Premier League season in 30 special moments from Man Utd demise to Man City joy

As fans returned to stadiums for the 2021-22 season we were all hoping for a memorable campaign to take us out of the dismal drudge that was the largely behind closed doors 2020-21.

And yep, we got one.

A thrilling season came to a close in the most dramatic fashion on Sunday as Manchester City clinched a fourth league title in five years, but not before an almighty scare from Liverpool, and indeed final day opponents Aston Villa who raced into a two-goal lead.

What at one stage had threatened to be a title procession from Pep Guardiola's team turned into a nail-biting finish akin to their 2012 triumph, with Liverpool pushing them all the way before ultimately falling short in their ongoing quest to sweep all before them.

At the bottom, Watford and Norwich might well have been most people's pick for relegation before a ball was kicked, but the tussle between Everton, Leeds and Burnley to avoid joining them was equally as dramatic as the title race, while Tottenham pipped Arsenal to fourth as Antonio Conte worked his magic in north London.

Here's the story of an epic campaign.

AUGUST

Nuno wins manager of the month

Having left Wolves after a disappointing final year at Molineux, Nuno Espírito Santo arrived at Tottenham as Daniel Levy's seventh choice manager, with Spurs fans not overly enamoured by his appointment. Ultimately, his tenure was short, not particularly sweet, and on November 1 he was given his marching orders.

But amid the sunshine of August, it didn't look like it would end that way.

Three successive 1-0 wins, against champions Manchester City, former club Wolves and Watford, earned him the Manager of the Month prize.

But, losing five of his next seven league outings, and failing to get Harry Kane to look anything like, well, Harry Kane, would soon see him exit through White Hart Lane's back door.

Paul Pogba's opening salvo

Way back before Manchester United's season descended into farce and nothingness, they began the campaign with heightened optimism and a belief that this could be the year to again challenge for the title. One man not named Cristiano helped to feed that optimism back in the early weeks of the season more than any other: Paul Pogba.

Having impressed at Euro 2020 last summer with a number of stellar displays for Les Bleus, the Frenchman began the season with plenty of swagger and seven assists from his opening four games. He was very much, what the Spanish would call, 'en fuego'.

Alas, it didn't last.

Only two more assists followed in the remainder of the season and rather than leaving Old Trafford as any kind of conquering hero, his exit is far more meek, having never quite lived up to the expectations that followed his then-world record £89million return.

Romelu Lukaku rag-dolling Arsenal's defence

In the heady days of summer, it wasn't uncommon to see Chelsea being tipped for the title. Thomas Tuchel's European kings had signed Romelu Lukaku for £97million and he was widely being hailed as the final piece of the jigsaw that would see them fighting Man City and Liverpool.

Alas, to say it hasn't worked out for the Belgian is something of an understatement - despite him being the club's top league goalscorer.

But back on August 22, on his second debut for the club, Lukaku showed why those predictions were being made as he ran roughshod over Arsenal 's defence, just completely dominating the Gunners at the Emirates, just too strong, too quick and too smart. Arguably, it was as good as the Chelsea No.9's season would get.

SEPTEMBER

Cristiano Ronaldopalooza swings back into Manchester

Roll up, roll up, one and all, for the spectacular rerunning of one of the greatest shows on earth, for he walks among us once more.

It is easy to mock the way Manchester United reacted to the re-signing of Cristiano Ronaldo - largely because there was so, so much reaction that you had a fair bit of choice for what you wanted to go for - but on that saccharine Saturday in September when Newcastle were swatted aside 4-1, didn't we all fall for it a little bit?

United went top of the league for a week, and as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer smiled that smile of a man who couldn't quite believe he was in this position in both life and the league table, Ronaldo did the decent thing and put the ball in the net twice - the first a tap in, the second through the legs of a static Freddie Woodman.

They were the first two of 18 he scored on his return to the Premier League, an impressive number that shows he did exactly what he was expecting himself to do. Whether or not he's been needed in grander scheme of things is another matter.

A 3-3 that's the Bees knees

Did Liverpool 'lose' the title somewhere along the way? No. They were never frontrunners and it feels churlish to try and point a finger somewhere, but there will doubtless be some reflection at Anfield on the six-game period between late September and early November when only two wins were picked up, with seven points lost to Brentford, Brighton and West Ham.

