By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
It was one of
the most closely fought Premier League years of recent times. The title was
only settled on the final day of the season in a campaign that was full of
unexpected twists and turns, but lacked a fitting finale to it.
A comfortable
final day win at home to West Ham United ensured the blue half of Manchester
celebrated again, as Manchester City (pictured below) won their second crown in three years.
 |
| Vincent Kompany and Manchester City regained the Premier League crown in an epic tussle |
Manuel
Pellegrini won the league in his maiden season in the Etihad dugout, as they
held off challenges from a resurgent Liverpool, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and
Arsenal to claim top honours.
It was a
season of change. No fewer than 10 managers lost their jobs during the
campaign, we saw the introduction of goal-line technology, a striker who found
redemption and swept the awards board and a manager who decided his head would
do the talking in one of the league’s craziest moments of madness ever seen.
Simon Wright
now reviews the 2013-14 campaign from the opening kick in August to the final
whistle in May as the Barclays Premier League continued its reputation as the
most unpredictable division on the planet.
CHAMPIONS: Manchester City
RUNNERS-UP: Liverpool
THIRD PLACE: Chelsea
RELEGATED: Norwich City, Fulham, Cardiff City
TOP SCORERS: Luis Suarez (Liverpool) 31, Daniel Sturridge
(Liverpool) 21, Yaya Toure (Manchester City) 20, Sergio Aguero
(Manchester City) 17, Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 17, Edin Dzeko
(Manchester City) 16, Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) 16, Wilfried Bony
(Swansea City) 16, Romelu Lukaku (Everton) 15, Jay Rodriguez
(Southampton) 15, Eden Hazard (Chelsea) 14, Loic Remy
(Newcastle United) 14, Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) 13, Rickie Lambert
(Southampton) 13, Robin van Persie (Manchester United) 12, Emmanuel Adebayor
(Tottenham Hotspur) 11, Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) 10, Christian Benteke
(Aston Villa) 10, Alvaro Negredo (Manchester City) 9, Raheem Sterling
(Liverpool) 9, Samuel Eto’o (Chelsea) 9, Danny Welbeck
(Manchester United) 9, Adam Lallana (Southampton) 9, Oscar (Chelsea) 8, Lukas Podolski
(Arsenal) 8, Kevin Mirallas (Everton) 8
BIGGEST WIN: Manchester City 7-0 Norwich City (2 November 2013)
HIGHEST SCORING GAMES: Manchester City 6-3 Arsenal (14
December 2013), Cardiff City 3-6 Liverpool (22 March 2014), Manchester City 7-0
Norwich City (2 November 2013)
PFA PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Luis Suarez
(Liverpool)
PFA YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
The 2013-14 Barclays
Premier League campaign was going to be a season of charge, especially at the
top. The top three clubs from 2012-13 all changed managers at the start of a
new campaign. David Moyes was ‘The Chosen One’ to begin life at Manchester
United after Sir Alex Ferguson. The calm Chilean Manuel Pellegrini replaced the
sacked Roberto Mancini at Manchester City and Jose Mourinho made his second coming
to Chelsea as Roman Abramovich finally indicated that he had found no-one
suitable to replace the so-called ‘Special One.’
There were other new
managers arriving too. Roberto Martinez moved on from relegated Wigan to
succeed the departing Moyes at Everton and Mark Hughes returned from the
managerial exile at Stoke City after the Potters elected to go down a fresh
direction without Tony Pulis.
The transfer market
was dominated by three players and their futures – that of Gareth Bale, Luis
Suarez and Wayne Rooney. Suarez was the subject of a ridiculous £40,000,001 bid
from Arsenal – intended to trigger a clause in his contract. The striker spoke
out and wanted to leave but the owners stood firm and he remained a Liverpool
player. Rooney was courted by Chelsea but stayed loyal to the new regime at Old
Trafford and would sign a new contract by the season’s climax. It was Bale who
went though as Real Madrid got their man. Tottenham received £85.3m for the
Welsh wizard – becoming the most expensive transfer in the history of football.
