Arsenal still hopes to take the throne from Man City in round 38, because they are the last team to overthrow the top team in the final round in English football history.
The Premier League championship race will be the focus of round 38 this weekend (all matches take place at 10pm on May 19) and Man City has an advantage with 2 points more than Arsenal in second place. The situation is very clear: Arsenal must win at home against Everton, but they will only win the championship if Man City does not beat West Ham at the Etihad.
Match on the last day of the season: Man City (88 points, difference +60) will win the championship if they win against West Ham, Arsenal (86 points, difference +61) will win the championship if they win against Everton and Man City does not win against West Ham
Match on the last day of the season: Man City (88 points, difference +60) will win the championship if they win against West Ham, Arsenal (86 points, difference +61) will win the championship if they win against Everton and Man City does not win against West Ham
If they win, Man City will not care about what happens at the Emirates and prepare drinks to celebrate their 4th consecutive English championship, the first time in history that a club has achieved this. Of course, Arsenal supporters will still hope for some miracle from West Ham, even though this team has run out of motivation and head coach David Moyes will quit anyway.
At this time, what can we expect from the possibility of Man City falling on its own? The answer is that the possibility is very low, as history has proven, although the team leading the table losing the championship in the final round is something that has happened.
We have to go back 35 years in history to see the last time this happened. That was the historic match Liverpool – Arsenal took place at Anfield on May 26, 1989. This is the closest time in English football history that two teams competing for the top spot met in the final match. They were supposed to meet a month earlier but the Hillsborough disaster caused the FA to postpone the match.
Arsenal in that match not only had to win but also had to have a difference of 2 goals to take home the championship, and they had waited 18 years since they last won the English football throne. Liverpool in the second half of the 1970s and throughout the 1980s was England’s No. 1 team. Until the 1988/89 season, they had won 9 National Championship titles, 2 FA Cups, 4 League Cups, 4 European Cups. and 1 UEFA Cup.
Alex Thomas scored a goal against Liverpool in the 90+1 minute to bring Arsenal to the English championship in 1989. This is the last time the team at the top of the English National Championship table lost their throne in the final round.
Alex Thomas scored a goal against Liverpool in the 90+1 minute to bring Arsenal to the English championship in 1989. This is the last time the team at the top of the English National Championship table lost their throne in the final round.
However, in the final match of the season, Arsenal went up 1-0 thanks to Alan Smith’s goal in the 53rd minute, before Michael Thomas broke through from midfield and scored, giving Arsenal a breathtaking 2-0 victory. and championship. Thomas’ goal came with just over 30 seconds left in the match, and it destroyed Liverpool’s invincible image.
In addition to the 1989 event, English football also had three other times when the top team lost their position in the final round. The most dramatic time came in the 1971/72 season and Liverpool became a victim again: Before the final round, round 42, Liverpool and Man City had 57 points in the top 2 positions, but Liverpool had a difference of 2 units more, in When Derby County had 55 points, they ranked 3rd and equaled Liverpool’s score.
Derby’s championship window – led by legendary coach Brian Clough – is very narrow, with each win counting for 2 points and they must meet Liverpool in the final round while Man City clashes with 13th ranked team Ipswich Town. But a miracle happened, Man City lost 1-2 to Ipswich while Derby won 1-0 to Liverpool to have a historic coronation.
Derby County won the English championship in 1972 even though they were third in the rankings before playing their final match.
Derby County won the English championship in 1972 even though they were third in the rankings before playing their final match.
Sadly for modern-day Arsenal, all four times English football saw the top team lose their throne in the final round all happened in the twentieth century, all before the Premier League was established. Since 1993 until now, 9 times the championship race has had to be decided in the final round, all 9 times the top team has successfully retained the throne. 3 of those times belonged to Man City: 2 times against Liverpool under Pep Guardiola, the other time was Sergio Aguero’s golden moment in 2012.
Liverpool – Arsenal, last match of the 1988/89 English football season
