Aston Villa moved level on points with Premier League leaders Liverpool as Douglas Luiz’s late penalty secured a 3-2 home win over 10-man Burnley.
Villa led at the break thanks to a Moussa Diaby finish after Leon Bailey’s 28th-minute opener for the hosts had been cancelled out three minutes later by Zeki Amdouni.
Burnley suffered a further setback with Sander Berge sent off early in the second half, but it looked as if it could prove a frustrating afternoon for Villa after Lyle Foster drew things level again in the 71st minute.
Luiz then had the final say, converting from the spot with a minute of normal time remaining, as Unai Emery’s side moved up a place to second in the table, joining Liverpool on 42 points ahead of the Reds hosting Newcastle on New Year’s Day.
The 26th league win of their superb 2023 under Emery saw the midlands outfit bounce back from the 3-2 Boxing Day loss at Manchester United, with normal service resumed at Villa Park after the 1-1 draw with Sheffield United on December 22 had ended a club-record run of 15 consecutive home league wins.
Vincent Kompany’s Burnley, meanwhile, remain second-bottom, five points adrift of safety.
Villa had a couple of opportunities in the opening quarter-hour, with Diaby sending a volley wide and another from Ollie Watkins saved by James Trafford.
Burnley were then forced into an early change as Jordan Beyer was replaced by Hannes Delcroix, before starting to show some threat as Josh Brownhill struck wide and quickly brought a save out of Emiliano Martinez.
Within moments Villa were ahead, Watkins cutting into the box from the left and laying the ball to Bailey who took a touch and fired past Trafford via a deflection.
The lead proved short-lived, with Burnley hitting back almost immediately through Amdouni’s hooked effort after Dara O’Shea had headed a free-kick across goal.
The visitors then had the ball in the net again in the 37th minute, but Foster’s finish was ruled out for offside.
Villa regained the advantage five minutes later with Watkins again the creator, the England striker fashioning the cut-back from which Diaby turned the ball home.
Following Foster and Amdouni efforts saved by Martinez either side of the interval, Burnley were reduced to 10 men in the 56th minute when Berge collected a second yellow card having tugged at the shirt of Luiz.
Diaby curled over soon after before Foster prodded wide following a possible handball by Diego Carlos just outside the box that brought no action from referee Stuart Attwell.
Villa cranked up the pressure as Trafford denied John McGinn and Diaby before Luiz, Jacob Ramsey and Diaby, twice, shot off target.
The hosts were then left ruing that as Foster held off Alex Moreno and fired in for his first goal since returning to action after an eight-match absence in which he had been receiving care for his mental health.
It appeared as if Villa’s wastefulness might cost them, but as stoppage time drew near a challenge by former Villa man Aaron Ramsey on fellow substitute Jhon Duran prompted Attwell to point to the spot and Luiz converted the penalty with a shot that bounced down off the bar to ensure a fine calendar year ended on a high for Emery’s team.
Chelsea edge out Man City to claim fifth straight WSL title with thumping win at Old Trafford
Mayra Ramirez turned in a stellar performance to propel Chelsea to the WSL title in Emma Hayes' final match in charge as the Blues thrashed Manchester United 6-0.
Earlier in May, Hayes – who is ending a 12-year stint in charge of the Blues to become the United States coach – had all but given up on claiming a fifth straight WSL crown.
Yet Chelsea's 8-0 victory over Bristol City two weeks ago, combined with Manchester City's defeat to Arsenal, opened the door, and after beating Tottenham in midweek, the Blues knew a win, while maintaining their positive goal difference, would be enough.
And they made sure there was no room for error with an incredible first-half display inspired by Ramirez, who scored twice and set up goals for Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Sjoeke Nusken at Old Trafford.
Melanie Leupolz got in on the act early in the second half as Chelsea's celebrations began in earnest, with Fran Kirby netting late on to complete the rout on her farewell appearance.
