Salah golden as Liverpool grabs fourth
Egyptian sets goal record as team secures spot in Champions League
Liverpool qualified for the Champions League at the expense of Chelsea, Swansea was relegated, and champion Manchester City made it to 100 points as the loose ends were tied up on a typically high-scoring final day of the Premier League season on Sunday.
It was also the end of an era in England’s top flight, with Arsene Wenger taking charge of his final game as Arsenal manager after 22 seasons. He went out with a 1-0 win at Huddersfield.
Liverpool only needed to draw with Brighton to secure another season in the Champions League, but manager Juergen Klopp fielded an attacking team and was rewarded with a 4-0 victory at Anfield. Mohamed Salah scored one of the goals, taking the Egyptian to a leaguehigh 32 goals for the campaign — the most in a 38-game Pre- mier League season.
That meant Chelsea will not be playing in Europe’s elite competition for the second season in three years. The London club finished fifth after a 3-0 loss at Newcastle, in what could prove to be Antonio Conte’s last league game as manager.
The final-day “miracle” that Swansea manager Carlos Carvalhal required didn’t happen, with the Welsh club losing 2-1to Stoke to end its seven-year stay in the league and ensure Southampton stayed up.
Swansea had needed to win and Southampton to lose to Man City, with a 10-goal swing in goal difference. So it didn’t matter that Southampton conceded late to lose 1-0 to City, although that did mean Pep Guardiola’s side became the first team to post 100 points in a Premier League season.
It is the latest milestone reached by City, which has also claimed the most total wins (32), goals (106), victories in a row (18) and away wins (16) in this record-breaking season. The 19-point margin to secondplace Manchester United is also a record, as is the goal differ- ence of plus 79.
Tottenham beat Leicester 5-4 in the highest-scoring game of the day to secure third place above Liverpool. United was already assured of second place before its 1-0 win against Watford, in Michael Carrick’s final game for the club. Salah gets Boot: Fittingly, it was Salah who guided Liverpool back into the Champions League and he ended a sunkissed afternoon at Anfield lifting the Golden Boot for being the Premier League’s top scorer this season.
His 32-goal haul was two more than Harry Kane, the winner for the past two seasons. Swansea relegated: Swansea fans channelled their anger toward chairperson Huw Jenkins and the club’s American majority shareholders, Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien, after the team’s relegation was confirmed with a loss to a team that started the day in last place.