Of those games it was the trip to west London that was the most memorable, with Brentford supporters cranking up the noise during a back-and-forth battle that went 1-0, 1-1, 1-2, 2-2, 2-3 and then settled on 3-3 when Yoane Wissa pounced on some curiously lax defending.

Jubilant Brentford fans belted out 'Hey Jude' after the match, a famous hit from some of Liverpool's favourite sons. Some of their others could only slink away into the Hounslow night.

"There's less space on the moon!"

There were angrier, more frantic bits of punditry during the season, but the way Jamie Carragher dissected the performance of Tottenham's midfield - or lack of one - in their 3-1 loss at Arsenal was as impressive as it was cutting.

Speaking on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football, Carragher almost appeared to be putting forward a case for the prosecution as he slowly exposed just how badly out of position Spurs players were for one of the goals.

"There's less space on the moon!" he declared as footage showed Dele Alli and Tanguy Ndombele remarkably out in front of a middle third of the pitch which contained no white shirts.

Nuno was only to last another month, and Dele and Ndombele were soon gone too.

OCTOBER

Mohamed Salah's goal vs Manchester City

As many twists and turns as the entire Premier League title race has seen!

Considering the situation, the opposition and the ludicrous quality from the moment he picks up the ball to it nestling in the side-netting of Ederson's net, it really is as good a goal as has been seen anywhere in the Premier League since its 1992 inception.

Thirteen days, £8million later

When Newcastle United finally became Saudi Arabia's football club of choice after the takeover was waived through by the Premier League (assurances, ha!), it was only a matter of time before Steve Bruce's tenure on Tyneside would be brought to an end.

And, to the delight of the Toon Army, just 13 days after Mike Ashley's exit, Bruce departed by mutual consent. He said there had been "highs and lows", although supporters struggled to remember any of the former.

For Bruce however, his departure wasn't all bad; his contract was iron-clad and ensured the entire thing was paid up in full, earning him a tidy £8million payday.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's ultimate humiliation

Manchester United 0-5 Liverpool : This was it for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Yes he lasted a bit longer, the 4-1 debacle at Watford finally finishing him off, but this was the game that signalled the end of the Norwegian as Manchester United manager.

Some 10 years and one day since they lost 6-1 at home to Manchester City, this was a humiliation of the highest order, showing just how far away from the elite they stood - despite a summer where they'd spent big to make a run at the title.

It was their biggest loss in this fixture since October 1895 and Solskjaer labelled it his "darkest day" as manager.

NOVEMBER

United's slow skewering and silly stat

If the 5-0 defeat at home to Liverpool two weeks previously was a short, sharp, shock to the system, the 2-0 loss at home to Manchester City two weeks later was a kind of surgical procedure inflicted upon Manchester United. One that they had absolutely no knowledge of how to stop.

It was just something that was happening to Solskjaer and his players, who registered just four touches in the City box and had more efforts at David de Gea's goal - two, including an own goal from Eric Bailly - than at Ederson's.

They looked like "a drunk bloke at the end of the night looking for a fight" said Gary Neville, which was harsh on drunk blokes.

Gerrard gets Aston Villa back on the rails

If you're going to become unhappy because your new manager gets seen before he's announced, probably don't let him get public transport.

Aston Villa were anything but happy after Steven Gerrard was seen arriving in London for talks with club bosses ahead of his appointment as Dean Smith's replacement.

Villa had been sleepwalking towards a relegation battle when Smith was given the chop, but they soon gained momentum under the ex-Rangers boss; eventually, they would finish comfortably in mid-table.

Don't poke the bear

When Arsenal visited Anfield in November, they arrived 10 games unbeaten and were doing pretty well early on as they kept the home crowd quiet and kept Liverpool at arm's length. All was calm, all was well.

Then, inexplicably, after Sadio Mane misjudged an aerial challenge on Takehiro Tomiyasu, Mikel Arteta begun swinging his arms in fury, seemingly in an attempt to get the Senegalese sent off. Jurgen Klopp took exception and Arteta completely lost it, having to be restrained by his coaching staff while yelling and screaming at his Kop counterpart.

That moment engaged the home crowd - who, it seemed, only then remembered Arteta's Everton past - and suddenly everything changed.