Arsenal champion

 It was bound to happen, finally, that Arsenal would be declared champions of the Premier League, but it did not happen on the last match-day, but instead happened on the 37th match-day when Bournemouth and Manchester City tied 1-1, and gave Arsenal the title. That said, Arsenal also won their last match 1-2 over Crystal Palace, enough to claim that nothing had been given away.

After 22 years the title returns to Arsenal in style under a successful Mikel Arteta, who still has a chance for a bigger title in the Champions League final next Saturday against PSG. Arsenal may not have been the most exciting side, but they are solid and have perfected the corner kick to become a winning (but boring) formula. 

Congratulations to Arsenal fans, including my cat Whisky.

 

The mighty Crystal Palace

The oldest existing football tournament in the world, the FA Cup, is great because it is still a tournament where anything can happen, and this year another great surprise happened when underestimated Crystal Palace defeated mighty Manchester City 1-0 on a lone goal by the English striker Eberechi Eze, and a brave and fair fight by the entire team and a fantastic goalkeeper in Dean Henderson, who even saved a penalty.

Crystal Palace was founded 120 years ago, and the club had never won an important title. It was their third FA Cup final, and when the referee ended the match after scandalous and nerve-wrecking 10 minutes of added time, the fans, unused to winning, erupted in delight and tears of joy.

The victory is so much sweeter as it was against a Manchester City side who, since they became of the top sides in the world, have lost every sense of humility and dignity, something that is a pity for club that only in 2012 won a spectacular league, and entered a new phase after so many years as a secondary team. Today, Manchester City appears entitled, and nothing symbolized it more than Pep Gurdiola's refusal to shake hands with Crystal Palace's goalkeeper after the match. 

At these moments one loves football and wish Crystal Palace fans days of fantastic celebrations!

Today Manchester City got the League

The Premier League title is a race between Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool. Until today it appeared that Liverpool and Arsenal were the most likely candidates as they remained on top, equals on points, one point ahead of City.

But that changed today.

Liverpool lost 0-1 at home to the generally unnoticed Crystal Palace. This would give a clear advantage to Arsenal who were playing at home to Aston Villa, who is fighting well to take a Champions League spot. Within the last 10 minutes Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins giving Aston Villa a 0-2 victory and a step closer to the Champions League.

In the meantime Manchester City defeated Luton 5-1, and they are now on top, and seeing how City is playing now, they must now be the favourites for the title, unless the unlikelihood that they slip.

Big disappointment for both Liverpool and Arsenal. Liverpool are looking to have a good final season for Jurgen Klopp, while Arsenal have looked like title contenders all season, only to crash at the end just like last season.

Farewell to greatness

Steven Gerrard is one of those players that is impossible not to like as a football fan: he is an outstanding player with strong personality and a winning mentality that for many years has lifted Liverpool to greatness (most memorable is the 2005 Champions League final, a year during which he was among the best players in the world). And he is a man who has a quality that exists less and less in modern football: loyalty.
Loyalty to his club and his city; he had many chances to go and play in the best-paying clubs in Europe, but he chose not to go because his heart belongs in Liverpool.
Today he played his last match at Anfield, and nobody could help but being touched when the fans sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" to this player who did so much for them. It was nevertheless not a complete celebration, as Crystal Palace won 1-3, with Liverpool playing a very poor match.
Perhaps the poor performance was because of the emotions of the match. However, last year Luis Suarez left, and with Gerrard leaving, there are simply no World Class players left in Liverpool! Nobody could take over from Suarez, and nobody will be able to fill the enormous hole that will be left by Gerrard!
Gerrard will not only be missed in Liverpool though: any football fan with respect for great players will miss him. Me too.

The side that could not be champion

A few weeks ago it seemed that Liverpool would win the Premier League title. They were playing well. They were confident. And most important of all, they seemed to be more consistent than their closest opponents. Perhaps it was nerves, pressure, or maybe even a curse, but now it seems very unlikely that Liverpool will be champions. Chelsea's 0-2 victory at Anfield was the first blow to Liverpool, who then had to hope that Manchester City would slip in their three remaining matches. City took the first step by an excellent 2-3 victory at Everton. So today the pressure was on Liverpool, away to Crystal Palace.
Liverpool were 0-3 up with 11 minutes left, only to throw it all away. Crystal Palace made it 3-3!
Liverpool have one match left in the Premier League, at home against Newcastle. If they win, they will end the league with 84 points. Manchester City currently has 80 points, and two matches at home against Aston Villa and West Ham respectively. Liverpool must attach themselves to the feeble hope that Manchester City, who has only lost one home match in the season (like Liverpool, to Chelsea), will lose one of these last two matches.
Miracles can happen, but they do not seem to happen to Liverpool any longer.
That said, Manchester City will be great champions.