’s history, the fourth when converting the 42-game 1978-79 season to three points for a win. That the other three have come in the last four seasons underlines the scale of the task required to challenge or unseat City.
Much more here:
For a team to play every possible match in a season, to win two cup competitions with a third perhaps to come and end up one final-day goal away from the league title as well, is a phenomenal achievement, bewilderingly good. That they then leave the field after their final league fixture with shoulders slumped is horribly cruel.
Tottenham confirmed their Champions League spot in style at Carrow Road:
A point is all that was required after Arsenal’s recent capitulation but Tottenham clinched Champions League qualification with a swagger as they swept aside hapless Norwich.
Tottenham were in disarray when Antonio Conte was appointed in November but he has masterminded a major revival to guide the team back into the top four. Eighth as recently as February, a run of nine wins in their final 11 matches sealed the bragging rights in north London and their place at the top table of European football next season.
Much more here:
David Hytner was at the Etihad to see Manchester City buy win the title:
Gundogaaaan. It was a moment of the highest drama, the wildest of celebrations and it was impossible to ignore the parallels. Manchester City looked goosed, two goals down against Aston Villa with 76 minutes on the clock, knowing they needed three because, well, did anybody really think Liverpool would not beat Wolves at Anfield?
The Etihad Stadium was an angsty place. It had been since kick-off time.
Villa had lost their previous 11 league matches at City; the longest such sequence away from home against an opponent in their league history. But they were ready to buck the trend. Steven Gerrard, their manager, was about to help his beloved Liverpool to secure the title.
City had their own script in mind. Just as they had in 2012, when they needed two goals in stoppage-time to pinch the title from Manchester United against Queens Park Rangers. Everybody remembers what happened then.
Much more here:
A report here on Leeds’ survival:
And one here on Burnley’s relegation:
Some match reports for you:
The entire Liverpool squad comes out for a lap of honour, looking about as disappointed as any group of footballers carrying the League and FA Cups possibly could. They form a guard of honour for Divock Origi, who was ruled out of a final appearance for Liverpool at Anfield through injury but is being presented with some kind of framed signed display.
Updated
Jordan Henderson has a chat:
It was a tough afternoon really. We didn’t play particularly well. Obviously a few nerves today, but in the end I thought we came through really well, kept going and found a way to win. We heard the crowd cheering and stuff but didn’t really know what their score was. We were just trying to focus on what we needed to do. We’ll be disappointed. We’ve been in this position before. It’s tough, when you’re hearing cheering. We’ve kept believing.
The lads have given everything, so you can’t have too many issues. We’ve given absolutely everything all season, right until the last day, and in January we’d have bit your hand off to take it to the last day. We’re a bit disappointed today. We’ve got to say congratulations to City of course, and then focus on the match next week.
Alisson comes on to collect the Premier League Golden Glove award (shared with Ederson), and Mo Salah collects a Playmaker Winner Award (for having most assists), and a Golden Boot (shared with Son).
Updated
Three goals in five minutes to seal the title. Pep Guardiola’s champions, it must be said, are a genuinely brilliant team. It must also be said, however, that a good day for Manchester City is a bad day for football, and as such, boo.
Man City (3.61) 3-2 (0.25) Aston Villa
— The xG Philosophy (@xGPhilosophy) May 22, 2022
The final day final scores:
Arsenal 5-1 Everton
Brentford 1-2 Leeds United
Brighton 3-1 West Ham
Burnley 1-2 Newcastle (Burnley are relegated)
Chelsea 2-1 Watford
Crystal Palace 1-0 Manchester United
Leicester City 4-1 Southampton
Liverpool 3-1 Wolves
Manchester City 3-2 Aston Villa
Norwich 0-5 Tottenham
Final whistle! And Manchester City win the league title!
90+5 mins: It’s all over, and Liverpool have won the game but not the league. City wasted most of their stoppage time, but Michael Oliver wasn’t minded to extend it and Villa were hardly looking likely to score a third anyway.
Updated
90+4 mins: It looks very much like Burnley are going down and Leeds staying up. Leeds lead Brentford 2-1.
90+2 mins: This game will finish first, because Manchester City’s players have spent the last couple of minutes sustaining relay injuries.