Ultimately, City – likely deflated by the news coming from Old Trafford – held up their end of the bargain, but shorn of top goalscorer Khadija Shaw, Gareth Taylor's team could only beat Aston Villa 2-1.
City were constantly chasing their title rivals, with Ramirez and Rytting Kaneryd putting Chelsea 2-0 up at United inside eight minutes.
Mary Fowler nudged City ahead at Villa Park, though when Taylor's team went in at the interval, they will have seen additional goals from record signing Ramirez and Nusken had all but sewn up the title for Chelsea already.
Leupolz has scored her first WSL goal in over two years to add further gloss for Chelsea when they came back out from the restart in Manchester, and City were then hit by a further blow when Rachel Daly equalised for Villa.
Lauren Hemp, who had assisted Fowler's opener, restored City's lead, though it was never going to be enough, with Kirby's farewell goal ensuring Chelsea finished with a goal difference of 53 compared to their rivals' 46.
Chelsea are now unbeaten across their last nine WSL games that have come on the final day of the season, while the Blues are now nine WSL matches without loss against United, having won eight of those fixtures.
Hoffenheim 4-2 Bayern Munich: Tuchel bows out on defeat thanks to Kramaric hat-trick
Bayern Munich squandered a two-goal lead to slump to a 4-2 loss at Hoffenheim courtesy of a second-half Andrej Kramaric hat-trick in Thomas Tuchel's final game.
Early goals from Mathys Tel and Alphonso Davies saw the injury-depleted Bavarians go 2-0 up by the sixth minute.
Hoffenheim, however, pulled a goal back through Germany international Maximilian Beier just two minutes later, with the hosts gradually taking some of the early pace out of the game.
Bayern's injury troubles were further compounded when they lost Aleksandar Pavlovic to injury in the 35th minute, and struggled to cope with Hoffenheim's threat in the second half.
Kramaric then delivered a stunning 19-minute hat-trick with the Bayern defence in ruins, ending a disappointing season in third place with 72 points.
Bayer Leverkusen finished in top spot on 90 points. VfB Stuttgart finished runners-up on 73 with a 4-0 demolition of Borussia Moenchengladbach, while Hoffenheim finished seventh, in the Europa Conference League place.
Data Debrief:
Thomas Muller made his 473rd Bundesliga appearance for Bayern on Saturday, drawing level with Sepp Maier as the club's record appearance maker in the competition.
Bayern failed to have a single shot on target in the second half, while Kramaric ran riot to subject Bayern to their worst league finish since 2011.
Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Augsburg: Bundesliga champions make history with unbeaten season
Bayer Leverkusen became the first team in Bundesliga history to complete a full season unbeaten after beating Augsburg 2-1 on the final day.
Xabi Alonso's treble-chasing team also stretched their European record unbeaten run across all competitions this season to 51 matches.
Victor Boniface intercepted a ball from Augsburg keeper Tomas Koubek to tap in for the lead in the 12th minute before Robert Andrich, part of Germany's Euro 2024 preliminary squad, doubled the advantage from close range.
Augsburg cut the deficit when Mert Komur scored just after the hour.
Leverkusen captain Lukas Hradecky made a smart stop to maintain Leverkusen's clean sheet, as the Bundesliga champions held on to make history.
Alonso's team, who face Atalanta in the Europa League final on Wednesday and also take on Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal final on May 25, finished on 90 points, 17 ahead of second-placed Stuttgart and 18 ahead of Bayern Munich, who lost 4-2 at Hoffenheim.
Data Debrief: Leverkusen's remarkable run rolls on
What an incredible season it has been for Leverkusen, and Alonso's men are now just two wins away from unprecedented success.
Leverkusen have become only the second team in Bundesliga history to not lose a single point from winning positions in a season, matching a feat Bayern managed in 2011-12.
They have won 45 points (W13 D3) in their 17 home games in the Bundesliga this season and have remained unbeaten at home for only the second time, after 1999-2000.
Leverkusen are the second club in league history to reach the 90-point mark, following Bayern (90 points in 2013-14 and 91 points in 2012-13).
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