Final-day records: Man Utd penalties, Kevin De Bruyne assists, ever-present Virgil van Dijk
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 26/07/2020 at 19:56 GMT
From Manchester United’s penalty count to Kevin De Bruyne matching Thierry Henry and Virgil van Dijk playing every minute, there were several records broken or equalled on the final day of the Premier League season….
Virgil van Dijk, Bruno Fernandes and Kevin De Bruyne
Image credit: Eurosport
Spot-on for United
Manchester United set a record for the highest number of penalties awarded to a team in a Premier League season.
Their penalty in the final game of the season against Leicester – scored by Bruno Fernandes – was their 14th of the campaign. They scored 10 and missed four.
Fernandes has scored all four of his Premier League penalties since arriving at January, and they have proved important in earning United a top-four finish.
It seems likely that the midfielder will continue taking them too, considering since the start of the 2017/18 season he has not missed from 20 attempts in league and European competition.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2020/07/26/2855980-58865608-2560-1440.jpg)
Bruno Fernandes celebrates scoring against Leicester
Image credit: Getty Images
Brilliant De Bruyne
He didn’t win the Player of the Season award – that went to Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson – but there is no doubting how good De Bruyne has been for Manchester City this season.
He finished a dazzling individual campaign by scoring twice in a 5-0 win over Norwich and grabbing an assist to equal Henry’s Premier League assist record of 20 in a season, set in 2002-03 for Arsenal.
He also set the record for most chances created from open play in a single Premier League season with 104 to beat Eden Hazard’s tally of 98 from 2014-15.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2020/07/26/2855993-58865868-2560-1440.jpg)
Kevin De Bruyne celebrates with Raheem Sterling during Manchester City's win over Norwich
Image credit: Getty Images
Top scorers not at the top
Usually the leading scorers come from the clubs that finish at the top of the table, but not this season.
For the first time since the 1992-93 Premier League season, none of the top three scorers came from clubs that finished in the top four.
Jamie Vardy took the Golden Boot with 23 goals, finishing one ahead of Southampton’s Danny Ings and Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Their clubs finished fifth, 11th and eighth respectively.
Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling came fourth with 20 and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah was fifth with 19.
What does that show? We’re not sure really….
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2020/07/16/2851171-58769448-2560-1440.jpg)
Jamie Vardy finished as Premier League top scorer
Image credit: Getty Images
Van Dijk the ever-present
Virgil van Dijk has been a colossus for Liverpool since signing from Southampton in 2018. That much is well known.
But this season his importance was only underlined by the fact he played every minute of the campaign for the champions.
He is only the fifth outfield player to have played every minute of a title-winning season in Premier League history.
The other four players are Gary Pallister in 1992-93 for Manchester United, John Terry in 2014-15 for Chelsea, Wes Morgan in 2015-16 for Leicester and Cesar Azpilicueta in 2016-17 for Chelsea.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2020/07/26/2855933-58864668-2560-1440.jpg)
Virgil van Dijk celebrates scoring against Newcastle on the final day
Image credit: Getty Images
And also…
- Jack Grealish was fouled 167 times in the 2019-20 Premier League, the most fouls won by a player in a single campaign on record (since 1998-99).
- Norwich City lost all 27 games in which they fell behind in 2019-20, the only side not to record a single point from a losing position in Premier League history.
- Aston Villa became only the second side to win on all seven days of the week in a single top-flight campaign, after Tottenham in 1986-87.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement