The 2012-13 English Premier League title was won by Manchester United in real style, the Red Devils ending the season 11 points clear of Manchester City, though their success proved even more emphatic than that margin of victory suggests.
Bringing in Robin van Persie from Arsenal proved to be Sir Alex Ferguson’s final masterstroke in his last season at Old Trafford, with the Dutchman pairing with Wayne Rooney to decimate the competition and ensure that Ferguson departed with his 13th league title in 21 seasons – a truly enviable record.
CHANGES
It is not often that a season can be defined by one transfer, but it is clear that Van Persie, with a year remaining on his Arsenal contract, wanted a Premier League title on his CV, and felt a move to Manchester United was the only he would achieve it. United, in essence, paid £24m for the league; his 26 goals included a number of match-winning strikes and made United an unstoppable force that only eased off once the league was all but over.
Elsewhere Chelsea spent big, bringing in Eden Hazard and Oscar for a combined £57m, while Arsenal purchased Spanish playmaker Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud, fresh from a Ligue 1-winning season with Montpellier, joined for £15m.
City had an uncharacteristically low-key summer by their standards; well over £50m was spent but the acquisitions of Jack Rodwell, Scott Sinclair and Javi Garcia didn’t set the league alight.
The most notable managerial arrivals came in the form of Jose Mourinho acolyte Andre Villas-Boas, who joined Tottenham, while Brendan Rodgers was appointed at Liverpool, replacing legend Kenny Dalglish.
The promoted clubs were Reading, Southampton, making their return after consecutive promotions from League 1 and the Championship, and West Ham, who defeated Blackpool in the play-off final.
SEASON SUMMARY
Ferguson, upon his United side losing the title on goal difference the season before, vowed that it would never happen again and aside from a few early…
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Author : editors@footballcritic.com (Martin Macdonald)
Publish date : 2024-08-01 11:00:00
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