Sunday was the 38^th and final match day of the 2011-12 Barclays Premier League season, and what an unbelievable day it was. All ten games kicked off at the same time and keeping up with all of it was thrilling stuff. There was plenty of drama, and as has been the case this season, it was left late. Here is how the action unfolded.

Chelsea 2-1 Blackburn

The Blues have both their eyes on Munich with the Champions League final coming up, but that didn’t stop them from winning against the hopeless, and already relegated, Blackburn. John Terry and Raul Meireles scored two goals close together to make it 2-0. Yakubu pulled one back for Blackburn but that was all and it ended probably as it should, 2-1.

Everton 3-1 Newcastle

If only Everton could start a season in decent form, then they might be in Newcastle’s place, fighting for a Champions League spot. Their 3-1 win over the 5^th placed side (and breath of fresh air) Newcastle, put a nice exclamation point on a fine second half of the season. Stephen Peinaar and Nikica Jelavic, who have been Everton’s best players in this second half, made it 2-0 before halftime. John Heitinga then made it three with a free header. A Tony Hibbert own goal made it 3-1 but it finished that way and the Goodison Park faithful went home happy.

Norwich 2-0 Aston Villa

The promoted Norwich had a much better season than their veteran opponents on Sunday, so a 2-0 win to the home side was a fitting way to finish off the campaign. Grant Holt and Simeon Jackson got the goals to seal the points.

Stoke 2-2 Bolton

Bolton needed a win to avoid relegation and it looked like they would get it when the Davies boys (Mark and Kevin) turned around a contentious Jonathan Walters goal for Stoke. But then it was Walters again who would bury from the spot to send Bolton down.

Swansea 1-0 Liverpool

This game really didn’t mean much and a late Danny Graham winner for Swansea ended their season off right while Liverpool’s ended, maybe fittingly, with a whimper.

Tottenham 2-0 Fulham

Spurs needed to win and hope for an Arsenal draw or loss to get third and they did their part. Emmanuel Adebayor put the home side in front very early after some nice passing straight from the kickoff. Moussa Dembele rattled the woodwork for Fulham in the second half but it was Jermaine Defoe who would double the lead and make sure Spurs finished in the top four.

West Brom 2-3 Arsenal

An Arsenal win assured them third place and a spot in the Champions League next season. It started off brightly when Yossi Benayoun poked home a Martin Fulop mistake to give them the Gunners the lead very early on. But, Shane Long made it 1-1 with a nice finish. Graham Dorrans one-upped his teammate with an even better finish to give West Brom the lead. Just a few minutes later it was level again when Andre Santos powered in a shot from outside the box. After four goals inside of 30 minutes there was a little bit of a break until the 55^th minute when Laurent Koscielny took advantage of another mistake from Fulop and got the winner to make sure Arsenal finished in third.

Wigan 3-2 Wolves

Wigan was safe and Wolves were down, but that didn’t stop a decent game breaking out. Matt Jarvis got the opener while Franco di Santo equalized for Wigan. Emmerson Boyce scored two more for Roberto Martinez’s men, the second a Papiss Cisse-esque strike, to make it 3-1. Steven Fletcher got one for Wolves but their season would end with yet another loss.

Sunderland 0-1 Manchester United

Whatever result United got directly impacted what Manchester City needed and vice versa. Which is why when Wayne Rooney scored in the first quarter of the game it made things a little more tense for their Manc neighbors. It ended up being the only goal of the match and United thought it was enough when their final whistle blew, until of course…

Manchester City 3-2 QPR

Wow, this was a simply stunning finish at the Etihad as Manchester City was crowned champions of England for the first time since 1968. QPR came out with a defensive mindset and City came at them in waves. A tension-relieving goal finally came when Pablo Zabaleta’s shot overpowered QPR keeper, Paddy Kenny, and gave City the lead a few minutes before the break. Then, early in the second half, something happened that wasn’t supposed to, Djibril Cisse scored thanks to a Joleon Lescott error that made it 1-1. The City players were somewhat surprised but kept on attacking and things were made easier when the deplorable Joey Barton elbowed Carlos Tevez in the face, saw red, then kneed Sergio Aguero in the back on his way out. He is a disgrace at times, but anyway, instead of exploding against ten men, City let in another goal. This time it was a perfect diving header from Jamie Mackie after a nice counter attack that left Joe Hart with no chance. Roberto Mancini and the City fans were distraught and it looked like the title was slipping away. They kept attacking though and Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli were brought on for Gareth Barry and Tevez. Thanks to all of the crap with Barton, along with the subs and goals, there was 5 minutes of stoppage time. So, 90 seconds into that stoppage time, Dzeko scored on a David Silva corner to make it 2-2 and give the home side a chance. Two minutes later, and now just 90 seconds to play, Balotelli played in Aguero who made a move to free himself and let fly. Goal, and then bedlam around the Etihad. I have to admit I’m not a City fan, but I leapt up and started punching the air like the players just at the sheer incredible nature of the goal. It was Aguero’s 30^th of the season and the biggest of his life. This was the most spectacular finish to a season of all time and I will never forget where I was when it happened. Fair play to City, they are worthy champions, and I couldn’t be happier for their older fans as you could see how much it meant to them.

This hasn’t been the highest quality of seasons in the Premier League but the excitement and stories have been outstanding. I have Robin van Persie as my player of the season for keeping Arsenal alive and delivering when they needed it most. Manchester City is my team of the season for their great defense and resiliency in the face of another title push from their neighbors, Manchester United. There have been some fantastic goals and even better matches but I will remember Aguero’s the most on that final day. After all the games and highlights, I sometimes ask myself why do I love it so much, and then a finish to the season like Sunday happens, and I remember, oh yeah…that’s why.