Goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Erling Haaland helped Manchester City beat Fulham for the win required to finish in third place on the final day of the Premier League season.
As it was, there was no pressure or meaning in City’s game at all, with Newcastle United and Aston Villa both losing to Everton and Manchester United respectively.
But Gundogan’s close range overhead kick and Haaland’s penalty - as well as a few good saves from Ederson - helped the Blues secure third place in what has been a difficult but fun season.
Kevin de Bruyne also said his final goodbyes as he came off the bench to play the final few minutes of his illustrious City career, with the Belgian midfielder set to finalise a move to Napoli in the next few days.
Here are three things we learned from the win at Craven Cottage:
Ederson will be a big miss (if he leaves)
Fulham FC v Manchester City FC - Premier League Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images
City’s goalkeeper kept them in the game and ultimately was the difference between victory and defeat.
The Blues dominated the ball well and certainly created enough chances to win the game, but the defence was also somewhat leaky, and Ederson and the centre backs had a lot of last ditch defending to do.
Ederson’s save from Harry Wilson’s low shot springs to mind; he got down to his right very quickly to tip the shot wide whilst City were just a goal ahead.
There’s no ball playing goalkeeper better than Ederson in the world, and that’s undebatable. The only real debate about the Brazilian’s quality has been whether the rest of his goalkeeping is truly world class, like perhaps an Alisson, Thibaut Courtrois or Jan Oblak, but his shot stopping against Fulham was sublime.
City are already seeing one club legend in Kevin de Bruyne leaving, so they can’t afford too many key figures to depart in one window.
But I think Ederson is likely to leave this summer with Saudi Arabian clubs sniffing around him again, he’ll definitely be a big, big miss.
Grealish has played his last minutes for Manchester City
Manchester City FC v AFC Bournemouth - Premier League Photo by Robin Jones - AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images
Jack Grealish will almost certainly never play for the club again, having been left out of the squad this weekend despite being fully fit.
The squad right now is in need of trimming, so yes, some players need to miss out. But Oscar Bobb, Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov’s time is yet to come, whereas Grealish has already had his.
Right now, Savinho, Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku, James McAtee and Omar Marmoush are ahead of him in the pecking order for the wide positions.
Morgan Gibbs-White and Tijjani Reijnders are strongly linked to joining in central midfield (a position where Grealish could be used) this summer, whilst it’s also not out of the question that City make a move for Real Madrid forward Rodrygo.
With all this combined, and with City’s number ten having just one year remaining on his contract, it appears very likely that after 17 goals and 23 assists in 157 appearances, we will see Grealish playing for a different club next season.
Less movement in this window than anticipated
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There have been signs at the end of the season that City’s squad doesn’t quite need as much development as initially thought.
Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva, who each endured difficult starts to the season, battled on through and have been mostly excellent in the second half of the campaign.
Matheus Nunes has proved himself to be a serviceable right back, Omar Marmoush in particular of the new signings have proven to make a difference and the likes of Erling Haaland and Josko Gvardiol overcame sticky spells to rediscover some of their best form.
I think four players will be needed, or five, if one of the goalkeepers leave, two midfielders and two full backs. I’d also like Rodrygo, but it’d require Savinho or Doku leaving, which I find very unlikely.
Many anticipating a 2017-esque summer window, where plenty of old players were replaced by fresh blood, will be disappointed I think, as I think most incomings depend on outgoings.
And in my opinion, the vast majority of players are still good enough to be a part of the squad and will therefore stay put this summer.