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The best Premier League moments of the season
Updated: 25 May 2026 04:23 CDT |
12 min read
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The Premier League has always been about moments.
Yes, fans remember who won the league in a specific year, the best players each year and who suffered relegation. But what fills up the end-of-season montages are the moments that made the campaign special.
Think of Martin Tyler's "AGUEROOOOOOOO" commentary as Manchester City won the league in the dying seconds in 2012, or Dennis Bergkamp's outrageous twist and finish against Newcastle, or how about Sunderland beating Liverpool after the ball bounced past goalkeeper Pepe Reina after cannoning off a beach ball?
There's been incredible moments off the pitch, too, such as Kevin Keegan's "I WILL LOVE IT IF WE BEAT THEM" rant and fans coming together to collectively rally against the creation of a European Super League.
Here are 10 of the best moments from the Premier League in 2025/26.
Dowman becomes the youngest scorer ever
Max Dowman made history in March when he became the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history at just 16 years and 73 days old.
And his impact off the bench was certainly required for Arsenal as they were struggling to break the deadlock within the dying minutes against Everton, amid a tight title race with Manchester City.
In the 89th minute, Dowman sent a wicked cross to the back post that was smothered back into the danger area by Piero Hincapie, with Viktor Gyokeres positioned to pass into the empty net.
The 16-year-old would have the defining moment of his career so far in the 97th minute, however.
After Arsenal successfully defended an Everton corner, with Jordan Pickford inside the opposition box, Dowman collected possession and showed incredible composure to glide past a few Toffees players before charging downfield to pass into the empty net.
It was a moment that will be remembered if he turns into the superstar that Arsenal hope he will be.
James Milner breaks the appearance record
One of the most prestigious records in Premier League history was surpassed in February.
Former Manchester City and Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry previously held the outright record for the most Premier League appearances with 653, but that record is now held by James Milner on 657.
He earned his 654th appearance to break the record in Brighton's 2-0 victory versus Brentford. Although the former Manchester City, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle and Aston Villa midfielder still has some way to go to reach the actual amount of minutes Barry accumulated in his career, it is a testament to Milner's longevity that he is still contributing positively at 40 years old.
After beating Barry's record, he told reporters:
"It's the drive and hunger, you want to be the best every day, whether it's game or training.
"I'm surrounded by a lot of young lads. I want to contribute to their careers, push them and help them get to the highest level as quick as possible. That's what I'm here to do."
Rio Ngumoha - The Premier League's new wonderkid
Another story of young players making an impact here as Rio Ngumoha became Liverpool's youngest ever goalscorer when he found the back of the net in one of the games of the season against Newcastle in August.
The atmosphere in this game was tense as Liverpool and Newcastle had been involved in a bitter transfer war involving Alexander Isak in the months previous.
Newcastle found themselves up against it but fought back to 2-2 after being 2-0 down, as well as down to 10 men after Anthony Gordon was dismissed for a late tackle on Virgil van Dijk.
The Magpies thought they had bruised Liverpool by claiming a point, but 16-year-old Ngumoha came off the bench for the visitors to score a finish that defied his age, whipping a superb strike into the right corner from inside the box.
Harrison Reed's last-minute equaliser v Liverpool
In the grand scheme of things, Harrison Reed's outrageous strike against Liverpool didn't mean much in terms of Fulham's season trajectory, but it makes this list for simply being a bloody sensational goal and one that made everyone, in the stadium or at home, stand up and applaud.
The Reds, still striving to reach the top four, thought they had claimed all three points at Craven Cottage.
Step up, Harrison who collects the ball 25 yards out to fire an exocet of a strike into the top right corner to send the home fans into hysterics. What. A. Goal.
Liverpool 1-2 Man City: The last 15 minutes (+)
Probably the most dramatic 15 minutes of football this season, with Man City looking to keep pace with Arsenal in the title race.
74 mins: Dominik Szoboszlai fires in a stunning free kick home from 30 yards, leaving Gianluigi Donnarumma rooted to the spot as the ball cannoned in off the post.
94 mins: Man City find their equaliser as Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva combine, with the former nodding down to the latter in behind the Liverpool defence to slide a strike over the line.
91 mins: Alisson rushes out from goal and needlessly takes out Matheus Nunes inside the box. Haaland fires home the penalty, making it 2-1 to City to keep the title race alive.
99 mins: Alexis Mac Allister sends a dipping, deflected volley at goal that looks destined to find the back of the net, only for Donnaruma to somehow tip it over the bar.
100 mins: With Alisson up top as Liverpool look to find an equaliser, Rayan Cherki shoots on goal from the halfway line and as it agonisingly goes towards the line, Szoboszlai takes out Haaland, who then gets up and takes out Szoboszlai! The ball goes into the net, but the ref brings play back and sends the Hungarian off.