Manchester City spent
nearly £100m combined on the Sevilla pair Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo,
Fernandinho from Shakhtar Donetsk and Montenegro striker Stevan Jovetic. After
missing out on Rooney, Mourinho went for Samuel Eto’o after a restructuring
plan saw Russian club Anzhi sell all their stars. Willian was another who ended
up at Stamford Bridge as the Blues stole the Brazilian at the last minute from
under Tottenham’s noses.
With the Bale money,
Spurs spent it on almost a brand new team. Spanish striker Roberto Soldado and
Roma playmaker Erik Lamela were the biggest additions – costing £56m in total.
Liverpool paid £17m to PSG for rising defender Mamadou Sakho and Southampton
forked out £8.5m for Lyon centre back Dejan Lovren.
Domestic moves saw
Romelu Lukaku go out on loan again, but this time to Everton. The Toffees made
a similar move for out-of-favour Gareth Barry and Martinez went back to his
former club Wigan on deadline day to acquire James McCarthy for £13m. Joe
Kinnear controversially returned to Newcastle as director of football, although
he only made one addition which was the loan signing of Loic Remy from
relegated QPR. Adel Taarabt swapped the Hoops for the Cottagers of Fulham on a
loan deal too and newly promoted Hull City broke their transfer record for
Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone.
As deadline day
ticked down, Manchester United were noticeably quiet. Despite pursuing the likes
of Cesc Fabregas and Leighton Baines, no new signings were made until the final
hour. Moyes eventually forking out a club record £27m for Everton’s Marouane
Fellaini. It was a deal that would backfire badly for both player and boss.
Spend, spend Arsene!
Whilst their rivals
paid out big amounts to strengthen their squads, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
decided again not to make any moves. The fans grew frustrated, especially as
the debt on the Emirates Stadium that had restricted deals before had now been
paid off.
It got really ugly in
north London on the opening day when Aston Villa blew the Gunners apart with a
stunning demonstration of how to play counter-attacking football. Arsenal lost
3-1 and the supporters started hurling ‘Spend, spend, spend Wenger’ banners out around
the ground.
He eventually did buy
on deadline day and what a capture. £42m was paid to Real Madrid for German
superstar Mesut Ozil, doubling the club’s previous transfer record. By then,
Arsenal were back in the top three including a north London derby success over
a new-look Tottenham side.
It was Liverpool who
were the surprise early pacesetters. Brendan Rodgers side played carefully in
the opening three weeks and his measures paid off. Three goals, all scored by
Daniel Sturridge were enough for three 1-0 wins to ensure they had the only 100
per cent record in the division. One of those winners from Sturridge came in
early September against Manchester United as Moyes suffered an early taster of
what was to come.
One of the biggest
upsets in the entire campaign came in late August. On a bright late summer’s
August afternoon, Cardiff City memorably defeated Manchester City in their
first home match among the elite. Frazier Campbell scored twice in a
sensational 3-2 win but there were already evident cracks in the cordial
dialogue between owner Vincent Tan and manager Malky Mackay.
Di Canio bites the dust
The other main
headline in the opening two months was the poisonous atmosphere around
Sunderland. Despite bringing in 12 players, the club was on the verge of
meltdown under Paolo di Canio.
Constant criticism of
the first team players in the media, plus excluding the popular Phil Bardsley
and Lee Cattermole from his plans made him a scapegoat in the local and national
media and with the Black Cats fans. Those who couldn’t work out whether he was
a genius or an idiot quickly had their answer and after a public remonstration
to the visiting fans following a 3-0 defeat at West Brom on 21 September, he
became the first boss to bite the dust in 2013-14. The former Brighton manager
Gus Poyet replaced him and Sunderland became a much better environment for this
decision.
