The battle to avoid the drop will go to Sunday’s final day after Tottenham were beaten at Chelsea to keep West Ham alive
And with that, I’m done. Here’s the bottom of the table with one game to play:
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Nottm Forest | 37 | -3 | 43 |
| 17 | Tottenham Hotspur | 37 | -10 | 38 |
| 18 | West Ham | 37 | -22 | 36 |
| 19 | Burnley | 37 | -37 | 21 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton | 37 | -41 | 19 |
And here’s David Hytner’s match report. Bye!
Roberto De Zerbi gives his reaction to Tottenham’s defeat:
We created the first chance to score with Tel, it was a big save from Sanchez, then we conceded one great goal, because Enzo Fernandes we could do something better. We lost a stupid goal to concede the second goal, but before the second goal we created a big, big chance. I think we played a very good game. We lost. But now is not the right time to think too much of this game. We have to prepare the next game. We play in our stadium, with our fans. We have to get a result, with our qualities, our character. But I’m positive, because today we played a good game.
Why no substitutions until they scored a second?
The ball was inside of the pitch. But you know the physical condition of James Maddison, he’s not available to play more than 20, 25 minutes and I was waiting to spend two or three minutes more and to make this change. All three players changed the energy. James Maddison can’t play more than 20, 25 minutes because it’s just two weeks with us, but he’s important in the last 20 minutes.
Do Tottenham have the resilience they need?
I think we had a great reaction after the first goal. After the second goal as well. I think in my time we made eight points in six games. I think we deserved more points because we lost two points with Brighton. Now we have to prepare the last game in the best way. We are alive. We are in the right spirit. We have all the qualities to achieve our target.
While we’re waiting for the managers’ reaction at Chelsea, John Brewin was at the Vitality Stadium to watch Manchester City’s title challenge falter, and here’s his report:
Here is where the story ends. Congratulations, Arsenal, champions of England after 22 years. Farewell then, Pep Guardiola, 10 years of dominance ending in anticlimax. Two domestic cups counts as a disappointment in Pep terms. There will be no treble celebration at Manchester’s Co-op Arena leaving party on Monday. Eli Junior Kroupi wrote his name in north London legend for ever, as the title race reached its conclusion on the south coast. Erling Haaland’s late equaliser was nowhere near enough.
Much more here:
David Hytner was at Stamford Bridge tonight, and here is his match report:
Tottenham’s woes in this corner of London are well-established and well-documented. When they made this latest trip to Stamford Bridge, the statistics showed they had won just once since 1990 – a sequence of 40 matches in all competitions.
Never mind. They needed only a draw to effectively ensure their Premier League survival, to send West Ham down and draw a veil over this most wretched of seasons. It was a night when the hope pulsed until the last. Chelsea led through goals from Enzo Fernández and Andrey Santos but Spurs rallied, Richarlison scoring on 74 minutes to set up the grandstand finale.
It was too little, too late from Spurs and their fate will now be decided on the final day on Sunday when they welcome Everton to their stadium, where they have the joint-worst home record in the division. They may still need a point to stay in it. The nightmare is not over.
Much more here:
It was Kolo Muani who gave the ball to Palmer before Chelsea’s second goal, and he had an absolute stinker tonight. He was just completely wretched.
Looking at the opening goal again, Kinsky just takes so long to start his dive. The shot is taken from not far off 35 yards, but the ball has past the penalty spot before the keeper’s moved. It’s an excellent shot, but that’s bizarrely leaden-footed goalkeeping.
