The final day of the season in the Premier League has resulted in many dramatic moments reminding us time and again that nothing is impossible in the beautiful game. From unbelievable title wins to exhilarating relegation battles, there have been some unforgettable memories for football fans in general.
The criteria for the selection and ranking are as follows –
- The level of difficulty to achieve the result
- The criticality of the result
- The number of teams involved
Let’s take a look at the ten most dramatic final day moments that have been etched in the annals of the Premier League history –
10. Lasagne Gate (2005/06)
In the 2005/06 season, Tottenham Hotspur missed out on Champions League qualification due to an infamous Lasagne incident.
Tottenham looked all set to pip their London rivals Arsenal to a Champions League spot but on the eve of the game, illness swamped through the Spurs squad after eating lasagne at the hotel where they were staying. Tottenham requested for the game to be postponed but their request was denied. A depleted Spurs side lost 1-2 to West Ham United losing out on CL Qualification ending their extraordinary season in disaster.
Contrasting scenes could be witnessed at Arsenal, where the Gunners were celebrating as a Thierry Henry hat-trick led them to a 4-2 win over Wigan. The final day drama earned Arsenal fans the bragging rights in North London as the Gunners secured Champions League football at the expense of their bitter rivals.
9. Carlos Tevez’s heroics struck a Hammer blow on Sheffield United (2006/07)
West Ham left it late in the 2006/07 season to survive the drop when Carlos Tevez turned hero in the final weeks to drag the Hammers out of relegation.
Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano had arrived at West Ham in a controversial deal due to dodgy third-party ownership issues. While Mascherano couldn’t make much of an impact, Tevez earned cult-hero status by scoring 7 goals in the last 10 games of the season including an incredible final day winner against Champions Manchester United to drag the Hammers out of relegation places but the drama didn’t end here.
West Ham stayed up ahead of Sheffield United on goal difference. The Hammers had been fined £5.5m after breaking rules over the Tevez transfer, but fortunately avoided a points deduction.
Suitably dissatisfied with the proceedings, Sheffield United sought compensation and a bitter legal battle ensued. The Hammers eventually reached an out-of-court settlement that saw them handing £20m to their relegated rivals.
8. The £20 Million Game (2002/03)
Chelsea faced Liverpool in the final weekend of the 2002/03 season with both the clubs looking to seal the last spot for the Champions League qualification. The game was dubbed as the ‘£20 Million Game’ due to the prize money that was on offer with a CL qualification.
In dramatic circumstances, it was Chelsea who came from behind to earn the fourth place with goals from Marcel Desailly and Jesper Grønkjær after Sami Hyppia’s header had given Liverpool a slim lead at the 11th minute. Grønkjær’s winner earned Chelsea Champions League football, but it was worth much, much more than the £20m. The Blues had been on the brink of financial wreckage and the club’s place in the Champions League persuaded Russian Billionaire Roman Abramovich to purchase the club just weeks later and kickstart a revival that turned Chelsea into a footballing superpower.
Gronkjaer’s goal transformed not only Chelsea FC but also changed the Premier League dynamics forever.
7. Blackpool and Birmingham City go down (2010/11)
This was the year which saw the bottom 5-6 teams entangled in a relegation scrap. With West Ham United already relegated, two of Wigan Athletic, Blackpool, Birmingham City, Wolverhampton Wanderers or Blackburn Rovers could have gone down on the final day.
Wigan Athletic, Birmingham City and Blackpool were all on 39 points with not even the goal difference separating them much, hence a heavy defeat for any of these clubs could ruin their chances of survival.
Blackburn ensured safety after going 3-0 up at half-time at Wolves, and when Blackpool led at Manchester United, they started believing. However, a United comeback saw them lose 4-2, ending in relegation.
Birmingham grabbed an 80th-minute equaliser at Tottenham to temporarily send Wigan into relegation places. But with the Latics scoring an 82nd-minute winner at Stoke City, and a late Tottenham winner broke the hearts of the Birmingham City fans relegating them to the second division.
6. Everton’s Redemption in a Goodison Thriller (1993/94)
Everton looked destined for the Championships going into the last game of the season against Wimbledon. Even a win wasn’t going to be enough for them to ensure safety. The Toffees hadn’t been relegated since 1951 but poor performances in the latter half of the season put them in a dreadful situation.
The game started adversely for Everton as Wimbledon scored as early as the fourth minute through a Dean Holdsworth penalty to silence the home fans. 15 minutes into the game, Gary Ablett’s comedic own goal looked to have sealed Everton’s fate.
But the Merseyside Blues never lost hope and buoyed on by a buzzing home crowd, they fashioned their best ever comeback in Premier League history. Graham Stuart converted from a spot-kick to pull one back before half-time, before a fine effort from Barry Horne and Stuart’s second of the game late on completed the hard-fought win.