Harvey Barnes scores the latest Premier League winner ever
Due to the introduction of VAR stoppages, Premier League matches are running longer than ever, so it's no surprise to see that the latest match-winning goal occurred this season.
It came courtesy of Harvey Barnes, who scored in the 102nd minute of play in a 4-3 thriller versus Leeds at the start of January - the latest winner since Opta began recording such data in 2006-07.
Remarkably, Newcastle were a goal down as late as the 88th minute.
Bruno Guimaraes scored the resulting penalty to make it 3-3 before St' James' Park erupted at the winner in the 12th minute of added time, with Barnes squeezing a finish beyond the keeper inside a packed penalty area.
Man Utd 4-4 Bournemouth: Game of the season?
While Leeds versus Newcastle is a contender for being the most entertaining game of the season, that title probably belongs to Man Utd versus Bournemouth from December.
This was the first game that Ruben Amorim abandoned his three-back backline in a 3-4-3 and it paid dividends, in forward areas at least, as United finally looked their effervescent best going forward.
The likes of Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes and Bryan Mbeumo linked up superbly, but credit goes to Bournemouth for their attacking play also, as it was this kind of pressing, intensity and vibrant forward play that saw them eventually rocket up the table.
United were ahead three times in the game, but the Cherries just kept fighting back.
Cunha believed he had won it with a fine finish in the 79th minute, but Bournemouth made it 4-4 just five minutes later, plus who could forget that truly awesome free-kick from Bruno Fernandes to make it 3-2.
This is what the Premier League is all about, a ding-dong battle with players fighting for everything over 90 mins.
VAR drama in West Ham v Arsenal
The subject of pushing, pulling and grappling during corners has been in the Premier League headlines all season, particularly surrounding Arsenal games, as there have been various incidents of goals either given or disallowed by VAR in games involving the Gunners.
It happened in one of the closing games of the season as Arsenal were given a helping hand in the title race in their game against West Ham. Mikel Arteta's men were leading 1-0 heading into the dying minutes when a set-piece melee saw the ball drop to Callum Wilson, who fired the ball over the line despite the attempted heroic block of Declan Rice.
The London Stadium erupted in cheers, but the West Ham fans were brought back down to Earth when VAR deemed that David Raya had been impeded by forward Pablo, who had his arm across the chest of the Arsenal stopper.
The drama had an impact at both ends of the table as, while it handed the Gunners crucial points in the title race, it left West Ham against the tide in the relegation battle.
Haaland breaks record for quickest to 100 PL goals
Haaland is the best striker of this generation in the Premier League, as proven by the fact that he is the quickest forward in the history of the league to reach 100 goals.
At the beginning of December, the big Norwegian scored his 100th league goal for Man City in a game against Fulham, which came in his 111th appearance for the club in the top flight.
In scoring, he broke the record of Alan Shearer, whose 100th goal came in 124 Premier League games, for Blackburn Rovers all the way back in December 1995.
To put this feat into context, it took Harry Kane 141 matches, Sergio Aguero 147 matches and Thierry Henry 160 matches.
Mohamed Salah's Liverpool rant
Last month, Mohamed Salah and Liverpool confirmed that the Egyptian would be leaving the club at the end of the season to move on to pastures new, following a severe drop in form this season and a public spat with current manager Arne Slot.
The forward will go down as one of the greatest players in the club's history as his goals fired them to two Premier League titles as well as a Champions League triumph. He is currently fourth on the all-time Premier League goalscorers list, and in 2024/25, he broke the record for the most combined goals and assists in a 38-game campaign.
Still, he's leaving Liverpool on a sour note.
Following the 4-2 defeat against Aston Villa on Friday, Salah took to social media to express dismay at how Liverpool have performed this season. He references the "heavy metal football" that was so successful under Jurgen Klopp, which many have taken to be a direct dig at Slot, with whom he does not hold a positive relationship.
In December, Salah was benched for the third straight game as Liverpool surrendered a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 against Leeds. Afterwards, he delivered a pipe bomb interview that sent shock waves through the Premier League.
"It's not acceptable to me, to be honest," he added. "I don't know why it always happens to me. 'We throw Mo under the bus, because he's the problem.' I don't think I'm the problem.
"To me, it seems like someone doesn't want me at the club," he posited. "This club has always supported my children. I love the club so much. I always will.
"I called my mother yesterday, you [the press] didn't know I wasn't going to start today, but I knew it. I said, 'Come to the Brighton game [on 13 December], it doesn't matter if I play or not, I'm going to enjoy it.
"We'll see what happens, in my mind, I'm going to enjoy it anyway, because I don't know what's going to happen [in January]. The game will be at Anfield, so that will be my goodbye before I go to AFCON."
That was the beginning of the end for Salah's time in the Premier League.