90+1 mins: There will be four minutes of stoppage time here, and there’ll be four at the Etihad as well.
90 mins: Wolves bring Trincao on for Dendoncker.
GOAL! Liverpool 3-1 Wolves (Robertson, 89 mins)
Liverpool will definitely take the points here, after Robertson passes to Firmino, runs infield for the return, and sweeps in!
Updated
87 mins: Final whistles are starting to sound. The first, I think, is at Carrow Road, where Tottenham have beaten Norwich 5-0.
85 mins: A massive cheer sweeps the ground, presumably because someone told someone that City had conceded another. They haven’t.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Wolves (Salah, 84 mins)
Just too late to take Liverpool to the top of the table, Salah scores! Matip’s header from the corner is brilliantly cleared by Jimenez, but the ball ricochets back to Salah who gets it over the line from a yard or so.
Updated
83 mins: Luis Diaz, who was irrepressible in the first half and almost invisible in the second, beats the turf after his shot is deflected wide. It was a rubbish shot, and would have been easily saved if it hadn’t hit Coady.
82 mins: Ait-Nouri works a fine shooting chance, 20 yards out, but can’t produce a fine shot.
82 mins: First shots of a weeping Liverpool fan as the news sweeps Anfield.
81 mins: Unbelievable! It’s Manchester City 3-2 Aston Villa! Gundogan has only scored again!
Updated
80 mins: Liverpool are wide open on the break. Jimenez leads one, passes right to Dendoncker, and he sends a weak shot into Alisson’s arms.
78 mins: Salah sidefoots a shot too feebly, and too close to Ruddy. And Manchester City draw level! Rodri slams in a low shot from the edge of the area!
77 mins: Gomes is down with cramp. “On an overnight train in Vietnam from Ninh Binh to Hue,” writes Paul Greenan. “Getting occasional 4G. It’s unbearable. Come on Liverpool!!!”
75 mins: Chance for Wolves! Jimenez is played down the right, and as Alisson comes out he tries to square to Hwang and fails!
Updated
75 mins: Manchester City are back in their game, Gundogan heading Sterling’s cross.
74 mins: Wolves clip the ball into the box, and Hwang heads a difficult chance wide. Liverpool have completely lost their mojo.
72 mins: A fabulous throw from Alisson to Firmino, but with Diaz loitering offside he completely fluffs his pass to Salah.
72 mins: Son has a second goal for Spurs, and as it stands the golden boot will be his!
71 mins: Wolves break, and though they fail to get the ball to the completely open Joao Moutinho, Alisson is forced to tip over Hwang’s 18-yarder.
70 mins: Alexander-Arnold cuts inside and blasts a left-footer towards goal, but Boly gets in the way. Roberto Firmino is on, replacing Keita.
Updated
69 mins: Villa lead by two! Philippe Coutinho has scored at the Etihad, and if Liverpool can find one goal City will need three!
68 mins: Salah seems to be scampering clear, but Boly comes across with an excellent sliding challenge! Meanwhile Son Heung-Min has scored for Spurs, drawing level with Salah at the top of the Premier League goalscoring charts.
66 mins: Firmino seems to have been told to warm himself up. Wolves seem to have Ait-Nouri permanently in a massive pocket of space on the left flank, and are starting to find him regularly.
64 mins: Ruddy saves Alexander-Arnold’s 25-yarder, and Salah tries an extraordinarily difficult first-time half-volley acute-angle lob from the rebound, which floats over the bar.
62 mins: The wind seems to have gone out of Liverpool’s sails a bit. Since the disallowed goal it’s gone a little bit quiet.
Updated
61 mins: Sky are reporting that Thiago has pulled a hamstring.
60 mins: Half an hour of the season to play, and anything could happen. Ludicrous sport.
58 mins: Mo Salah is on the pitch! Diogo Jota leaves it.
57 mins: Diaz lashes a shot into Coady, who is going to need a minute to come to his senses before play can restart.
56 mins: Milner heads the ball back across goal, but Ruddy comes out to punch it off Mane’s head.
55 mins: In Manchester, Ollie Watkins is played through but misses! Meanwhile at Brentford, Raphinha scores from the spot.
