All that is left to decide on the final day of the Premier League is whether Liverpool or Chelsea takes the final Champions League place.
It is advantage Liverpool — by two points and a vastly superior goal-difference.
Juergen Klopp has friend David Wagner to thank for Liverpool only requiring a draw against Brighton and Hove Albion to hold onto a top-four finish on Sunday when Chelsea play at Newcastle United.
Wagner’s Huddersfield Town held dethroned champions Chelsea to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday, ensuring that the northern English team would have a second-ever season in the Premier League.
As Brighton and Newcastle were already safe, all three promoted teams this season have avoided the drop.
“It’s a bigger achievement than getting promoted,” Wagner said. “We were predicted as a team to get relegated.”
Newcastle’s 1-0 loss at Tottenham Hotspur allowed the north London club to complete their season at their temporary Wembley home by securing a place in the top four.
Harry Kane curled a shot into the top corner to guarantee third-place Tottenham would open their new stadium in the Champions League for a third consecutive season.
The three teams going down are Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion and, almost certainly, Swansea City. Although the south Wales club can still catch Southampton on points on the final day, their goal difference is inferior by nine.
Sunday is to be the final time that Arsene Wenger manages Arsenal after 22 years. The Frenchman’s penultimate game ended in a 3-1 loss at Leicester City on Wednesday.
On a miserable night for Chelsea, three of their Premier League records were broken by Manchester City after the title-winners beat Brighton 3-1.
City moved onto 97 points, two more than Chelsea’s final total from the 2004-2005 season, and 105 goals, two more than Chelsea’s previous record haul from the 2009-2010 season. Pep Guardiola’s team also now have 31 wins, surpassing the previous record of 30 set by Chelsea during last season.
The night’s games started against the backdrop of more encouraging news from the hospital where the league’s most successful-ever manager is being treated. Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is out of intensive care after emergency surgery on Saturday on a brain hemorrhage.
As Huddersfield players and fans, including actor Patrick Stewart, celebrated at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea players watched on gloomily.
This was Huddersfield’s night, taking the lead five minutes into the second half.
Willian was disposed inside the Chelsea half and Huddersfield midfielder Aaron Mooy launched a high ball forward. Chelsea goalkeeper Willy Caballero raced off his line and collided with Laurent Depoitre, allowing the visiting forward to tap into the net.
Chelsea fortuitously equalized in the 62nd minute when Mathias Jorgensen’s clearance cannoned off Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso’s head and went back into the net.
As Chelsea scrambled to produce a winner to move level on points with Liverpool, Huddersfield goalkeeper Jonas Loessl made vital saves, including tipping Andreas Christensen’s header onto the post.
“This was definitely the most important save in my career, no doubt about it,” Loessl said.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS