Weekend Review: Bookies bashed as Man City take Premier League title on dramatic final day

The final round of fixtures in the Premier League – played simultaneously at 4pm on Sunday –served up a feast as Man City fired home three goals against Aston Villa in five minutes to be crowned champions of England.

Pep Guardiola’s side (1/7) had been 2-0 down to the visitors against the run of play with just 15 minutes left on the clock when substitute Ilkay Gundogan scored before Rodri’s cool finish made it 2-2.

Just three minutes later, Gundogan finished off a low cross from Kevin De Bruyne to take the lead and send the Etihad into delirium.

When Villa had been two goals up, despite an eventual xG of just 0.3 in 90 minutes, nerves were jangling down the M62 at Anfield where Liverpool (1/8) were making hard work of their task at home to Wolves.

Pedro Neto stunned the home fans after slotting home an accurate cross from Raul Jimenez in front of the Kop to make it 1-0 to the away side after just three minutes

Sadio Mané equalised for Liverpool after 24 minutes, yet Wolves continued to pose problems for Liverpool on the counter-attack and the Reds struggled to find the winner that would have handed them the title.

In the end, Liverpool ran out 3-1 winners after two late goals, but Man City’s dramatic turnaround meant the Premier League crown was heading back to Manchester, meaning Liverpool’s hopes of a quadruple were crushed.

The moment we’ve been waiting for! ? pic.twitter.com/E4dzb9buvc

— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 22, 2022

Betfred’s Alan Firkins said: “Despite Fred having paid out months ago on Manchester City winning the Premier League, Liverpool came so close to spoiling the Etihad party.

“In the end though a stunning six-minute, three-goal City comeback against a resolute and committed Aston Villa thrillingly secured their fourth crown in five seasons. A fitting finale to a wonderful campaign.”

Those who backed Man City at 1.05 (1/20) and lower on Betfair Exchange in the outright market when they held a 14-point lead in the title race would have been fearing the worst with 15 minutes of the City game to go.

On the title odds, bet365’s Steve Freeth described it as a “rollercoaster” yesterday. “Man City were 1/10 for the title when Wolves went 1-0 up but at half time with Villa winning we were trading at 4/7 Man City and Liverpool at 11/8.

“Jurgen Klopp’s side then went 8/13 to win the Premier League when former Red Philippe Coutinho put Villa 2-0 up at the Etihad, meaning we also paid out on the visitors thanks to our 2 Goals Ahead early payout offer, with the quadruple dream still very much alive.

“The Citizens were now 14/1 to win in 90 minutes and 13/10 for the title before Gundogan started the incredible comeback.”

The final round of fixtures was pure thrills and spills as 39 goals were racked up across the 10 games.

In fact, the both teams to score bet landed in eight of the Premier League matches (only Man United and Norwich failed to find the back of the net), while there were over 2.5 goals in eight games.

Tottenham (1/4) secured a Champions League spot with a 5-0 demolition of bottom side Norwich and in the process got one over their north London rivals, Arsenal who finished two points behind in fifth despite a 5-1 win over Everton.

Leeds (13/8) managed to survive on the final day with a 2-1 victory over Brentford, which meant Burnley fell through the trap door into the Championship following a 2-1 loss at home to Newcastle (11/5).

Raphinha in the stands with the Leeds fans ?? pic.twitter.com/K9cVGtVqOR

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 22, 2022

There were also wins for Chelsea (1/6), Leicester (4/5) and Brighton (11/8). The one bright spot for the bookies was Man United’s defeat away to Crystal Palace (2/1).

Kindred Group’s Alistair Gill said: “All told, the final day of the season went unquestionably to the punters, with only two games finishing in our favour, and only Man Utd’s loss to Palace really making a dent in the final numbers.”

As for the title race, he added: “The two teams having been neck and neck all season, including before a ball was kicked, City winning the title actually ended up a positive result in the book, with Liverpool being the bigger price almost for the entirety.

“The final day price of 5/1 about Liverpool taking the title certainly had a few nibbles versus City’s 1/7 odds.”

On the industry dodging a bullet on the total goals and Both Teams to Score markets, Freeth said: “Boy, were we relieved that Norwich and Manchester United failed to score because it would’ve been horrific on the both teams to score front – probably one of our worst in recent memory – we dodged a huge one in the goals markets but it was still a great day for goals punters.”

Meanwhile on turf of a different kind, red-hot favourite Native Trail ridden by William Buick landed the first Irish Classic of the season at the Curragh.

Virgin Bet’s head of trading, Janis Strauts, remarked: “Native Trail winning the Irish 2000 Guineas at short odds of 2/5 did not do much damage to our field book on Saturday. Other results at the Curragh were favourable for us including getting Wordsworth, the 13/8 favourite, beaten in the Listed race.”

Another Classic winner for Team @godolphin as Native Trail shows a willing attitude to forge clear in the Group 1 @tatts_ireland 2,000 Guineas for the formidable Charlie Appleby and William Buick combination ? pic.twitter.com/3YEuqm30XV

— The Curragh Racecourse (@curraghrace) May 21, 2022

Gill said. “On Sunday, the 1000 Guineas went the way of 11/2 shot Homeless Song, who beat 11/4 favourite Tuesday into second place, that result just about going the way of the punters.”

Meanwhile at Haydock, Whoputfiftyinyou kept on strongly to take the Cazoo Silver Bowl Handicap, beating 13/8 favourite Mighty Ulysses into second by half a length and “lock in another layer friendly result,” according to Gill.

On Virgin Bet’s racing book, Strauts said: “Our worst result for Saturday came from Haydock with the Andrew Balding-trained Valley Forge winning the 2pm handicap race at 4/1 joint favourite.

“Goodwood had better results for us, the only race that did not go our way was Majestic Dawn winning the 2.15pm race.”

He concluded: “We had mixed results in the Sunday Series meeting at York but ended up ahead for the day to finish off an action-packed weekend of good quality racing.”