Final Day Drama As Man United, Chelsea Join Liverpool, City In Champions League
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Manchester United and Chelsea qualified for the Champions League at the expense of Leicester on a frantic yesterday, with Bournemouth and Watford relegated from the top flight, reports AP.
United won 2-0 at Leicester through goals by Bruno Fernandes and Jesse Lingard to give Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team a third-place finish.
Chelsea beat Wolverhampton 2-0 after a goal and an assist by Mason Mount and finished in the fourth and final Champions League qualifying place above Leicester, who have been in the top four for most of the season.
Leicester, instead, will play in the Europa League along with Tottenham, who drew 1-1 at Crystal Palace to secure sixth place — above Wolverhampton on goal difference.
The battle to avoid the two remaining relegation places went to the wire as Aston Villa scored in the 84th minute, conceded a minute later, then held on for 1-1 draw at West Ham to survive. Captain Jack Grealish scored Villa’s goal in what could be his last game for his boyhood club.
Bournemouth did what they had to do to beat Everton, 3-1, but ended up one point behind Villa. Watford were also relegated as the next-to-last team after losing 3-2 at Arsenal.
Manchester City passed 100 goals for the campaign with a 5-0 win over last-place and already-demoted Norwich, a game that marked the last in the Premier League for David Silva after 10 years with City. Kevin De Bruyne got a record-tying 20th assist of the season and also scored twice.
Liverpool ended their title-winning season with a 3-1 win at Newcastle and finished on a club-record 99 points.
Meanwhile, Southampton beat Sheffield United 3-1, with Danny Ings scoring his 22nd goal of the season. That left him one behind Leicester’s Jamie Vardy, who won the Golden Boot as the league’s highest scorer.
Burnley suffered their first home defeat since New Year’s Day as they were beaten 2-1 by Brighton and Hove Albion. Burnley finish the season in 10th place on 54 points while Brighton, who had flirted with relegation, conclude in the safety of 15th place.