Sheffield United – who were leading at Chelsea, lost 3-2 in West London and went down, with Everton coming back from the dead to avoid relegation in extraordinary circumstances.
5. Oldham lived to fight another day (1992/93)
Oldham Athletic pulled off a late escape from relegation in the last few games of the season with the Latics sitting second from bottom with three games remaining in a 10-day span.
Joe Royle led his side to a shock victory over second-placed Aston Villa before securing another shock result bagging three points against Liverpool to set up a dramatic final-day encounter with fellow strugglers Southampton. In the final day fixture between the two, Matthew Le Tissier scored a hat-trick for the Saints but still ended up on the losing side as Oldham beat them in a 4-3 box-office thriller. Oldham were still not out of the woods yet as they needed other favourable results.
The relegation escape came in the form of Crystal Palace losing 3-0 to Arsenal on the same day, prompting Boundary Park to erupt in crazy celebrations as they survived merely on the basis of goal difference.
4. Blackburn became Champions even in defeat (1994/95)
Blackburn Rovers were top of the table going into the final game of the season at Anfield with Manchester United in tow. A Blackburn loss and a United win would have shipped the Premier League trophy to Old Trafford.
Blackburn led by former Liverpool legend, Kenny Dalglish started brightly with Alan Shearer scoring the opener but a John Barnes equaliser threatened to tilt the balance in favour of the Red Devils. However, Liverpool scored a stoppage-time winner from a Jamie Redknapp free kick to defeat the Magpies 2-1.
In the Capital though, Manchester United equalised after being 1-0 down at West Ham. United ensured a dramatic climax to the season while the football world watched in anticipation. However, the Red Devils could not capitalise on their dominant display with the West Ham goalkeeper Lud?k Mikloško turning hero for the Magpies as he saved many crucial chances from the opposition front-line.
Even with a defeat, Blackburn Rovers managed to cross the line and become Premier League Champions after 81 years with their manager Dalglish ending up being applauded by the Anfield faithful.
3. Cityzens grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat (2021/22)
Manchester City and Liverpool went into the last game of the season with City leading by a point. In a thrilling finale, Liverpool was drawing against Wolverhampton Wanderers at home while the Cityzens were shockingly trailing 0-2 to Steven Gerrard led Aston Villa. Liverpool did score a winner through Mohamed Salah but in the end it wasn’t enough.
At the Etihad, Captain ?lkay Gündo?an came off the bench and inspired a brilliant comeback scoring two of the three goals in a frantic six minutes period which saw the Manchester City fans going berserk.
This was one of the closest title battles in recent years and Manchester City showed Champion mentality coming from behind to secure a second consecutive title to the dismay of the Liverpool team and fans who felt hard done by losing a title even after scoring a whopping 92 points losing only two games all season.
2. West Brom’s Epic Survival Story (2004/05)
West Bromwich Albion looked all set to drop to the Championship after being bottom of the pile at Christmas up until the final day. In an unbelievable turn of events on the final day of the season, West Brom avoided relegation from being bottom placed to going above the relegated teams.
Bryan Robson’s team beat Portsmouth 2-0 at the Hawthorns in the final fixture with substitute Geoff Horsfield opening the scoring with an excellent volley and loanee Kieran Richardson doubled the advantage but had to wait for other favourable fixtures before the Baggies could celebrate the great escape.
Elsewhere, Norwich City and Southampton lost their games and Crystal Palace drew, enabling West Brom to climb out of relegation places as pandemonium ensued amongst their fans.
1. Aguero Stoppage-time Madness (2011/12)
The most iconic and unforgettable moment of the Premier League came on the final day of the 2011/12 season. Manchester United were on course to win the title but an unexpected collapse from the Red Devils gave Roberto Mancini’s City side the much-required boost and they beat Manchester United with two games to go, setting up a thrilling final day.
City had to beat QPR at home to take home the coveted trophy but it was easier said than done as QPR was in a relegation scrap of their own.
Pablo Zabaleta scored the opener giving Manchester City the lead. United then took the lead at Sunderland as they breathed down City’s neck before QPR went 2-1 up leading into stoppage-time at the Etihad. Edin Džeko headed home early into stoppage time to grab the equaliser, raising the hopes of the home fans. With the clock counting down, a golden opportunity arrived with the help of Mario Balotelli who pushed the ball through to Sergio Aguero and the Argentine marksman didn’t make any mistake in front of a delirious home crowd.
City ended up winning a Premier League title on the basis of a much-improved goal difference after 44 long years sending shock waves reverberating through Old Trafford and a dejected Manchester United team who came so near, yet so far!
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