LONDON, May 19: It was a dramatic day in the English Premier League with Chelsea climbing to third place in the standings after a 2-1 win over Leicester while Brighton created Premier League history, beating 10-man Manchester City 3-2 at home.
Manchester United drew 1-1 with already-relegated Fulham and in another match, Leeds secured top-half finish in the league after beating Southampton 2-0.
Leicester’s FA Cup celebrations were deflated by seeing its Champions League hopes jeopardized.
Chelsea dislodged Leicester from third place heading into the Premier League finale with a 2-1 victory on Tuesday to leave Champions League qualification in its own hands.
Timo Werner had two goals disallowed in the first half after VAR reviews, infuriating Stamford Bridge’s first crowd of 2021. But Antonio Rüdiger scored his first goal in 15 months by bundling home Ben Chilwell’s deflected corner with his thigh and Jorginho netted a penalty awarded after VAR determined Werner was brought down by Wesley Fofana.
Kelechi Iheanacho side-footed in for Leicester to set up a nervy finish, but Ayoze Perez missed a golden chance to equalize as Chelsea avenged Saturday’s loss to Leicester in the FA Cup final.
Beat Aston Villa on the road on Sunday and Chelsea will seal Champions League qualification for next season. There is always the backup route into the competition — by beating Manchester City in the May 29 final.
Manchester United’s protesting fans were back inside Old Trafford — legally this time — and were treated to a wonder goal by Edinson Cavani in a 1-1 draw against already-relegated Fulham in the Premier League on Tuesday.
Cavani ensured the spectators’ focus was on on-field matters when the Uruguay striker scored in the 15th minute off a brilliant chip from about 50 meters, after running onto a clearance by goalkeeper David De Gea — that was helped on by the slightest of flicks from Bruno Fernandes — and noticing Fulham ’keeper Alphonse Areola was off his line.
United wasn’t at its fluent best, a week before contesting the Europa League final against Villarreal, and Fulham equalized when left back Joe Bryan headed in a cross from Bobby Decordova-Reid in the 76th.
The result against the league’s third-to-last team guaranteed a second-place finish for United but underlined its need to reinforce the squad this summer and fans underlined their desire for change, with co-chairman Joel Glazer the target of much of the criticism before the game. A crowd of 10,000 home supporters were allowed to attend the game following an easing of lockdown restrictions by the British government, marking the first time in 14 months that United played in front of spectators at Old Trafford.
Manchester City paid heavily for the 10th-minute sending-off of Joao Cancelo as the newly crowned Premier League champions squandered a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 at Brighton on Tuesday. Potentially more worrying for City was the sight of key midfielder Ilkay Gundogan coming off with a leg injury in the 56th minute, 11 days before the team plays in the Champions League final against Chelsea.
Gundogan had already given City a second-minute lead at the Amex Stadium when Cancelo, the right back, was shown a straight red after losing control of the ball and bringing down Danny Welbeck. He will miss City’s last league game of the season, at home to Everton on Sunday, but it won’t affect his availability for the Champions League final.
The visitors coped fine with 10 men for the rest of the first half and Phil Foden doubled City’s lead in the 48th minute by finishing off a surging run down the left by poking a shot into the bottom corner.
Then came Brighton’s fightback in front of a crowd of 10,000 spectators. Leandro Trossard pulled a goal back within two minutes after dribbling into the penalty box, twice shaping to shoot, and then finally smashing a rising shot into the corner.
Adam Webster equalized with a header from Pascal Gross’ cross — for his first goal of the season — and fellow defender Dan Burn popped up to seal a famous win for Brighton in the 76th by scrambling in a shot after his initial effort was saved.
Leeds struck twice late in the game to secure a hard-fought 2-0 win over Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium on Tuesday and guarantee a top-half finish in the Premier League.
Patrick Bamford ran onto Rodrigo’s pass and poked the ball through the legs of goalkeeper Alex McCarthy to give Leeds a 73rd-minute lead. It was Bamford’s 16th goal of the season and does no harm to his chances of getting in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the European Championship.
Substitute Tyler Roberts then sealed victory in the fifth minute of stoppage time when he rolled the ball into the back of the net after Bamford’s shot had been saved.
The victory saw Leeds move above Arsenal and Everton, who both play on Wednesday, and into eighth place. In its first season back in the top division since 2004, Leeds cannot finish lower than 10th. The result also brought an end to Southampton’s run of good home form, which saw the team score a total of six goals in wins over Crystal Palace and Fulham. (AP)
