Aston Villa back in Europe after thirteen years. Xhaka directs his own farewell. The final day of the Premier League ended with an unprecedented celebration at Villa Park. After thirteen years, Aston Villa returns to the European stage. Granit Xhaka bid farewell to Arsenal in an appropriate manner, with the meeting between Southampton and Liverpool featuring multiple plot twists.
Brentford 1-0 Manchester City
At Manchester City, all arrows are aimed at the final of the tournament for the FA Cup (against Manchester United) and the Champions League (against Internazionale). In the Premier League, the national title has long been won, so the game with Brentford was one for the statistics. Without Kevin De Bruyne (absent) and Erling Haaland (bench), among others, but with Nathan Aké, City did not score in the Community Stadium.
Brentford didn’t seem to be able to do that either, but the goal still fell in the 85th minute. Bryan Mbeumo put his head back, Ethan Pinnock placed the ball in the bottom left corner with an outside left (1-0). Due to the defeat, The Citizens finish on 89 points, Brentford closes the season nicely as number nine.
Arsenal 5-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
The game between Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers was largely dominated by Xhaka’s farewell. The Swiss moves to Bayer Leverkusen after seven years at the Emirates Stadium. As if it was meant to be, Xhaka graced his last game in Arsenal’s shirt with personal success. Within fifteen minutes, the retiring midfielder struck twice (2-0).
Bukayo Saka, who signed a much improved contract this week, took it a step further (3-0) before the break. After the break, Gabriel Jesus also scored his goal. The Brazilian striker scored on a pass from Leandro Trossard, who delivered his second assist of the afternoon (4-0). With his first goal for Arsenal, defender Jakub Kiwior secured the final agreement (5-0).
Southampton 4-4 Liverpool
Liverpool looked set for an easy afternoon at St. James’ Park. Due to goals from Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino, who kept Cody Gakpo on the bench, Southampton faced a serious deficit within fifteen minutes (0-2). Even before the break, the relegated team fought back into the game. James Ward-Prowse and Kamaldeen Sulemana made sure that The Saints came alongside (2-2).
Sulemana added three minutes after the break (3-2). Things would get even worse for Liverpool, missing Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker for unclear reasons. Shortly after the substitution of Gakpo, among others, a substitute on the other side, Adam Armstrong, made it 4-2 for Southampton.
But with Liverpool, things can go either way this season. That proved once again in Southampton. Goals from Gakpo and Jota ensured that Liverpool came next to the home team again in just over a minute (4-4). The Reds, who will play in the Europa League next season, did not get any further than that.