Meanwhile in
Manchester, David Moyes got another indication of the task he had at Old
Trafford. Manchester United were trounced 4-1 in the first Manchester derby of
the season, with Sergio Aguero scoring twice. The following week, United caved
to a shock 2-1 defeat by West Brom. Albion recorded their first victory at the
Theatre of Dreams since 1978 with goals from Morgan Amalfitano and youngster
Saido Berahino. Already, the champions crown was slipping.
Vilified after his
bite out of Branislav Ivanovic in April of the previous campaign, Luis Suarez
returned in late September from his 10-match ban for the incident. He made a
scoring return too in Liverpool’s 3-1 away win at bottom club Sunderland and he
didn’t stop scoring until the season ended.
With Chelsea losing
for the first time under Mourinho’s second spell 1-0 to Everton and Manchester
City slipping to a 3-2 loss away to Aston Villa; it was Arsenal who led the way
at the end of September. Helped by the goals of Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud
and with Ozil settling in quickly, the Gunners had chalked up five successive
victories. The gloom over the club from six weeks earlier had most definitely
disappeared.
Carnage at Cardiff
When Jordan Mutch
scored a stunning 90th minute winner to help Cardiff to a 2-1 win
away at Fulham, the Bluebirds were sitting in a fine seventh place in the
table. It rapidly went downhill from there.
Chief scout Ian Moody
was unceremoniously fired by owner
Vincent Tan at the start of October and replaced with an unknown individual
from Kazakhstan, who was one of Tan’s closest friends. An ally of Mackay,
Moody’s departure sparked carnage which remained at the club for the rest of
the campaign. Cardiff’s form on the field started to take a nosedive in October
with successive defeats to Newcastle and Chelsea, followed by a 0-0 draw away
against Norwich City. They plunged into the bottom half and the chaos wouldn’t
end there.
Moody eventually turned
up as the director of football at Crystal Palace who were also about to
experience a managerial change. After a pitiful 4-1 defeat at home to fellow
strugglers Fulham, not helped by a Goal of the Season contender from Patjim
Kasami, Ian Holloway resigned from his post, believing he had lost the dressing
room in south London. After Keith Millen stood in as caretaker for four games,
the call went out to Pulis to try and save the Eagles. However with just four
points from 11 games, they already looked good as doomed.
Arsenal held onto top
spot throughout October, with Jack Wilshere starting to show some good form. He
finished off one of the team goals of the campaign as Norwich couldn’t cope
with the Gunners’ incisive movements in a 4-1 defeat, where Ozil also scored
twice. At the wrong end of the league, Fabio Borini hit an 87th
minute winner in the Tyne & Wear derby to spearhead Sunderland to a 2-1
triumph over Newcastle and their first win of the campaign and for new boss
Poyet.
The month ended with
a gladiatorial showdown at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea and Manchester City were
deadlocked at 1-1 going into stoppage time when a nightmare mix-up between
Matija Nastasic and Joe Hart allowed Fernando Torres in to score the winner.
Cue ecstatic celebrations from Mourinho on the touchline which rattled
Pellegrini, who didn’t shake his hand at the full-time whistle. It also was the
final straw with Hart’s form too. After a series of erratic performances,
England’s number one was set for a spell on the bench at Eastlands.
City’s goalscoring power
Troubles on the road
were plaguing Manchester City’s title challenge so far. A fourth away defeat
would follow in November when they lost 1-0 for the fourth successive year to
Sunderland. The back in-favour Bardsley scored the solitary goal. The Citizens
had only collected four points from six trips away from the Etihad Stadium.
At home though they
were a different proposition. Norwich were battered 7-0 at the start of
November on a miserable afternoon that summed up the Canaries season. Three
weeks later, Tottenham fell behind inside 13 seconds to a goal from Jesus Navas
and ended up shipping six. It seemed like Manchester City were going to be
invincible at home.
Asmir Begovic put
himself in the select list of goalkeepers to score in the Premier League. The
Bosnian’s goal kick inside the opening minute of Stoke’s home match with
Southampton looped over a bemused Artur Boruc and into the net with help from
the predictable gust at the Britannia Stadium. Despite that, the Saints were in
great form as Hull found out a week later. Adam Lallana scored a superb
individual goal in a 4-1 victory for the home side. Under the guidance of
Mauricio Pochettino, Southampton had climbed into third place in the table,
playing some great football and producing top home-grown talent from this
country. The likes of Lallana, Luke Shaw and Jay Rodriguez would blossom all
season on the south coast.
The first top flight
south Wales derby also took place in November. Steven Caulker’s second half
header ensured Cardiff beat Swansea 1-0 in the Welsh capital and claimed the
bragging rights in the country for now. Another derby in November was the
Merseyside clash at Goodison and what a game it was. A late Sturridge equaliser
saw Liverpool rescue a 3-3 draw with Everton but had it not been for the
goalkeeping exploits of Tim Howard and Simon Mignolet, it could well have ended
8-8! Arsenal suffered only their second defeat of the campaign at Old Trafford.
Robin van Persie found the net again against his former employers in United’s
1-0 win.
One team who had a
great month were Newcastle United. Helped by the goalscoring exploits of Remy,
the creative influence of Yohan Cabaye and some heroic saves by Tim Krul, the
Magpies notched together four straight wins with Chelsea and Tottenham among
their noticeable scalps. It wasn’t so good for Fulham and after a meek showing
in a 3-0 defeat to West Ham United; Martin Jol’s services were dispensed with
24 hours later.
The axe on Christmas
Christmas is normally
a time for giving and receiving but they were only giving at the home ground of
the champions. The fortress that formally stood around Old Trafford was fast
turning into a festive gift shop! First, Moyes could only look on with pain
etched on his face as his former club Everton claimed a 1-0 win at the start of
the month. Bryan Oviedo grabbed the winner; the Toffees first win at the ground
since August 1992. Three days later, it got worse as Newcastle ended their
41-year drought at the Theatre of Dreams. Cabaye scored the solitary goal as
United dropped to ninth and 12 points off the top. The board kept faith with ‘The Chosen One…’ for now at least.
Other owners decided
not to though. Getting a new manager seemed to be the hottest fashion accessory
during winter. Rene Meulensteen succeeded Jol at Fulham but he began with four
defeats in six games – the worst was a 6-0 mauling away at Hull City where
Huddlestone ended his three-year drought for a goal and got rid of his ‘afro’
haircut with it! West Brom panicked after losing four games in a row and
wielded the axe on Steve Clarke. The Scot was placed on gardening leave and was
eventually replaced by Pepe Mel.
The end also dawned
on Andre Villas-Boas at Tottenham. A 5-0 drubbing at home by free-scoring
Liverpool spelt the end for AVB at White Hart Lane and probably in this country
too. Tim Sherwood was promoted from the academy into the hotseat on an 18-month
contract. Lastly, Mackay was finally given the chop by the clueless Tan at
Cardiff on 27 December. He had told his boss to resign or be sacked before a
trip to Anfield six days earlier. Mackay survived that game, but not a 3-0 home
defeat to Southampton on Boxing Day. Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer was brought in and Mackay took his unfair dismissal to the lawyers as
he issued legal action against the Malaysian owner.
Player of the month
undoubtedly was Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan was winning back fans and neutrals
with his stunning performances and goalscoring exploits. He became the first
player in the history of the league to score three hat-tricks against the same
opposition as Norwich City once again felt the full force of his power. Suarez
scored a stunning four goals in Liverpool’s 5-1 win on 4 December. He added
another six during the month, including a double at home to Cardiff and another
brace in the Tottenham triumph. Despite losing Sturridge, skipper Steven
Gerrard and Sakho to lengthy injury absences – Liverpool were top on Christmas
Day.
They ended 2013
though down in fifth spot. Whilst their defensive naivety was exposed in a 6-3
reverse at Manchester City, Arsenal went into the New Year on top of the table,
helped by plucky away wins on Boxing Day against West Ham United and three days
later on Tyneside over Newcastle United. Liverpool slipped to consecutive
defeats over the festive period by the same scoreline (2-1) to Manchester City
and Chelsea. With Lukaku banging in the goals, Everton were quietly going about
their business, in the top four and having only been beaten twice so far. The
bottom three consisted of Sunderland, Fulham and West Ham.
18th century football!
2014 began with
Manchester City in top form and now having sorted out their early difficulties
on the road. They started the month in third and ended it top of the pile.
Their year began with a 3-2 win on a soaking lunchtime in south Wales over
struggling Swansea City.
After getting some
luck in a 2-0 triumph against Newcastle United, the club scored their 100th
goal incredibly in all competitions by this stage of the year when Cardiff were
seen off 4-2. Edin Dzeko was the recipient of this honour. The month concluded
with another five-star performance against Tottenham. Sherwood’s men were blown
away 5-1 by their opponents. With Hart back at the top of his game after his
break from first team action and the likes of Aguero, Dzeko and Negredo smashing
in the goals, who could stop Pellegrini’s men?
Arsenal did concede
top spot after drawing 2-2 at Southampton but were still right in the heart of
the battle. Chelsea too, but they dropped two points in a disappointing
scoreless contest with West Ham United. After the game, Mourinho had the cheek
to accuse West Ham of playing “18th century football!” Pot, kettle, black
spring to mind with this quote Jose!
Sunderland began
climbing the table in the right direction and got out of the bottom three for
the first time in the season, thanks to the goalscoring exploits of Adam
Johnson. He hit a treble in a 4-1 victory over relegation rivals Fulham at
Craven Cottage and ended up with an impressive tally of six goals in four
matches. The Poyet factor was working on Wearside.
Sunderland’s local
rivals suffered a huge blow in the January transfer window as Cabaye was
transferred to oil-rich French side PSG and no replacement was brought into
Newcastle. Kinnear left his role as director of football shortly afterwards.
Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City kept their chequebooks in their pockets
during the reinforcement month but Chelsea added Nemanja Matic and Mohamed
Salah to their ranks and Hull City boss Steve Bruce splashed out £14m on a new
strike partnership in Croatian Nikica Jelavic from Everton and Shane Long who
was discarded from West Brom’s plans without much of a fight. The biggest
transfer though came in Manchester where United shattered their transfer record
again – this time to acquire Juan Mata from Chelsea for £38m. Fed up of warming
the bench under Mourinho in west London, the Spaniard hoped the move would give
him a new lease of life.
Arsenal start to fade
When Arsenal
travelled to Anfield to face Liverpool for a lunchtime kick-off on 8 February,
they were back on top of the table and seven points clear of their opponents.
Liverpool had dropped costly points at home to Aston Villa and away at West
Brom and looked to be fighting Tottenham and Everton for the final Champions
League spot. By the full-time whistle, both team’s season objectives turned
around in different directions.
Arsenal simply
couldn’t cope with Liverpool’s fast-paced start. They caved in dramatically,
shipping four goals in a breathless first 20 minutes. The only surprise was
Suarez didn’t find the target. Martin Skrtel and Raheem Sterling got doubles as
the home side won 5-1 – just 10 days after dishing out a 4-0 scoreline on their
Merseyside rivals. Daniel Sturridge also scored as part of a run of games where
he would find the target in seven successive Premier League encounters.
Arsenal’s challenge
started to fade after that result. Four days later, they played out a
forgettable 0-0 draw with Manchester United at the Emirates and Liverpool
quickly overhauled their deficit to the leaders. In the other big showdown of
the month, Mourinho produced a tactical masterclass to frustrate Manchester
City at the Etihad. Chelsea became the first team to win at the home of the
champions-elect in the campaign as Branislav Ivanovic drilled in the only goal
of the game.
With that, Chelsea
took control of the title race. A majestic hat-trick from Young Player of the
Year Eden Hazard sank Newcastle 3-0 at Stamford Bridge and they ended February
as the team to catch. Manchester City’s response to defeat by the Blues was to
draw another blank with Norwich at Carrow Road and then see a game with
Sunderland postponed by heavy winds and driving rain in the area.
Meanwhile the battle
to stay among the elite was intensifying, with almost half the division
scrapping for survival. Michael Laudrup became casualty number seven of the
Premier League season. The Dane was fired as Swansea slipped into the bottom
six following a run of insipid performances. Former captain Gary Monk was
appointed to steer the club through the rest of the season and beyond. Fulham
then made another change days later. Having collected just three wins from his
12 games, Rene Meulensteen collected his P45. Felix Magath, never relegated as
a manager in his days managing eight Bundesliga clubs was brought in to try and
rescue the sinking club down by the River Thames. Going in the right direction
though were West Ham. Sam Allardyce spearheaded his club from 18th
to 10th with four wins in a row, with Kevin Nolan responding to criticism
for two childish red cards in quick succession during the winter round of
fixtures by scoring six times in these four games.
Pardew’s moment of madness
At around 4.15pm on
Saturday, 1 March – Alan Pardew lost the plot and created one of the Premier
League’s craziest moments ever seen in its lifespan. With his team cruising at
3-1 up away against Hull City, he reacted badly to receiving a shove from Hull’s
David Meyler as the midfielder was trying to get the ball for a throw-in.
Pardew (pictured below) leant forward with his head and butted Meyler in a complete moment of
madness.
 |
| How stupid can you get? Alan Pardew stunned football with this head-butt in March |
Pardew was sent to
the stands and the book was thrown at him. Newcastle fined him and warned him
about his future conduct and the FA banned the Englishman for seven matches –
three of which were for permission to even enter the stadium. With Cabaye sold,
Remy injured and now their boss public enemy number one Newcastle’s season
continued to unravel and they never really recovered.
The same could be
said for Manchester United. New low points came in March when both Liverpool
and Manchester City won so easily at Old Trafford. The 3-0 scorelines didn’t
flatter them and it could have been more in both cases. Liverpool’s visit saw
them win three penalties in that match – the first time ever that has happened
at the ex-champions’ ground. Steven Gerrard scored two of them but missed the
third and the departing captain Nemanja Vidic received a red card against the
Merseysiders for the fourth time in his career. Sections of the United support
had enough and hired a plane to fly over the stadium during the Aston Villa
game at the end of the month with the banner ‘Wrong One – Moyes Out!’ Liverpool fans
chose a better banner, going with ‘David Moyes – Footballing Genius!’ Either way, the
stressed look on the Scot’s face suggested he was a manager on seriously
borrowed time.
Another manager who
looked totally crestfallen was Arsene Wenger. Any outside hope Arsenal had of
getting back into title contention went when they imploded in his 1000th
game in charge at Chelsea. For once, the Blues had a day where they actually
enjoyed attacking their opponents. Chelsea won 6-0, their biggest margin of
victory ever against the Gunners. The match is also remembered for a calamitous
gaffe by referee Andre Marriner. When Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain handled on the
goal-line, he correctly awarded a spot-kick, but then sent Kieran Gibbs off the
pitch instead! It was another ridiculous moment from the men in the middle who
had another season of regularly questionable decisions in key matches.
Mourinho had
continued to dismiss Chelsea’s title claims, even when they briefly went seven
points clear after handing Tottenham another hefty beating in mid-March. His
claims seemed to be validated when his side slipped to shock consecutive
defeats on the road. First was a loss to Aston Villa, where Willian, Ramires
and Mourinho himself were all sent off. A fortnight later, a rare error from
John Terry saw the defender head into his own net to seal a surprising 1-0
victory to Crystal Palace. When Liverpool beat Tottenham 4-0 the next day, the
Reds suddenly had the destiny of the title in their own hands for the first
time.
Gerrard’s emotion and slip
April was always
going to pack a punch at both ends of the table. At the top, three sides could
win the title, whilst at least seven clubs were still fighting for their lives
to escape relegation.
The month started
with a potential Champions League shootout between Everton and Arsenal.
Wenger’s side had now slipped into the clutches of the impressive Toffees, who
were in a sequence of seven successive victories. Everton outclassed Arsenal on
that day, winning 3-0 to take control of the race for fourth. Unfortunately for
Roberto Martinez’s side, three defeats in the run-in ensured they finished
seven points off the top four, but with 72 points, still set a record points
tally for the club in their Premier League life. All of the top three won,
although Manchester City’s 4-1 success against Southampton was overshadowed by
a cruel ACL injury to Saints striker Jay Rodriguez that meant he would miss the
World Cup finals for England. On that weekend, Chris Hughton lost his job at
Norwich following a home defeat to West Brom. Neil Adams took over for the
final five games and with a devilish run-in against Liverpool, Manchester
United, Chelsea and Arsenal; relegation looked all but a formality for the
Canaries.
Whilst Chelsea were
still in the fight, many believed the showdown on Sunday, 13 April between
Liverpool and Manchester City would be the title decider. It came at a charged
time for LFC, with the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster
lurking around the corner. After an impeccable tribute to the 96 who never came
home in 1989 from an FA Cup semi-final, the match lived up to all expectations.
Goals from Sterling and Skrtel inside half an hour had Liverpool 2-0 up and
their fans daring to dream that the impossible could become the possible. City
responded in the second half with two goals from David Silva and had the
momentum at 2-2. Then with 12 minutes left, a mistake by City captain Vincent
Kompany of all people allowed Philippe Coutinho (pictured below) to strike the winner for the
home side. At the final whistle, skipper Steven Gerrard was seen struggling to
hold back the tears. The trophy that had eluded him throughout his career was
now in touching distance. Liverpool had it to lose now.
 |
| Philippe Coutinho hit a late winner as Liverpool beat Manchester City in an April cracker |
Sunderland suddenly
got into the equation. When they surrendered 5-1 away at Tottenham, the Black Cats
had collected one point from a possible 21 and were bottom, seven points adrift
of safety. Gus Poyet said afterwards that they needed ‘a miracle.’ The miracle began
at the Etihad where Connor Wickham scored twice and only a calamitous Vito
Mannone error in the 89th minute denied the visitors a shock win.
The draw gave them confidence though and they then outplayed Chelsea on their
own backyard. Fabio Borini’s 78th minute penalty buried the Blues as
far as their title challenge was concerned. Mourinho’s sarcastic comments about
referee Mike Dean afterwards led to another fine from the authorities and more
criticism about his side’s style of play. It was now a two-horse race.
Liverpool still had
it in their own hands, with a six point lead over City, although the Citizens
had a game in hand. The decisive moment came in the 44th minute of
Liverpool’s home game with Chelsea on 27th April. Gerrard slipped on
the halfway line and Demba Ba got away from the defence before finishing coolly
infront of The Kop. On a day when Liverpool could have won it, their main
players had an off-day. Despite parking the bus infront of the Anfield goal,
the Blues ended up comfortable 2-0 winners as Willian scored a second in
stoppage time. Later than afternoon, City won 2-0 at Crystal Palace to take
command of the race for the title.
At the bottom,
Cardiff’s 4-0 defeat to Sunderland left them in a precarious position.
Solskjaer had only managed to spearhead his strugglers to three wins since
taking over on 2 January. Although they won back-to-back games over Aston Villa
and Norwich at the start of the month, Fulham were favourites to join Cardiff
in the Championship after throwing away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at home to Hull
City. Sunderland’s great escape had meant Norwich were now favourites for the
third spot. Swansea, Hull, West Ham and incredibly, Crystal Palace all achieved
mathematical survival in April. Palace strung a fantastic run of five
successive wins to take them to mid-table from almost certain relegation five
months earlier. Pulis was the deserving winner of the Premier League Manager of
the Year award.
