Premier League moment of the season decided as Arsenal end agonising wait for title

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And that was all she wrote.

All 20 teams bought the curtain down on another memorable Premier League campaign on Sunday. And there are plenty of talking points to keep us going until the World Cup kicks off in a couple of weeks time, including some of the scenes we saw on the weekend.

There was jubilation at Selhurst Park as Arsenal toasted a first title in 22 years. At the same time across London, there were West Ham tears as the Hammers begrudgingly took ownership of the final relegation spot, losing a two-team survival shootout with rivals, Tottenham .

A rollercoaster campaign has seen all 20 teams endure plenty of highs and lows, albeit some may not look back as fondly on it as others. We tasked the Mirror Football team to pick out their 'moment of the season' to celebrate the season finale.

The moment of the Premier League season was, without a shadow of a doubt, Declan Rice and his “it’s not done” message after Arsenal lost at Manchester City.

Everyone else thought it was done after City had beaten Arsenal on April 19. City overhauled Arsenal at the top of the table three days later when they won at Burnley .

Arsenal were falling apart. But the way that Arsenal responded, lived up to Rice’s message was the defining moment of the season.

Arsenal won the title not just once. They won it twice. They won it before April. Then they won it again in the “mini league.” Arsenal won all of their last five games. That is some mentality.

Let’s not forget the pressure on Mikel Arteta . If they had finished empty-handed, I personally don’t think he could have carried on.

Now he has the title - and a chance to win an unprecedented Double and achieve what no other Arsenal manager has done by winning the Champions League .

All thanks to that day at City when Arsenal refused to give in. They’ve won as many points as Liverpool last season. Been better than everyone else. They’ve won it by seven points. They weren’t done. Elite mentality. Real champions.

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That a lot of the Premier League season's most memorable moments arrived on the final day and involved characters who are actually leaving the competition tells you most of what is needed knowing about an unremarkable season.

But as poignant as Mohamed Salah ’s Anfield farewell was, the Egyptian gave us a more memorable moment with his post-match tirade at Elland Road in early December.

After sitting on the bench for the entirety of a 3-3 draw, Salah delivered an incendiary interview, saying he had been thrown under the bus and that ‘someone wants me to get all the blame’.

Big-name players laying into their current manager does not happen very often. A lot of ex-professionals and pundits said Salah was out of order but what’s wrong with a box-office star speaking his mind? It was fascinating stuff.

On the pitch, the moment that stood out for me was Max Dowman sealing Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Everton at the Emirates in March and becoming the Premier League’s youngest goalscorer.

I have not seen a 16-year-old as accomplished as Dowman. Don’t tell me Arsenal are boring.

What is my Premier League moment of the season?

In all honesty, I didn't really think I had one. Not because there haven't been great goals, interesting incidents, huge talking points and stories. But just because the speed at which the season has whizzed by has been so fast, and the never-ending coverage attached to it across every landscape imaginable, means you just kind of get swept along with it.

But, as I racked my brain, the moment finally came to light: Liverpool vs Manchester City , Haaland and Szoboszlai. That little battle, as Rayan Cherki's strike from inside his own half trundled towards the vacated goal. Szoboszlai fouling Haaland. The referee playing advantage and then just as the ball looks like it might be cleared by the Liverpool man, Haaland fouls him, allowing Cherki's effort to find the net.

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Cue celebrations from the away side, as initially the goal was given by referee Craig Pawson. But VAR John Brooks spotted Haaland's foul and recommended it should be ruled out. Szoboszlai was then sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity and the match restarted with a Man City free kick. All of which was absolutely correct by the way - VAR doing its job properly for a moment of sheer hilarity, rather than poring over the mountains of nothingness to find something, anything, wrong, as it tends to do.

On co-comms for Sky Sports , Gary Neville whined: "That feels so unjust, I know there are rules, but there is the smell of the game, it's completely gone. There is no person who would disallow that goal.

"You have just killed one of the moments of the season."

Instead, I'd argue that an utterly bizarre episode was enhanced. When VAR gets involved, it's not often you can say that.

There's only one real answer to this...the moment that flipped the title race on its head. "After review, West Ham number 19 commits a foul on the goalkeeper. Final decision is direct free-kick." It's perhaps a sad indictment that a five-minute delay and officials micro-analysing an indictment is the most defining, but that feels like exactly what Premier League bosses want. Was it a foul? Probably. Do I like VAR? Absolutely not.

Arsenal deserved the title over the course of the season, but such a pivotal decision - at both ends of the table, being decided by officials in Stockley Park, still leaves a sour taste.

And away from the actual football, an honourable mention to Jason Cundy and Jamie O'Hara of talkSPORT, who became must-listens in the closing weeks. I've seen signs, encouraging signs.

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In the end, it mattered little as Man City stumbled at Bournemouth and ended with a defeat by Aston Villa . But at the time it felt seismic.

The drama-filled end to Arsenal's 1-0 win over West Ham on May 10 was the moment of the season. David Raya's save one-on-one from Mateus Fernandes kept them in it. Leandro Trossard's goal put them ahead. And then VAR saved them from Callum Wilson's late equaliser.

It was chaos. It was farcical. And it was a perfect summation of where the Premier League has got to, with social media alight with righteous indignation and pundits queuing up to offer their hot takes.

Annoyingly I'll be hopping onto the Arsenal v West Ham VAR call bandwagon. Purely because, as others have said, it provided a few minutes which were just absolutely box-office.

For the record, I would do away with VAR tomorrow if it was an option. And quite how long it took the officials to reach the (correct) decision is still beggars belief. It feels like football will be totally decided by men in little rooms at the other end of the country and courtrooms with the way the game is going. The fact this VAR call had such seismic repercussions is not necessarily a good thing but it felt absolutely massive. Proper edge of the seat stuff. And that's why it's hard to look past it when picking out one moment from the season - even if VAR can absolutely get in the bin (no review needed).