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The early hours of Monday morning will spell the end of the 2011/12 English Premier League, and with seven teams still having it all to play for, the final round of league action looms as the most exciting finale to a season yet.
At the top of the table, and only separated by goal difference, are the two Manchurian clubs who have been battling it out all season.
Three teams – Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle – will try and squeeze into two Champions League places, while at the bottom of the table QPR and Bolton will each fight one last heart-stopping relegation threatening match.
Fixture list for the final day of action:
Chelsea v Blackburn Stamford Bridge
Everton v Newcastle Goodison Park
Man City v QPR Etihad Stadium
Norwich v Aston Villa Carrow Road
Stoke v Bolton Britannia Stadium
Sunderland v Man Utd Stadium of Light
Swansea v Liverpool Liberty Stadium
Tottenham v Fulham White Hart Lane
West Brom v Arsenal The Hawthorns
Wigan v Wolves The DW Stadium
Here are my play by play thoughts on how things will pan out on Monday morning (all matches kickoff at midnight on Sunday – The Roar will be live blogging the full matchday as we keep up with all 10 games).
3’: Manchester United winger Ashley Young sprints on to a long ball and theatrically throws himself to the ground. Referee Howard Webb has awarded Man United a penalty; even though contact with Young appears to be made at least 5m outside the box. Rooney scores to make it 1-0 v Sunderland.
7’: Chelsea are already 2 up at Stamford Bridge – Fernando Torres with both goals.
9’: At Goodison, Newcastle’s rampant goal scoring striker Pappis Cisse has cracked a thunderous volley past Everton keeper Tim Howard. 1-0 to the Toon.
10’: Not to be outdone, Everton front-man and fellow January signing Nikica Jelavic has scored another ‘one touch’ goal – his 45th such type of goal out of the last 48 that he has scored (for Everton and Rangers). An amazing stat.
13’: Adebayor has put Tottenham ahead against Fulham – it’s 1-0.
17’: Over at the Emirates, a Vermaelen own goal from a West Brom free kick has put Arsenal behind 1-0 at The Hawthorns. Some pressure now on Arsenal to hold onto a Champions League spot.
20’: Ryan Giggs puts United 2-0 up at Sunderland.
25’: Some fears have been allayed at the Etihad. After a slow and nervy start against QPR, Mancini’s men have taken a crucial 1-0 lead through a Carlos Tevez header.
27’: Minutes later and it’s 2-0 to City. The goal scorer is Yaya Toure.
30’: Terrible news for QPR at the Britannia. Bolton are leading 1-0 over Stoke. As it stands QPR are going down and Bolton will survive Premier League relegation.
33’: Word appears to have filtered through to Sir Alex about City’s 2-0 lead. Realising his only chance to win the title appears through ‘goal difference’ Ferguson is throwing players forward in attack in a desperate attempt to make up the difference. They score to make it 3-0. Still 7 goals behind City.
38’: Out of nothing Sunderland have pulled one back through a deflection. It’s still 3-1 to United. Sir Alex has furiously approach the fourth official about the goal. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the goal. Oh wait, no, he wasn’t approaching the fourth official, but rather remonstrating with Sunderland boss Martin O’Neil.
40’: A frightened O’Neil seems to have ordered his team not to defend the next United corner and it’s back out to 4-1 to United.
42’: Down 2-0 to City, QPR boss Mark Hughes has found the time to jump onto Twitter and has tweeted the following: “I am looking for a club that matches my own ambitions. Any takers?” He has already received a positive reply from the owner of Division 2 relegated side Macclesfield Town.
44’: QPR score! Joey Barton’s cross is headed in by Bobby Zamora. It will be 2-1 at half-time. This will give Man United a lift.
45’: It’s half time at the Stadium of Light and Sir Alex is having plenty to say to referee Howard Webb. Webb appears to be apologising for not giving Man United a second penalty at the end of that second half. How dare he!
46’: West Brom boss, leading 1-0, has decided to only field 10 players this half. Seemingly preparing for England’s doomed 2012 Euro’s campaign, the newly appointed England manager has also unsuccessfully attempted to organise a penalty shootout at the end of the match if it ends in a draw. Whatever floats your boat Roy!
53’: It’s still the Cisse and Jelavic show at Goodison Park. This time the Croatian scores first after the break and the Senegalese front-man replies. 2-2 between Newcastle and Everton.
58’: Tottenham have gone up 2-0. They are currently in third spot.
60’: Van Persie has equalised for Arsenal! 1-1 now. Wenger celebrates and Roy scrunches his confused little face.
