The greatest Premier League-deciding moments in history

The Premier League is often described as the greatest league in the world, and the myriad of close finishes over the years goes some way to explaining that.

For many fans born in the 90s, Federico Macheda is the definition of a “streets won’t forget” player. Aged just 17, and with United desperately needing a win, Alex Ferguson sent him on in a last-ditch effort. After helping United get back to 2-2 against Villa, Macheda then produced a worldie of a finish to lift United past Villa, all but ensuring another Premier League title.

Roman Abramovich turned to the wily veteran Carlo Ancelotti in 2009 to break United’s hold on the Premier League trophy. Per Goal, Chelsea needed a win on the final day to secure the championship. 8 goals later, they had well and truly stamped their authority on the title.

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Conflicting emotions for Liverpool as a win against Blackburn, plus a United win, would have seen United lift the Premier League trophy for the third time in a row. Liverpool did beat Blackburn, but a 1-1 draw between United and West Ham was enough to see Alan Shearer and Kenny Dalglish win Blackburn’s only Premier League crown.

OK, so not technically the Premier League, but close enough. As George Graham told The Daily Mail, “We [Arsenal] had to win by two clear goals,” to overcome Liverpool for the First Division crown. Leading by one late in the game at Anfield, Michael Thomas stormed through Liverpool’s midfield to score with seconds to spare, sending the title to North London.

"The fans, the club, the players - we don’t want Tottenham to win the Premier League.” Eden Hazard summed up Chelsea’s motivation well ahead of their clash in 2016. Spurs were chasing Leicester in an unexpected title race and needed a win to keep their hopes alive. After going 2-0 up in a feisty affair, Hazard stepped up to score a late equalizer to send Leicester into raptures.

Much like Liverpool in 1995, Leeds were between a rock and a hard place in May 2005, a win hands arch-rivals Manchester United another title, whilst a loss kept them in a relegation scrap. It was the Australian duo of Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka who stepped up for Leeds, breaking Arsenal hearts in the process. As Goal put it, “This was never going to be Arsenal's day.”

Gerrard is probably the best player to never win the Premier League, and that’s partially due to the infamous slip in 2014. Needing to keep their winning form going against Chelsea, Steven Gerrard, “miscontrolled a simple pass from Mamadou Sakho and slipped in his own half,” per TalkSport, allowing Demba Ba to score, keeping City right in the hunt.

Not to twist the knife, Liverpool fans, but 2014 was a tough year. Just a week after Gerrard’s slip, Liverpool headed to Selhurst Park to take on Palace. After going 3-0 up, the title race looked very much on for Liverpool, before a disastrous collapse saw them draw 3-3, at which point City were back in control.

Liverpool were once again involved in a brutally tight title race in 2019, needing Leicester to take points of City at the Etihad to give them a chance. The Foxes played well, and according to Goal, “the tension inside their home stadium was palpable,” for the City players. Up steps Vincent Kompany, unleashing a world-class strike from range to give City the win and the title.

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If you’ve ever been to an Arsenal game, you may have heard the chant, “we won the league…at White Hart Lane, we won the league at White Hart Lane etc etc (it gets a little crude after that).” Well, when you win the Premier League at your biggest rival’s stadium, you can chant what you like.

Manchester City and Liverpool were once again in an all-or-nothing scrap for the title heading into the last game. Liverpool needed a win and for City to drop points to win the title. The Reds did their part, beating Wolves, while City seemed to be stumbling against Steven Gerrard’s (!) Villa side. Enter Ilkay Gundogan. The German scored two late goals to secure another City title.

Chelsea blew up English football when Roman Abramovich arrived, spending money for fun and hiring Jose Mourinho to manage. The 04-05 season was a dominant one for the Blues, eventually winning the league by 12 points from Arsenal. The league was secured in April with Frank Lampard scoring twice against Bolton to steer Chelsea to their first title in 50 years, per Goal.

Claudio Ranieri performed a miracle during his time at Leicester, securing a Premier League title despite 5000-1 odds. With the trophy secured, he was able to convince his friend, and legendary singer Andrea Bocelli to perform during their title celebrations. As Bocelli put it, “A small team becomes great thanks to the strength of the group spirit”.

Perhaps the greatest finish in league history as Sergio Aguero completed a miracle comeback in the 94th minute to beat Manchester United to the Premier League. As Martin Tyler put it, “I swear you'll never see anything like this ever again. So watch it, drink it in. They've just heard the news at The Stadium of Light. Two goals in added time for Manchester City to snatch the title away from Manchester United.” Legendary.

The 23-24 season is just a couple of games away from its conclusion, and one point separates the top three sides. Who of Arsenal, Liverpool, or City will have their legendary moment this year?

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