So, to reiterate, Arsenal are this season’s Premier League champions. Niall McVeigh has all the live reaction:
And here’s our news story:
The final day fixtures in full (all games kick off at 4pm BST):
Brighton v Manchester United
Burnley v Wolves
Crystal Palace v Arsenal
Fulham v Newcastle
Liverpool v Brentford
Manchester City v Aston Villa
Nottingham Forest v Bournemouth
Sunderland v Chelsea
Tottenham v Everton
West Ham v Leeds
And the league table as it stands:
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 37 | 43 | 82 |
| 2 | Man City | 37 | 43 | 78 |
| 3 | Man Utd | 37 | 16 | 68 |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 37 | 6 | 62 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 37 | 10 | 59 |
| 6 | AFC Bournemouth | 37 | 4 | 56 |
| 7 | Brighton | 37 | 9 | 53 |
| 8 | Chelsea | 37 | 7 | 52 |
| 9 | Brentford | 37 | 3 | 52 |
| 10 | Sunderland | 37 | -7 | 51 |
| 11 | Newcastle | 37 | 0 | 49 |
| 12 | Everton | 37 | -2 | 49 |
| 13 | Fulham | 37 | -6 | 49 |
| 14 | Leeds | 37 | -4 | 47 |
| 15 | Crystal Palace | 37 | -9 | 45 |
| 16 | Nottm Forest | 37 | -3 | 43 |
| 17 | Tottenham Hotspur | 37 | -10 | 38 |
| 18 | West Ham | 37 | -22 | 36 |
| 19 | Burnley | 37 | -37 | 21 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton | 37 | -41 | 19 |
So one round of fixtures remains. What we know, and what remains to be decided:
Champions: Arsenal
Champions League: Man City, Man Utd, Aston Villa
The final Champions League spot: Liverpool are three points ahead of Bournemouth, with goal difference superior by six. Liverpool play Brentford at home, Bournemouth visit Nottingham Forest.
Europa League: Bournemouth or Liverpool. Plus one of Brighton, who are on 53 points with a goal difference of +9, Chelsea, on 52 and +7, and Brentford, also on 52 and +3. Brighton host Manchester United, Chelsea visit Sunderland, Brentford at Liverpool.
Conference League: Whichever team finishes second in the three-way battle between Brighton, Chelsea and Sunderland. Things could change if Aston Villa end up fifth, and win the Europa League.
Relegated: Wolves, Burnley, plus one of West Ham, who are on 36 with a goal difference of -22, and Spurs, on 38 with a goal difference of -10. Spurs host Everton, West Ham host Leeds.
90+8 mins: It’s all over! Chelsea go up to eighth; Tottenham remain a point from (near-certain) safety.
90+8 mins: They come up with one late, late attack, but Tel’s cross from the right is poor, and straight to Sanchez.
90+7 mins: Spurs have done nothing much with this stoppage time, and only seconds of it remain.
90+4 mins: It’s not a good free kick, and it threatens only the fans behind the goal.
90+3 mins: Caicedo brings down Gallagher just outside the Chelsea area, and Maddison places the ball for the free-kick.
90+2 mins: Another booking, Essugo seeing yellow for a tired (oddly, as he came on in the 89th minute) challenge on Van de Ven.
90+1 mins: There’ll be seven minutes of stoppage time, with Spurs one goal from salvation.
88 mins: A triple change for Chelsea, now. On comes Garnacho, Mheuka and Essugo and off goes Palmer, Delap and Pedro Neto.
“We’re going down, I’m !00% percent sure,” writes Dom in Florence, a Spurs fan. “Arsenal winning the title just confirms it. We only needed one point from two games, sure, but it’s never going to happen. This team couldn’t win a one ticket raffle. They would lose a game of noughts and crosses to a duck. It’s written in the stars, Hammers dig in and get a result against an in form Leeds. We meekly surrender to an out of form Everton at home. I leave football behind to become a yak herder in Uzbekistan, but the guy I share a yurt with reveals he wears an Arsenal shirt at night. My face is pressed up to its badge as our shared hammock forces us together. He snores loudly. Ultimately, You can’t change the future.”
87 mins: This is really chaotic now. A long, bouncing ball is contested by Delap and Spence. Delap carefully watches Spence’s positioning before jumping into the player, and is booked for the foul.
87 mins: The corner is eventually taken, and Sanchez fumbles his catch but gathers at the second attempt.
85 mins: All sorts of pulling and tugging inside the penalty area as the corner is taken. The referee blows his whistle, and books Cucurella. VAR checks the incident, and decides the foul took place before the ball was in play.
84 mins: Spurs should equalise! Richarlison tees up Maddison, who sets himself, takes aim, and waits just long enough for Hato to come across and block!
82 mins: Before they take the free-kick Chelsea bring on Sarr for Fofana. Palmer takes the free-kick, but sends it into the wall.
