Kickoff chronicles

Going into the final matchweek of the 24/25 season, there were five teams that could possibly move into the final three Champions League qualification spots; Manchester City sitting 3rd with 68 points, Newcastle United, Chelsea, and Aston Villa in 4th-6th with 66 points and Nottingham Forest in 7th with 65 points. 

Manchester City travelled to Craven Cottage to take on Fulham, Villa travelled to Old Trafford to play Manchester United, Newcastle hosted Everton at St. James’ Park, while Forest hosted Chelsea at the City Ground which was essentially a playoff game for a Champions League place.

City made a brilliant start to their game in the capital, scoring after just 20 minutes. Omar Marmoush played an intelligent ball into the path of Matheus Nunes who progressed into the Fulham penalty area. Nunes beat the challenge of Kenny Tete before chipping the ball over to the back post. His cross was deflected, with Ilkay Gundogan showing great improvisation when acrobatically jumping up to bicycle kick the ball into the back of Bernd Leno’s goal.

Just before half-time at Old Trafford, there was a big decision in Villa’s game which was a huge blow for their top five ambitions. In first half stoppage time, Matty Cash played a weak back-pass to his goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, which was easily pounced on by United striker Rasmus Hojlund. Hojlund then took a touch around Martinez, where the Argentinian goalkeeper collided with the Danish striker, preventing him from continuing his run and most likely scoring to give United the lead. It was a clear red card for the keeper, with Villa having to play the 2nd half with only 10 men.

In the other two games, Newcastle keeper Nick Pope and Everton keeper Jordan Pickford made some brilliant saves to keep the game scoreless. At the City Ground, both sides knew the meaning of the game as Forest and Chelsea also went into the break at 0-0.

Five minutes into the 2nd half at the City Ground, Chelsea scored a priceless goal, giving them a 0-1 lead. Marc Cucurella played the ball over the Forest defence where Pedro Neto drilled the ball across the face of goal. Levi Colwill was then unmarked at the back post and free to pass the ball over the line, arguably the biggest goal in his Chelsea career. It had so far been an agonising game for Forest, with the usually reliable Chris Wood missing a handful of huge chances.

At St. James’ Park in the 65th minute, Everton scored a huge goal which saw them take a shock 0-1 lead. Iliman Ndiaye made a run with the ball down the left wing before playing it to Vitalii Mykolenko who whipped in a brilliant cross. Unmarked in the penalty area was Carlos Alcarez who jumped up well and headed the ball past the so far unbeatable Nick Pope.

There was then a huge call over at Old Trafford after Harry Maguire played a header backwards to his goalkeeper Altay Bayindir. It looked like a routine claim for the Turkish keeper, but he made a mess of it, failing to place both hands on the ball as Morgan Rogers kicked it out of his grasp before placing the ball into the back of the net. Unfortunately for Villa, referee Thomas Bramall made a terrible call, blowing the whistle before the ball crossed the line for a foul on Bayindir, meaning VAR could not intervene as he had signaled the end of the play. It was a heartbreaking call for Villa fans as they thought they’d overcome the odds to score with 10 men away at Old Trafford.

City then sealed their place in next season’s Champions League after Gundogan won his side a penalty when he was fouled by Sasa Lukic inside the 18-yard box. Erling Haaland stepped up to take the spot kick and ended his mini goal drought when slotting the ball into the bottom left corner to score his 22nd of the season.

Despite losing the Europa League final last week to Tottenham, United were still able to recover and take a shock lead over the crestfallen Villa. Bruno Fernandes whipped the ball over to the back post of Robin Olsen’s goal where Amad Diallo was free to head the ball past the Swedish substitute keeper. United made it two in quick succession after Christian Eriksen scored in his final appearance for the Red Devils. After two earlier efforts from the Dane came so close to giving United a 2-0 lead, he was rewarded with a penalty after Amad was fouled by Ian Matasen inside the 18-yard box. Eriksen smashed the ball down the middle of the goal, winning the game for United with Villa’s top five hopes gone. 

Over at the City Ground, the full time score finished 0-1, confirming Chelsea’s Champions League status as they finished 4th on the table after Manchester City who placed 3rd after their 0-2 win versus Fulham. Unfortunately for Forest, it was not their day, with their talisman Chris Wood failing to score from multiple opportunities. They finished 7th and will play in the UEFA Conference League next season. Newcastle lost 0-1 at home to Everton thanks to some marvellous saves from Pickford, the Toffee’s shot stopper. Fortunately for Newcastle, Villa lost 0-2 to Manchester United, meaning the Magpies finished in 5th, the final Champions League position as St. James’ park burst into celebrations after the full time whistle despite their loss. Villa ended up placing in 6th after some huge calls were given against them, the red card and disallowed goal in particular. You could see Unai Emery’s frustration after the full time whistle as his side will have to settle for Europa League football next season. Champions Liverpool and runners up Arsenal will also join Manchester City, Chelsea, and Newcastle United as the English clubs in the Champions League next season as well as Tottenham Hotspur. Despite finishing 17th, ‘Big Ange’ was able to lift the Europa League, meaning Tottenham will feature in next season’s Champions League. Crystal Palace will also play in the Europa League next season after winning the FA Cup. They will join Aston Villa in the 2nd tier European competition. Southampton, Ipswich Town and Leicester City will all also be replaced by Leeds, Burnley, and Sunderland after their poor campaigns this season as the 20 teams for next season are now confirmed.

Written by Ollie Wade