Matchday 38 Awards
Isn’t this a bit sad? But let’s bask in the fact that there are only 82 days left until the Premier League is up and running again.
It has been a great, hugely entertaining campaign and now the last matchday of it is in the record books too.
Liverpool kicked off their title celebrations with a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace at Anfield, while now we also know the teams that will be joining the Reds in next season’s Champions League: Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle.
Chelsea secured their position thanks to a 1-0 away win against fellow UCL-hopefuls Nottingham Forest, who will be playing in the Conference League instead. Meanwhile, Newcastle have zero regrets about losing to Everton at St. James’ Park thanks to Manchester United, who beat Villa 2-0.
Par for the course, all three already relegated sides lost their games on the final weekend.
As usual, you can click here to check out all our reports from this round’s action.
And you can visit our YouTube channel for previews of each matchday, as well as predictions and hot takes on current EPL topics.
But back to the task at hand: who earned our Premier League awards this time? Read on to find out.
Best Player
We’re going with Chelsea’s Levi Colwill for this one, and not just for the fact that he scored the only goal of the game against Forest to take the Blues into the Champions League.
He did his job extremely well defensively, making blocks, interceptions and keeping Chris Wood quiet on most occasions.
Now his sights will be set on delivering the Europa Conference League for his team later this week, ending a four-year wait for silverware in west London.
Best XI
GK – Jordan Pickford (Everton)
RB – Aaron Wan-Bissaka (West Ham)
CB – Levi Colwill (Chelsea)
CB – Kieran Tierney (Arsenal)
LB – Tyrick Mitchell (Crystal Palace)
CM – Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City)
CM – Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton)
CM – Carlos Alcaraz (Everton)
RW – Jarrod Bowen (West Ham)
ST – Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford)
LW – Antoine Semenyo (Bournemouth)
Best Goal
Sure, Diego Gomez’s long range shot vs Spurs was great, but we’re going with a more throwback style of goal here.
Munetsi for Brentford vs Wolves was pure Route One football, from a goal kick to a knock-down header from the striker and Munetsi unleashing a savage shot into the top corner. We loved to see it in this day and age.
Munetsi earns a point! | Wolves 1-1 Brentford | Highlights
Best Game
For the sheer drama, how tight the game was and how it could have ended very, very differently, we’re picking Manchester United vs Aston Villa. Maybe it wasn’t the prettiest game ever, but it was not boring in the slightest.
A Win On The Final Day | Man Utd v Aston Villa
Best Stats
Nottingham Forest’s 19 wins this season are the joint-most by a Premier League team to not finish in the top six, equalling Manchester United’s 2013/14 record, who also finished 7th.
Fulham vs Manchester City was only the third-ever Premier League match with no English players in either starting XI, after Portsmouth vs Arsenal in December 2009 and Arsenal vs Chelsea in January 2019.
Mohamed Salah has equalled the record for most goal contributions in a single Premier League campaign with 47 (29 goals, 18 assists), matching Alan Shearer and Andy Cole in the mid-90s. But keep in mind that Salah only had 38 games to do it, as opposed to 42.
Speaking of Salah, he is also the first player to win the Premier League Player of the Season award, Golden Boot and Playmaker of the Season award, all in the same campaign.
Best/Worst VAR Decision
We won’t say too much here about the refereeing decisions in Manchester United vs Aston Villa, as Emery’s team have already said plenty.
But… How was this not a penalty for Southampton against Arsenal?!
Best Substitution
We (perhaps harshly) denied him our Best Goal award, but we simply can not overlook him for this one.
Brighton’s Diego Gomez was sent on at half-time against Spurs, with Brighton needing a win but trailing by one goal. Gomez went on to put in an all-action display in midfield and cap it off with a wonderful goal in injury time.
What A Debut Goal! Diego Gomez!! #brightonandhovealbion – YouTube
Funniest Moment
Not funny, but rather heartwarming and an incredible show of respect. A mutual guard of honour at Anfield, with Palace showing their respect for Liverpool’s achievement of winning the title and then the Reds returning the favour to Glasner’s team for their FA Cup triumph.
Respect. This is what football should always be about.
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