80 mins: A long pass from defence releases Delap down the right. Fernandez is available in the middle but instead Delap delays for a while. The crowd shouts angrily at the lack of impetus, but eventually he passes to Fernandez, who has run towards him to offer an easy option, and Sarr sticks out a leg for the Argentinian to fall over.
70 mins: Hato is booked. He looks bemused by it, and Sky certainly didn’t show TV viewers whatever caused it, but apparently it was for delaying a restart.
77 mins: Richarlison arrives late to bump into Caicedo, and then goes down clutching various bits of his anatomy and rolling about. It’s all a bit odd. Eventually he gets up.
75 mins: Chelsea make their first substitution, bringing Chalobah on for Acheampong.
A lifeline for Tottenham! Pedro Porro pulls back to Sarr, whose backheel was presumably intended to fly into the net but instead bobbles to Richarlison, who turns it in!
72 mins: Save! Spurs end up crossing from the right, and Gallagher volleys pretty tamely at Sanchez.
72 mins: Spurs attack, and for a while they have seven players inside the Chelsea penalty area. The downside of which being they get in each other’s way, and are forced to turn back.
69 mins: Spurs were readying a triple change before the goal, and they’ve gone ahead with it: Sarr, Maddison and Spence have come on, with Udogie, Joao Palhinha and Kolo Muani going off.
68 mins: The ball is presented to Palmer in the centre circle, and he passes right to Pedro Neto, who crosses beyond the far post to Enzo Fernandes, and his cushioned volleyed pass leaves Andrey Santos with an easy task!
And that should seal it! Spurs give the ball away, and Chelsea punish them!
65 mins: Kolo Muani has the ball on the right, and sends in a rubbish low centre. I’ve not seen a huge number of Spurs games this season but I have watched them several times recently and have found the French forward a source of constant perplexity.
63 mins: Udogie sprints 60 yards to offer Tel an option and is so frustrated by the quality of the pass sent, at least in theory, towards him that he brings down Fofana and gets himself booked.
61 mins: Delap hassles Danso, who flirts with giving the ball to him in what would be, for Spurs, a disastrous position but just about avoids actually doing so.
58 mins: Richarlison wins the header from a Porro corner, but Sanchez saves it pretty easily. It is Tottenham’s first shot on target.
57 mins: Spurs are having a decent period. The last time they exerted this level of control for any length of time, Chelsea went and scored.
56 mins: Pedro Neto is found in space on the right flank. With crushing inevitability he carries the ball into the area, cuts onto his left foot and shoots towards the far post, but straight into a defender.
54 mins: The final whistle blows at Bournemouth, where it has ended 1-1. Haaland’s equaliser, in the fifth minute of stoppage time, has improved Manchester City’s record after being behind at half-time, but has not extended the title race. A single point for City means Arsenal now cannot be caught!
51 mins: Tel sends in a fine cross from the right that gives Richarlison a superb scoring chance with a header, about eight yards out. The Brazilian heads it way, way wide and turns out to have also been way, way offside.
50 mins: The game is stopped for a while, because Cole Palmer has a minor issue with a boot.
47 mins: Spurs have been trailing at half-time in 16 games this season. They’ve lost 12 of those, and not won any. It’s not a great record. The worst record in the Premier League this season? Manchester City, who have been losing at half-time twice and lost both games. Tonight they’re set to make it three out of three.
46 mins: Peeeeeep! Game back on!
Right then, players back out. No halftimely changes to report.
Meanwhile at Bournemouth, Manchester City are 10 minutes away from defeat and Arsenal thus 10 minutes away from the title. Tonight is not going Tottenham’s way at all.
45+2 mins: And that’s half-time! A really interesting half but not a great one: just one really good chance, which Tel headed onto a post, and a goal from nothing from Fernandez.
45+1 mins: Space and time for Palmer on the edge of the D, but on this occasion it’s D for Drags his shot wide.
45 mins: Now Caicedo goes down clutching his face like he’s been assaulted, after Gallagher touches him gently on the shoulder. Again, no cards, but the referee gets both captains together for a word.
44 mins: Pedro Neto takes the free-kick, from wide on Chelsea’s right. I don’t know if he intended to shoot but it looks like it’s also heading barwards until Kinsky catches it.
43 mins: But now Van de Ven gets a yellow one, for holding back Delap and then, when that doesn’t achieve much, giving his shirt a good yank.