20 May 2022

The Premier League season in pictures

20 May 2022

The 2021-22 Premier League season will go down to the wire as defending champions Manchester City hold a narrow one-point advantage over rivals Liverpool after the penultimate round of matches.

The campaign has brought with it plenty of celebrations, heavy disappointments and some memorable action-packed games that both loyal supporters and neutrals have enjoyed.

Who could forget the return of Cristiano Ronaldo on transfer deadline day after a 12-year absence from the English top flight, Christian Eriksen back in action after last summer’s cardiac arrest, or Burnley sacking manager Sean Dyche after a near decade-long reign?

As the campaign draws to a close, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the best images captured on camera over the past nine months.

Sergi Canos (centre) netted Brentford’s first Premier League goal in an opening victory over Arsenal (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Archive)
Michail Antonio celebrated in August’s victory over Leicester with a cardboard cut-out of himself (Steven Paston/PA) (PA Archive)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – who joined Barcelona in the winter transfer window – celebrated in style as Arsenal battled for a Champions League spot (Adam Davy/PA) (PA Archive)
Tottenham and Chelsea came together in September to remember their former striker Jimmy Greaves after he died, aged 81 (Tim Goode/PA) (PA Archive)
Mike Ashley sold Newcastle to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, much to the delight of the club’s fans (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Wire)
Cristiano Ronaldo (right) celebrated a return to Manchester United (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Wire)
But Manchester City got the better of their neighbours in November’s Manchester derby (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Wire)
Leeds’ battle to remain in the Premier League went to the final day (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Wire)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked as Manchester United manager after defeat at Watford (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Wire)
A smoke flare landed on the pitch as Liverpool beat Everton in December’s Merseyside derby (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire)
Andrew Robertson was on target against Everton as the title race heated up (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire)
There were lots of smiles over the campaign at the Etihad Stadium (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Wire)
Christian Eriksen completed his emotional return to football with his Brentford debut in late February (Steve Paston/PA) (PA Wire)
Steven Gerrard (left) took over at Aston Villa in November, while Marcelo Bielsa (centre) was sacked by Leeds in February (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Wire)
Harry Kane popped an unusual bottle of fizz at Brighton (Adam Davy/PA) (PA Wire)
Russian-Israeli billionaire Roman Abramovich put Chelsea up for sale in March, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (John Walton/PA) (PA Wire)
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was roaring his side on from the touchline (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire)
There was plenty of support for Ukraine on and off the pitch (Adam Davy/PA) (PA Wire)
Philippe Coutinho (pictured) returned to the Premier League at former Liverpool team-mate Gerrard’s Aston Villa (David Davies/PA) (PA Wire)
Son Heung-min (left) scored an impressive 21 league goals for Tottenham during the season (Adam Davy/PA) (PA Wire)
Relegation-threatened Burnley sacked long-serving manager Sean Dyche with eight games left (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Wire)
Mohamed Salah led the way for most goals and most assists for a big part of the season (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Archive)
Ukrainian Vitaliy Mykolenko (centre) was on target as Everton gave themselves hope of staying up at Leicester (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Wire)
Manchester United fans continued to protest against the team’s ownership (Jacob King/PA) (PA Wire)
Wilfried Zaha scored 13 Premier League goals for Crystal Palace (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Archive)
Chelsea had plenty to celebrate in their bid for a top-four spot (Tess Derry/PA) (PA Archive)
Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse (left) moved second on the all-time list for Premier League free-kick goals with 14 (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Archive)
Watford and Norwich both suffered relegation to the Championship (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Wire)
Kevin De Bruyne (left) scored four goals as City thrashed Wolves (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Wire)
West Ham battled for a European spot (Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP) (AP)
Eddie Howe turned Newcastle’s season around after being 19th in the table when he took charge in November (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Wire)
Jordan Henderson celebrated as Liverpool’s victory at Southampton took the title race to the final day (Frank Augstein/AP) (AP)
Frank Lampard steered Everton to Premier League safety in the penultimate match (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire)

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