63’: Man United continue to pile on the goals. It’s now 5-1. Watch out City.
65’: Another terribly frustrating afternoon for Kenny Dalglish and his Liverpool men. Despite having 68% of the possession, having 28 shots on goal and hitting the post 3 times, Liverpool find themselves 1-0 down at Swansea.
67’: Over at the DW Stadium, soon to be Wolves manager Stale Solbakken – who will be officially unveiled tomorrow – looks less than impressed with the Terry Connor temporarily led side. Martinez’s Wigan continue to surge through the latter part of the season. They now lead 2-0 over Wolves.
70’: Man City appear to be shutting up shop against QPR. Up 2-1, Mancini has brought on defensive midfielder and hard-man Nigel de Jong.
72’: Newcastle now lead 3-2 over Everton.
73’: Having gone 2-0 up, Tottenham have just conceded 2 quick goals to Fulham. Harry is furious on the touchline. His tactical instructions to his players is profound: ‘Go, get up em!’
76’: It’s 7-1 to Man United. A third penalty is converted by Rooney. They are not giving up.
78’: At Stamford Bridge, having understood the chant “Keane out” to mean “Keane out…..on the field”, Blackburn manager Steve Keane disappears for a few minutes before coming back onto the sideline. He is all kitted up! At the next stoppage he replaces his bemused striker Yakubu. The Yak does not look happy.
80’: Just minutes after entering the pitch Keane chases a Blackburn long-ball that John Terry misjudges. As Terry slips to the ground, Keane gets hold off the ball and runs towards the away end (and a large contingent of Rovers fans) and cleverly goes around Chelsea gloveman Petr Cech. This is Keane’s chance for glory! But he misses the open goal. Head in hands, Keane finally gets the message and subs himself off – but not before he exchanges some pleasantries with an understanding Fernando Torres.
83’: Nigel de Gong (Man City) and Joey Barton (QPR) have both been sent off after lunging into each other each with both studs up. Classic hard-man tackles.
84’: Man United are up 8-1 over Sunderland. Can Man City hang on and will Man United catch them through goal difference anyway? As Sir Alex once said, it’s ‘squeaky bum time.’
85’: Everton have equalised against Newcastle. And now all three teams fighting it out for Champions League spots are heading for draws. It looks like finishing Arsenal 3rd, Tottenham 4th and Newcastle 5th.
86’: QPR have scored again through Zamora. It’s now 2-2! With Bolton and Stoke also locked at 1-1, QPR are going to survive and Bolton are going down.
87’: Newcastle are back in front against David Moyes’s men. The pressure is really on Arsenal and Tottenham now.
88’: Back at the Emirates, Mancini looks around at this substitute’s bench. City need a goal. Who will come on? Bad boy Mario Balotelli stands up wearing a shirt that says “Why not me?” Despite the clever shirt Mancini decides to sub on Edin Dzeko.
89’: Arsenal have scored, and once again it’s that man – Robin Van Persie! That is his 32nd goal in this seasons Premier League. He now holds the record for the most goals in a 38 game season, edging one goal in front of former record holders Alan Shearer (Blackburn 1995/96) and Cristiano Ronaldo (2007/08).
90’: City have scored against QPR. Heart-break for QPR! Surely City have won a ‘first-tier’ competition for the first time since 1967/68.
91’: Over at the Stadium of Light, the fourth official has indicated an incredible 7 minutes of added time! That means there is still a chance that United could take the title on goal difference.
93’: Tottenham can’t find a winner. As Newcastle and Arsenal have both won their games Tottenham have finished agonisingly 5th behind 3rd placed Arsenal and 4th placed Newcastle. Bolton’s game with Stoke has ended 1-1, so all eyes are now over at the Emirates.
94’: That’s it! City have held on against a desperate QPR to win 3-2. QPR go down to the Championship, Bolton stay up and City should officially be Premier League champions in a matter of minutes.
95’: There is drama over at the Stadium of Light. United have scored again and it’s now 9-1. One more goal and they will steal the title from their cross-city rivals. Still 2 minutes of added time left.
96’: United have sent everyone forward for what should be the last corner of the game. As the ball is delivered into the box referee Howard Webb has once again pointed to the spot. Amazing! The title will now come down to Wayne Rooney’s spot kick!
97’: Rooney has struck the bar! And it’s all over. Despite crushing Sunderland 9-1, Manchester United have finished second to their sky blue brothers. What an incredible end to the 2011/12 English Premier League!
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