A stunning end to the Premier League season

The final afternoon of the 2021-22 Premier League season began with top-placed Manchester City leading Liverpool by a single point, said Phil McNulty on BBC Sport. Pep Guardiola’s side knew that a win at the Etihad Stadium – against Aston Villa, a side managed by Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard – would guarantee them their fourth title in five years. A draw or a loss, on the other hand, would almost certainly hand the Reds – who were taking on Wolves at Anfield – their second title in three seasons. 

In the event, City got the victory they needed, beating Villa 3-2, said Henry Winter in The Times. Yet such a summary doesn’t begin to do justice to the “nerve-draining” route they took to that destination. With just 14 minutes remaining, Villa were 2-0 ahead – thanks to a first-half goal from Matty Cash and a wonderful 69th-minute effort by another former Liverpool player, Philippe Coutinho. Although at this stage Liverpool were 1-1 against Wolves – meaning that City were still theoretically heading for the title, on account of their superior goal difference – no one expected things to stay that way. And indeed, two late goals at Anfield gave the Reds three points. City’s predicament was therefore stark: their hopes of winning the title depended on scoring three quick goals. 

What happened next was scarcely believable, said Martin Samuel in the Daily Mail. “It was as if a switch had been flicked.” City, who up to that point had been a pale shadow of their usual selves, “suddenly woke up to the looming catastrophe”. In the space of five surreal minutes, they took the league out of Liverpool’s hands by finding the back of the net three times. First came a header by Ilkay Gündogan, set up by a “good, early cross” from Raheem