52 mins: Alexander-Arnold plays Mane in, and when he’s tackled the ball breaks to Jota, who shoots into his teammate’s thigh with Ruddy exposed!
50 mins: Liverpool top the table! Jota prods the ball beyond the defence and Mane dinks a lovely finish over Ruddy, but the linesman’s flag cuts short Liverpool’s celebrations!
Updated
47 mins: Ait-Nouri swings the ball in, Boly goes down, and the Wolves players turn as one towards the referee ... who jogs away.
46 mins: Matip receives the first booking of the game, for a foul on Hwang.
46 mins: Peeeeeep! Sadio Mane gets the second half under way.
Two halftimely substitutions: Thiago is not fit to restart the game, and James Milner will replace him for the second half. Wolves bring John Ruddy on for Jose Sa.
At the bottom of the table, Leeds are drawing at Brentford and Burnley losing at home to Newcastle, which would be enough to save the Yorkshire side.
Bookmaking latest: City’s title odds seem to have lengthened from around 1-8 before kick-off to 1-2 now. Liverpool’s have shrunk from 5-1 to 6-4.
Updated
“I am not being entertained,” writes Matt Dony. “I feel sick. I hate football.”
Half time: Liverpool 1-1 Wolves
45+5 mins: The whistle blows, and as it stands Liverpool and Manchester City are level on points, and City are winning the title on goal difference.
Updated
45+5 mins: The half-time whistle has sounded at the Etihad, where Aston Villa lead 1-0 at the break.
45+4 mins: Now Thiago is injured. He overhits a pass wide to Alexander-Arnold, turns and trudges to the sidelines. Looks like they’ll try to see out the half with 10 men.
45+3 mins: Sa is back on his feet and play has resumed.
45+2 mins: There will be four minutes of stoppage time at the end of the first half, but the first of them has itself been entirely stoppage.
45 mins: Sa is still receiving treatment, but the Wolves physio is making encouraging hand signals at the bench.
44 mins: Jose Sa goes down holding his left knee, with the ball - for a change - nowhere near him.
42 mins: Whistles as Wolves keep possession for a few moments.
Updated
41 mins: What entertainment this is. I am being entertained.
VILLA TAKE THE LEAD!!
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 22, 2022
Matty Cash fires in a header to put Aston Villa in front at the Etihad 😱 pic.twitter.com/uULS2aVBmq
39 mins: What a chance for Wolves! Liverpool’s defensive line is on halfway and Hwang breaks it, sprints into the area, and Alisson deflects his shot wide of the near post!
38 mins: Anfield erupts as news reaches Liverpool of Villa’s goal. Alexander-Arnold crosses, Mane heads, Sa catches.
Updated
37 mins: Matty Cash has just kicked the door in! Aston Villa have scored with their first shot, and Manchester City are losing!
36 mins: The word from Manchester is that City aren’t attacking convincingly. The door’s ajar here.
35 mins: I do believe we’ve just had the first foul of the game. It was Boly who went down, 10 yards outside his own area.
32 mins: Thiago has two shooting chances in about 15 seconds, both from about 25 yards. One goes into a defender, the other well wide.
31 mins: Liverpool are in a permanent state of about-to-score here.
28 mins: This is just wild. Mane’s knock-down is half-cleared, Alexander-Arnold slams a first-time shot into a defender, and finally Robertson volleys a decent chance high.
27 mins: Liverpool give it away, then Wolves give it away, then Mane is played down the right, with both defences a bit discombobulated by all the ball-giving, but his cross towards Diaz is cut out.
25 mins: What an assist that is! Mane is beyond his marker when Thiago flicks the ball on, but Boly is playing him onside and the goal will stand.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Wolves (Mane, 24 mins)
Liverpool have the ball in the net, after Sadio Mane runs onto Thiago’s backheel flick and calmly sidefoots into the net!
Updated
22 mins: Neto has now left the pitch, and that substitution has been made.
21 mins: The goalscorer is on the ground receiving treatment to his left leg, and Hwang Hee-Chan is getting ready to replace him.
19 mins: This game is being played at a wild pace. Absolutely manic football.
17 mins: Nearly a second! Incredible that Wolves are winning a game they have barely had a kick in, but really it should have been two. Neto gets down the left and slides the ball infield to Dendoncker, who lifts his shot over the bar!
14 mins: The ball drops to Naby Keita about eight yards from goal, but he shoots into Coady’s leg. Liverpool are all over Wolves like a bad bout of monkeypox.
13 mins: Liverpool go close again - Luis Diaz goes down the left again, Sa comes out beyond his near post, and Diaz rolls the ball across the goalline and out the other side, with nobody on hand to turn it in.
11 mins: In fact it was very nearly a penalty: Diaz pushed the ball wide of the keeper and went down, but in fact Sa’s momentum stopped before Diaz reached him, so it can’t really be argued that he brought the Colombian down (though some are trying).
10 mins: Big chance for Liverpool! Matip’s ball finds Diaz running through to the left of goal, but the keeper’s out fast enough to smother his attempted dinked finish.
Updated
7 mins: Liverpool at least are used to coming from behind - they have conceded first in four of their last give games, and won three of those. “Playing a gig that night,” recalls Tom Gouls of the 1986 title win, “we all looked dejected and told the Evertonian lead singer that Liverpool had drawn against Chelsea. He ran around the venue celebrating Everton winning the league, then someone piped up “Oh! No! Sorry I got that wrong, we won 1-0.”
5 mins: Chance! The corner is cleared but Luis Diaz sends it back in and Matip is still up, and gets up to win the header and nod wide of the far post.
5 mins: Liverpool have been attacking for the entire game, except for the 15 seconds or so during which they conceded. They have a corner now.
GOAL! Liverpool 0-1 Wolves (Pedro Neto, 3 mins)
Liverpool are losing within three minutes! Jose Sa tonks the ball downfield, Kounate misses his header and Jimenez runs down the left before sliding a low cross to Pedro Neto, who thrashes it in at the far post!
Updated
1 min: Peeeeeeeeep! Wolves have kicked off.
The teams are out, You’ll Never Walk Alone has been sung. Nothing, now, between us and football but a referee’s whistle.
“My kids and I discussed the possibilities, and our dream scenario consists of an initially nervy but ultimately commanding 3:1 Liverpool win,” daydreams Peter Oh. “Over at the Etihad it would be 1:0 to City as the clock ticks into stoppage time. Ings snaffles a loose ball, launches it toward Coutinho, who predictably but unstoppably cuts inside and curls a pearler inside the far post. Cue Stevie G racing down the touchline, fists pumping outward in the inimitable style, ripping off his jumper, dress shirt and tie to reveal a Liverpool jersey, and knee-sliding toward the corner flag to join the goal celebration. I have to believe!!” Yeah, that’ll do.
Allez, allez, allez rings out at Anfield as the players gather in the tunnel. It’s time.
Updated
Pep Guardiola has his pre-match chat:
Every situation is different in life, you can’t compare it to the previous wins. We have to focus on the football game. The players can feel the pressure, but the fans, we have not been many times in this type of situation, that’s why it makes sense to enjoy the whole day, before kick-off, the game. You have the duty to live this full of joy. We need to stick to the gameplan, this is the most important thing in this type of game. You have to continue to do it until the end, and this is the most useful way to approach the game.
This is the ninth time the Premier League title race has gone to the final day. On the eight previous occasions the team leading at the start of the day has won the league at its end.
Jürgen Klopp has his pre-match chat with Sky:
We decided a while ago that we were men on a mission, and that’s what we’ve done since then. We try to win football games. It’s not getting in a rush, getting tense, it’s enjoying the opportunity. We have to win the football game, which is difficult enough given their line-up. That’s all I’m concerned about. And being in the right mood for this game. Outside the stadium it looks like it means a lot to the people today.
We can only play one game, we cannot play two games. The plan is clear: we have to win, and then Stevie has to do the rest. What can I say?
Here’s Liverpool’s team bus arriving at Anfield a little earlier, negotiating a red fog in the process.
The teams in full for the two top-of-the-table matches:
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Konate, Robertson, Keita, Henderson, Thiago, Jota, Mane, Diaz. Subs: Van Dijk, Milner, Firmino, Salah, Jones, Minamino, Tsimikas, Kelleher, Elliott.