David Moyes’
miserable tenure at Manchester United also finally came to an end in April. He
was never going to look forward with any envy to a trip to Everton on 20 April.
The home supporters enjoyed taunting their former boss as they won at a stroll
2-0. 48 hours later and with no hope of Champions League football, Moyes was
finally given his marching orders after a nightmare year that has severely
damaged his reputation in this country as a manager. Playing legend Ryan Giggs
took charge for the remaining four games of the season, and would hang up his
boots at the end of the campaign to become the assistant to Moyes’ long-term
successor which is the experienced Dutch coach Louis van Gaal.
City win it, Liverpool bin it
The final month of
the year began with the first two issues to be settled. Cardiff and Fulham were
both relegated on the final Saturday of the season after messy campaigns for
the pair. Cardiff lost 3-0 to Newcastle – one of only two sides the Magpies beat
after the Pardew head-butt at Hull. Fulham put in their worst display of the
season away at Stoke City. They were beaten 4-1 and it could have been more.
For the first time in his managerial career, Felix Magath had been relegated
but both he and Solskjaer have already insisted they will be staying. Despite a
shocking run of form that saw them collect just four points in their last eight
matches, Paul Lambert guided Aston Villa just about to safety and Midlands
rivals West Brom did the same. Lambert will stay in the Villa Park dugout, but
Pepe Mel left by mutual consent after just five rocky months at the Hawthorns.
Back in the title
race and Manchester City triumphed 3-2 away to Everton. Usually the club’s
bogey ground with only one win at Goodison since 2001, City fought back from
conceding a magnificent opener from the talented Ross Barkley to win in an
end-to-end contest. This defeat for Everton handed fourth spot to Arsenal, who
also would go on to win silverware for the first time in nine years after a
hard-fought extra-time win against Hull in the FA Cup final.
It was over to
Liverpool then on Bank Holiday Monday against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Win and they would at least keep the pressure on City but they binned it.
Cruising at 3-0 up on the hour mark with goals from Joe Allen, Daniel Sturridge
and PFA Player of the Year Luis Suarez, their gung-ho approach backfired.
Pushing for a fourth rather than shutting up shop, they allowed the Eagles to
incredibly draw it back to 3-3 with three goals in the last 12 minutes – two
coming from substitute Dwight Gayle. The expression on the faces of the players
and Brendan Rodgers at the full-time whistle was the telling point. The fight
was all but over. 48 hours later, City’s routine 4-0 win over Aston Villa meant
they went into the final day with a handy two-point cushion. On the same night,
Sunderland’s great escape was complete after defeating West Brom 2-0,
relegating Norwich City in the process.
So for the seventh
time in the league’s history, the title battle went to the final day although
it looked like a formality. Manchester City only needed a point at home to West
Ham, who had nothing to play for but pride. Should they blow it, a Liverpool
win against Newcastle might have been enough. They were behind at half-time to
the Magpies though, as Martin Skrtel scored his fourth OG of the season, a new
record in the Premier League. City were 1-0 up when Samir Nasri drilled them
ahead in the 35th minute. West Ham never threatened and didn’t even
register a noticeable shot on target at the Etihad and when Vincent Kompany
stabbed home a second goal in the early exchanges of the second half, it was
all over. Liverpool did recover at Anfield to win 2-1 but it was too late.
Their 24-year wait for a league title goes on and so, the crown stays in
Manchester but returns to the blue half of the city. Chelsea finished third,
followed by Arsenal, Everton and Tottenham who sacked Tim Sherwood after the
season’s conclusion. Seventh is Manchester United’s lowest in Premier League
history and ensures they won’t be in Europe for the first time since 1990.
It was a campaign of
change, a season of revolution and evolution. A year where reputations were
both created and destroyed. The Barclays Premier League season of 2013-14 was a
classic and a massive improvement on the stale 2012-13 edition. Liverpool came
so close, Chelsea gave it a good go but it was Manchester City who ended up
deserved champions. The next chapter in 2014-15 could be the most intriguing to
date.
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