Arsenal’s run of 19 straight Champions League appearances came to an end on a Premier League Super Sunday that was loaded with goals but very little drama. Early goals from both Manchester City and Arsenal put a little pressure on Liverpool, but Georginio Wijnaldum, Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana scored three goals in a ten-minute span bridging halftime to put the Reds into the 2017-18 Champions League playoff round at the expense of the Gunners. 

Today, May 18, 2017 — a date which will live in history — the Football Association voted, in unison, to introduce retrospective two-match bans for players found guilty of diving or feigning injury, an offense which heretofore was a shameful stain upon our beloved game.

Mathematically eliminated from a top-four finish in the Premier League, Manchester United now know that they need to win the Europa League in order to qualify for next year's Champions League.

Manchester City’s 3-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday all but secured their place in next season’s Champions League, ensuring that Pep Guardiola will be able to attract the talent he craves while performing a massive player clear out at the club.

The likes of Eliaquim Mangala, Wilfried Bony, Samir Nasri and Joe Hart will certainly be sold in the summer, and the futures of Fernando, Jesus Navas, Fabian Delph, Nolito, Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy, Yaya Toure and perhaps even Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany may lie elsewhere.

If any other goalkeeper was in between the Sunderland posts, Arsenal would have walked away from this match with a 6-0 victory. Super-human Jordan Pickford carried the guts of three men, hurling himself at any shot and chance the Gunners created. The 23-year-old had 11 outstanding saves to keep Sunderland's fighting spirit alive.

Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford can only do so much for this team. After making save after save, Arsenal were bound to score their second goal. Olivier Giroud's high-flying karate kick was stopped by Pickford, only to be gobbled up by goal hungry Alexis Sanchez. 

Alexis Sanchez scores his and Arsenal's second goal of the night. #afc pic.twitter.com/ql1Wk6Exj5

The two players who could depart from Arsene Wenger's side this summer linked up to score a perfectly orchestrated goal against Sunderland today, keeping their top four hopes alive.

Alexis Sanchez 22nd PL goal of the season, 27th all competitions.
Honurable mentions to Xhaka & Ozil assistingpic.twitter.com/cDw24YydEs

— Poor First Touch (@InvertdWhinger) May 16, 2017

Each narrative in the English Premier League has a nauseatingly long lifespan until it utterly annihilates itself — it’s annually cyclical, like the depiction of a serpent eating its own tail. We belabor the same statistics, the same trends and the same memes until we’ve had our fill, proceeding to damn them out of existence like a child pop star whose career of cultural martyrdom has run its course.

With two games to spare, Chelsea have clinched the Premier League title, their second in the past three years. After finishing a meager 10th last year under Jose Mourinho, manager Antonio Conte injected new life into the club, and there was never much doubt that they would lift the trophy once the calendar turned.