Reconstructing The Most Exciting Day In The History Of Soccer (And Maybe Sports, Period)

The final day of the 2011 MLB regular season enchanted us with its insanity; its events became a video game montage and inspired its own tag here on Deadspin. That day, however, only determined which teams would gain entry to the playoffs. By comparison, Sunday's final day of the English Premier League was Game #162 combined with a World Series Game 7 won on a walk-off homer in extra innings.

Here's what was at stake before Sunday's matches kicked off:

Manchester City and Manchester United began the day tied for the lead with 86 points. Man City held the tiebreaker, meaning they needed only to match whatever result Man United achieved.

City's opponent was QPR, which needed either a draw or a win to secure another season in England's top league. QPR entered the day with 37 points, while Bolton (with 35) needed to beat Stoke City and hope QPR lost to avoid relegation.

The final battles involved qualification for the lucrative UEFA Champions League. Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, and Newcastle United came into the final day each separated by a point in competing for the one guaranteed spot in the UCL.

We've done our best in the above video to document events as they happened, and to illustrate the alternating elation and desperation experienced by supporters of teams affected by those events in real time. (Clicking the "HD" button is highly recommended.) The audio/visual content is from ESPN2 & Fox Sports; the music samples portions of " Your Hands (Together)" by The New Pornographers. Ticker graphics are by Jim Cooke.