Reds pull off minor Champions League miracle: Neil Humphreys
But no final-day romance for the Foxes once more, as they are beaten 4-2 by Spurs
As the European dream returned to Liverpool, the nightmare scenario of missing out on the final day played out at Leicester City once more.
The Reds qualified for the Champions League. The Foxes, brave Davids among the usual Goliaths, fell cruelly short.
| LIVERPOOL | CRYSTAL PALACE |
| 2 | 0 |
| (Sadio Mane 36, 74) |
Chelsea, meanwhile, were below-par, out-of-sorts and lost at Aston Villa - but still squeaked into the top four, perhaps giving a surreal campaign the anti-climatic ending it deserved.
A romantic twist was not to be.
Ironically, the end of a tepid season at least provided an intriguing trailer for the next one. Football found its voice again. The fans returned.
Their numbers were small, but their grateful participation felt like an overture for the returning orchestra this August.
After 37 largely forgettable games, the English Premier League and its supporters colluded to give us a thrilling finale, an olive branch of sorts and a reminder of why we still persevere with this crazy game.
The race for the Champions League turned into musical chairs at a kids' party, with participants frantically falling in and out of key positions.
At first, Chelsea and Leicester were in and Liverpool were out. Then the Reds were in and the Foxes were out. Meanwhile, the Blues were a goal down at Villa Park and still in.
Down in sixth position, the happy Hammers were beacons of consistency, comfortably beating Southampton and dreaming of Thursday night football in the Europa League.
Elsewhere, the final day continued to swing from frenzied to farcical.
At Anfield, the Reds utterly dominated Crystal Palace, but the visitors had inexplicably decided to stand their ground in tribute to their retiring manager Roy Hodgson.
Mohamed Salah was irresistible, cutting inside from the right and waving that magic wand on his left. Trent Alexander-Arnold continued to make a mockery of Gareth Southgate's assertion that he isn't currently the best right-back in England.
But a goal proved elusive. Nerves jangled. The Anfield faithful quietened, gazing at phones almost as much as their beloved turf.
Once Jamie Vardy's penalty put the Foxes ahead against Tottenham, the Merseysiders threatened to turn their sporting citadel into a mortuary.
But Sadio Mane did what Sadio Mane invariably always does. He kept on running, living off scraps until he found something to gorge on.
In the 36th minute, Palace failed to clear a corner in a congested box, allowing Mane to tap in from a couple of yards.
The goal was as scrappy as it was priceless. As the ball trickled over the line, the Reds knew they were racing into the Champions League.
Once Aston Villa went two goals ahead against Chelsea and Leicester regained their lead against Tottenham, Liverpool looked home and dry. A season that threatened to end in ignominy culminated with Champions League qualification.
Liverpool's horrendous injuries, coupled with their owners' greedy and idiotic attempt to start a European Super League, has led Juergen Klopp to declare that finishing in the top four is among the Reds' finest achievements.
Few would disagree with him.
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When Mane crashed home his second, via a wicked deflection, in the 74th minute, there was a feeling that maybe the final minutes might drift to an inevitable conclusion.
No chance. At the King Power Stadium, Kasper Schmeichel punched the ball into his own net in the 77th minute. The Leicester veteran, one of the few survivors from their Cinderella heroics of 2016, didn't deserve that. The Foxes didn't deserve that.
From coasting against Tottenham and cruising towards the Champions League, Brendan Rodgers' comparative minnows were cruelly dropping out of the top four on the final day of the season. Again.
Gareth Bale's late double then felt needlessly brutal.
So next season's Champions League will be contested by four of the six English sides that conspired to bring about the tournament's decline.
That's ironic. That's the modern game.
Still, Liverpool's recovery was a minor miracle of sorts and a rare highlight in an otherwise forgettable season.
LAST NIGHT’S OTHER RESULTS:
Arsenal 2 Brighton 0
Aston Villa 2 Chelsea 1
Fulham 0 Newcastle 2
Leeds 3 West Brom 1
Leicester 2 Tottenham 4
Sheffield United 1 Burnley 0
West Ham 3 Southampton
Wolves 1 Man United 2
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