Wolverhampton: Jose Sa, Boly, Coady, Gomes, Jonny, Dendoncker, Neves, Joao Moutinho, Ait Nouri, Pedro Neto, Jimenez. Subs: Hoever, Marcal, Daniel Podence, Trincao, Mosquera, Silva, Chiquinho, Ruddy, Hwang.
Referee: Anthony Taylor.
Man City: Ederson, Stones, Fernandinho, Laporte, Joao Cancelo, De Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus, Foden. Subs: Walker, Ake, Sterling, Gundogan, Grealish, Zinchenko, Carson, Palmer, McAtee.
Aston Villa: Olsen, Cash, Chambers, Mings, Digne, McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Ramsey, Buendia, Coutinho, Watkins. Subs: Sanson, Traore, Young, Nakamba, Ings, Chukwuemeka, Sinisalo, Chrisene, Iroegbunam.
Referee: Michael Oliver.
Team news from the Etihad is that Emi Martinez, the Villa goalkeeper, has a knee injury so Robin Olsen makes his debut.
The teams!
Team news is in, and here are today’s line-ups. Mo Salah is only on the bench for Liverpool, as is Virgil van Dijk. Divock Origi’s Anfield farewell is nixed by a minor muscle injury:
This is how we line up for the final day of the @premierleague season 👊🔴
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 22, 2022
Divock Origi misses out with a minor muscle issue.#LIVWOL
✌️ Two changes
— Wolves (@Wolves) May 22, 2022
💥 Raul and Pedro leading the line
Our team for the final time this season 👇
🐺📋 pic.twitter.com/1Mf0V9fyv4
Fans’ verdicts on this Premier League season - and it’s 10/10 for Liverpool.
The last time Liverpool won the title on the final day of the season was in 1986, when they needed to beat Chelsea to hold of Everton’s surge. Hugh McIlvanney was at Stamford Bridge to see them do it. Here’s how he started his report:
Those two great Bills, Shakespeare and Shankly, would agree: Liverpool continue to bestride the narrow world of English football like a colossus.
That big noun was a favourite with the founding father of the Anfield club’s recent greatness and had he still been with us he would surely have invoked it yesterday in honour of Kenny Dalglish.
No player-manager in the history of the game has ever taken more credit from a success than Dalglish does from the winning of the eighth Championship Liverpool have collected in the last 11 years. It was appropriate that he should crown his first extraordinary season in an extraordinary job by thwarting the title challenge of the old enemy on Merseyside, Everton, with a goal whose conception and execution represented his super talent at its finest.
And here is that goal (and great footage of that day, along with cars parked behind one of the Stamford Bridge goals):
Something new to look at on the way to Anfield today: a mural of Ian Rush, scorer of 346 Liverpool goals, winner of five league titles and former owner of an excellent moustache.
Hello world!
So the day of truth has arrived. Liverpool almost certainly won’t win the title today, but from here:
To here:
Has been a wild and thrilling ride, in which four points have been dropped from a possible 51, and if there is to be one more twist in the tale today it will be the stuff of instant legend. The very possibility, however slender, is enough to make this afternoon unmissable. Thanks for choosing to unmiss it with me.
Here’s Will Unwin on Liverpool:
It is little surprise that Jürgen Klopp is enjoying the time of his life as he prepares to lead Liverpool into a season-defining week. The German has the exciting possibility of lifting the Premier League and Champions League in the space of six days. Real Madrid are the opposition in Paris next Saturday but Manchester City stand in the way of Klopp and Liverpool first, and the challenge is an exciting one for a man who has already won one Premier League and two Bundesliga titles. The weekly battle to match Pep Guardiola’s side is keeping Klopp invigorated, knowing he and his team have been consistently at their best.
Klopp knows the pain of 2018-19 when City pipped Liverpool to top spot. Once again it goes down to the final day of the season, with Liverpool realistically needing to beat Wolves and for City to drop points against Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa. “I’ve been lucky enough to have had a few exciting times,” Klopp said. “If you ask my missus she asks why [does it] always go down to the last match. It happens incredibly often. It’s the most exciting because seeing how good the boys are and seeing the steps that we’ve made and just two games to go. It’s unbelievable. It feels like five minutes ago it was seven games. Now, wham, here we go to two finals.”
Much more here:
