Watford and Bournemouth relegated: Premier League final day drama as Jack Grealish helps Aston Villa stay up

• PL Review: United third, Villa survive

What happened?

Aston Villa's draw with West Ham secured their place in the top flight for next season, with Watford and Bournemouth returning to the Sky Bet Championship.

The Hornets put up a fight as they lost 3-2 to Arsenal while Bournemouth went out on a high with a 3-1 victory at Everton.

They join Norwich in finishing in the bottom three. Daniel Farke's side, already relegated, lost 5-0 at Man City.

Get reaction, analysis, clips, a timeline of events and more below...

• Arsenal 3-2 Watford
• West Ham 1-1 Aston Villa
• Everton 1-3 Bournemouth

Final Premier League table

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Aston Villa: How they secured survival

To say Aston Villa spent £144.5m on summer recruits, they did not make it easy for themselves. And, for all those big-money purchases, it was an academy starlet that scored a big goal for them on Sunday.

Dean Smith’s side secured survival on the final day as their 1-1 draw at West Ham proved enough to finish above Bournemouth and Watford.

The Villans had lost on their last nine Premier League trips to London and had not kept a clean sheet away from home all season, so it was never going to be easy. But the midweek win over Arsenal gave them the perfect chance to retain their top-flight status.

That clean sheet home win over the Gunners showed how they used the lockdown period to their advantage, as Jack Grealish revealed how they had been doing extra work on Zoom to improve their defensive record and ability from set pieces.

For all their work with the back line, they could not help the goal conceded against the Hammers, though. That goal came seconds after Grealish had buried a brilliant strike in the 84th minute, which everyone thought was the big moment.

It looked like the perfect script, their homegrown hero scoring the vital goal. But, before the news had barely even had time to travel to Goodison and the Emirates, Andriy Yarmolenko’s long-range effort deflected off Grealish and looped over Pepe Reina into the Aston Villa net.

Those final moments got nervier, but they saw it out in the corner until Michael Oliver was ready to bring an end to proceedings.

The bad luck with the deflection was contrasting to a key moment since lockdown which proved pivotal in survival.

When Villa returned from the enforced break, Hawkeye failed to award Sheffield United a goal when shot-stopper Orjan Nyland fumbled the ball over the goal line. Controversial at the time and now even more important as, without the point from that game, Villa would have been down and Bournemouth would have survived.

Football is a big game of ifs and buts, though, and events in the games since could well have turned out differently had that goal counted. Furthermore, teams tend to have a fair share of bad and good luck with decisions over the course of the campaign, so they generally tend to even out.

Villa made the most of an unfortunate situation over lockdown and it showed as they came back and collected eight points from their final four games. So, survival? Much deserved in the end. The table does not lie.

Now they must decide whether Grealish gets the big-money transfer he too deserves after his efforts for the club.

Reaction: Watch Dean Smith on survival and Jack Grealish's future

Bournemouth: What went wrong?

After impressing in their first couple of seasons as a Premier League club, 'little old Bournemouth' were slowly sliding down the table and started developing into escape artists.

A great period for the club, but for all that is said about their size, they cannot claim to have been outspent by their rivals.

The club have spent in excess of £240million since promotion in 2015. A lot of them have not been good enough.

Of the 31 senior players brought in on permanent transfers during that time, only Joshua King, Nathan Ake, David Brooks and, perhaps, Jefferson Lerma have been overwhelming successes.

Attacking trio Jordon Ibe, Dominic Solanke and Arnaut Danjuma cost a combined total of around £50million and have made little impact, contributing a total of just six Premier League goals.

Eddie Howe has often been praised for his work at the Vitality, but the full-time whistle at Everton, the club he supported as a child and was linked with late last year, saw the 42-year-old devastated after failing to secure survival again.

Howe, 'emotional' in processing the news, sounded beaten in his post-match interview and he gave the impression that he will consider his future in the coming weeks. If that was his last game, he at least goes out with a good performance as his side were well up for it on Merseyside. They did their part, just results did not go their way.

They were 3-1 winners at Everton, but still remained a point behind Villa. They will rue THAT VAR decision at Villa Park last month, but it is a 38-game season and, ultimately, they were just not good enough.

Injuries were a problem at the start, with star winger David Brooks missing much of the campaign while every week brought new injury worries which disrupted Howe’s side – which on their day is full of Premier League talent.

The turn of the year brought no hope for the club, though, as they collected just 14 points from 18 games. Only Norwich (8) had a worse record in 2020.

They also conceded 65 goals across the campaign which was not good enough – becoming the first side in Premier League history to concede 60+ goals in five consecutive seasons (15/16-19/20).

They spent a lot to get there, and a lot to stay there, but their fairy tale rise was great to see. Whether Howe stays is still to be decided, but a big clear out with their squad is more than likely. An expensively-assembled squad on expensive wages, it is not going to be easy to come back, especially with the financial impact of both the coronavirus pandemic and losing out on the Premier League revenue.

Reaction: Emotional Eddie Howe on failure to secure top-flight status

Watford: An eventful campaign ends in disaster

There are all sorts of pivotal moments for Watford in a long, eventful 2019/20 campaign. But the fact they sacked three managers shows how the Pozzos are to blame for how it has ended.

Those who have defended the Hornets’ owners actions over the years always had the excuse: ‘Yes, but it works’ – well, their record has finally caught up with them.

Stability has rarely been a thing at Vicarage Road in the last decade. Managers must now be thinking twice when a vacancy arises there.

It seems like an awfully long time ago since Javi Gracia was in charge. The Spaniard was sacked in September – finding out during a chance meeting with then-Arsenal boss Unai Emery in Spain - just months after guiding them to 11th in the league and the FA Cup final in 18/19.

He was replaced by Quique Sanchez Flores, a brave man to return for his second stint at the club. He lasted just 10 games before it was decided another change had to be made. P45s must be pre-prepared at the club's offices.

Former Leicester boss Nigel Pearson was brought in on a deal until the end of the season.

Watford were bottom of the league with just one win in 15 matches when he arrived, but they went on to win seven games – including becoming the first side to beat champions-elect Liverpool – and they were on course for survival.

Sitting fourth bottom and three points clear with two games to play (a tough double header run-in) a row with the owners after defeat at West Ham was reportedly what led to them pulling the trigger again.

Hayden Mullins and Graham Stack were brought in on a caretaker basis. Two games they lasted without getting the sack!

Getting a result against Man City and Arsenal was always going to be a tough task without upheaval in the squad, never mind with in.

They put up a fight on the final day, battling from 3-0 down to go to 3-2 and close to an equaliser, but for Emiliano Martinez's excellent save, but the Pozzos’ regime caught up with them and the trap door opened.

After five seasons in the top flight, the Hornets are returning to the Sky Bet Championship and it will be some job for the brave person tasked with securing an immediate return.

Reaction: Troy Deeney on Watford's relegation and his future

Timeline of events: How it happened

How the action unfolded, with Norwich (already relegated), Bournemouth and Watford starting the day in the bottom three...

• 4': Arsenal 1-0 Watford: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scores a penalty for the Gunners
• 12': Everton 0-1 Bournemouth: Josh King scores from the spot to give the Cherries hope - but they need Villa to drop points at West Ham
• 24': Arsenal 2-0 Watford: Kieran Tierney scores his first goal for the Gunners to put a dent in the Hornets' slim survival hopes
• 24': West Ham 0-0 Aston Villa: A cagey start at the London Stadium, Dean Smith's side well set up at the back and hard to break down, but offering little going forward
• 33': Arsenal 3-0 Watford: Aubameyang gets his second of the game as the Hornets look set for the drop
• 43': Arsenal 3-1 Watford: A glimmer of hope as Troy Deeney pulls one back from the penalty spot
• 41': Everton 1-1 Bournemouth: Moise Kean has scored just one goal for the Toffees all season since his big-money move - and what a time to get his second! A Blow for the Cherries
• 45+1': Everton 1-2 Bournemouth: Excellent resilience from the visitors as they regain the lead via a set piece. Confusion over who got the final touch but it goes down as former Liverpool man Dominic Solanke
• 48': West Ham 0-0 Aston Villa: Smith must have told his side of events elsewhere as they start the second half well, bursting out the blocks and looking much more positive in the final third, chances for John McGinn and Mbwana Samatta, the latter heading a good chance over as heavy rain starts in east London
• 67': Arsenal 3-2 Watford: Surely not?! Danny Welbeck pulls another back, meeting Ismaila Sarr's cross to tap home. As results stand, the Hornets need two more to get the win and leapfrog both Bournemouth and Villa
• 75': Arsenal 3-2 Watford: With the visitors in the ascendency, Gunners goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez pulls off a stunning save to deny Welbeck another - and a crucial third for the Hornets. A huge moment
• 81': Everton 1-3 Bournemouth: An excellent take by Junior Stanislas after a one-two with Josh King, the former finishes from an acute angle. It should be comfortable for Jordan Pickford but yet another error sees the Cherries on track to do their part.
• 84': West Ham 0-1 Aston Villa: Who else but Jack Grealish?! An excellent moment for the Villans as the homegrown midfielder shows good feet before firing into the back of the net. Lukasz Fabianski could well have done better - he will not be on Bournemouth or Watford fans' Christmas lists
• 86': West Ham 1-1 Aston Villa: How's your luck?! Andriy Yarmolenko shoots from the edge of the box and it deflects off Grealish, looping over Pepe Reina. The drama.
• FT: The whistle goes at the London Stadium and Aston Villa players gather in a huddle to wait for confirmation of their Premier League status, with Arsenal v Watford deep into added time. The final whistle goes and the Villans celebrate a close shave!

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