From De Bruyne to Deeney: The five individual moments that decided the 2016/17 Premier League

The Premier League season is nearly over - here we look back at the key moments that shaped the outcome at the top and bottom of the table

Kevin De Bruyne's miss proved pivotal in the Premier League title race (Getty)

1. Antonio Conte goes to three at the back, 24 September

As much an alchemic number as a magic number. At 3-0 down at Arsenal, Conte went to three at the back, and transformed everything.

It’s genuinely difficult to think of a single formation change in the entirety of football that had such an immediate and deep effect. That really is no exaggeration, and it’s no exaggeration to say this was when the title was won.

There wasn’t even any learning curve. Chelsea instantly went on the joint longest winning single-season winning streak that the Premier League has seen.

2. Kevin De Bruyne’s miss, 3 December

As smoothly as Chelsea were gliding by December, there was still one significant piece of turbulence that could have greatly turned the campaign. Conte’s side had at that point won seven games in a row and were getting more and more in-sync with the new system, but were still only one point clear of Manchester City… and one goal down at the Etihad.

City had endured a fair bit of turbulence themselves by that point, having claimed just 12 points from the previous 21 after winning six consecutive matches before that, but looked entirely on point in this game. They were absolutely battering Chelsea in the first half, totally outmanoeuvring their three-man backline and in such command that it looked like they were going to hit top spot again.


 Manchester City went on to lose after De Bruyne spurned the chance to go 2-0 up 
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That seemed certain as De Bruyne was presented with a big chance to add to Gary Cahill’s 45th-minute own goal just after half-time - only to somehow hit the crossbar. Chelsea went straight up the other to end to score through Diego Costa in one of those cutting counter-attacks.

That was it. That was the game. That was pretty much the end of City’s title challenge. Forced to attack, Chelsea caught them out twice more, to go four points clear. Pep Guardiola’s shell-shocked side the very next week conceded four to Leicester City to ensure they would do no more than challenge for top four.

3. Troy Deeney’s 13th-minute goal at the Emirates, 31 January

It is a 2-1 defeat that looks all the worse for Arsenal given the tepid way Watford have ended the season, but that in itself emphasises precisely why they immediately went on the worst spell of Arsene Wenger’s entire time at the club, and what feels the proper beginning of the end whether it comes now or in two years.

The warning signs were there, like when they lost to a late Ashley Williams goal to Everton in December or then went down 3-0 to Bournemouth on 3 January, but this was the air raid siren. This was when it all began to collapse. Deeney’s goal came very quickly after Younes Kaboul’s to make it 2-0 to Watford after just 13 minutes, and make it the start of a run where Arsenal picked up just four points out of six games in the league and lost seven of 12 in all competitions.

To think the biggest fear after this defeat was that they wouldn’t challenge for the title. It triggered something so much worse than that.


 Troy Deeney and Watford started the wheels in motion for Arsenal's downward spiral 
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4. Eldin Jakupovic’s save from Juan Mata, 1 February

A moment of dreary inevitability for Manchester United, when it essentially seemed fated that draws would ultimately leave them in sixth. The bare facts of this 0-0 home draw with Hull City were all too familiar, right down to how the opposition goalkeeper - in this case, Jakupovic on Mata - pulled off a stop from an opportunity that a talented United attacker really should have scored from, but what made this result so much worse was that Jose Mourinho’s side knew that all of the top four had already dropped points.


 Manchester United missed their chance to stay in the top four hunt 
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It also emphasised how the side had got to the point where they really needed to look at themselves, rather than elsewhere or even heroic goalkeepers and “inexplicably” missed changes, because a pattern had so clearly emerged. This was United’s ninth draw of the season, and sixth at home. Those figures would end up at 15 and 11 and United, of course, would end up in sixth.

5. Fernando Llorente scores the opening goal against Stoke City, 30 April

The start of Swansea City’s survival surge, but also the perfect illustration of why they would stay up and Hull City wouldn’t: that greater cutting edge, and a striker like Llorente.

The Spanish international struck after 10 minutes to set up an eventual 2-0 win that was Swansea’s first win in seven, having claimed just one point in that time. This would be a total turnaround.


 Fernando Llorente kickstarted Swansea's surge to safety 
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That 2-0 victory was one of three wins out of the next four, with the draw coming at Manchester United, and Llorente scoring the key strikes in the 1-0 win over Everton and 2-0 away to Sunderland. With so many headers, he kept their head above water, and above their relegation rivals.