While Liverpool’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League look slim, Merseyside neighbors Everton are fighting for their life in the top flight after a 69-year stay, as Yerry Mina secured them a point against Wolverhampton Wanderers with a ninth-minute equalizer in substitute time.
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Everton were ready to suffer defeat after Hwang Hee-chan’s goal at Molineux, but Mina’s goal gave them a two-point lead from the relegation zone with one game to go.
The two teams immediately below them, Leeds United and Leicester City, will rise above Everton if they win their next matches, but whatever happens, the battle for relegation will continue until the season finale next Sunday.
Villa took the lead at Anfield thanks to Jacob Ramsey’s goal in the 27th minute, five minutes after they missed a chance to open the scoring when Ollie Watkins missed a penalty.
Liverpool’s hopes of finishing in the top four looked slim after Manchester United’s win over Bournemouth, but Brazilian Firmino, who is saying goodbye to Anfield after eight glorious seasons, equalized in the 89th minute coming off the bench.
Even a point, however, leaves them a slim chance, as fourth-place Manchester United and third-place Newcastle United each have 69 points from two games and Liverpool have 66 points from one game.
Casemiro’s superb acrobatic volley was enough for Manchester United to win 1-0 on the south coast, and one more point in their last two games guarantees them a Champions League title. Newcastle can return to Europe’s elite tournament after a two-year absence if they take a point against relegation-threatened Leicester on Monday.
Firmino’s late goal left Villa in seventh place with 58 points, behind Brighton & Hove Albion on goal difference, although Brighton is in pole position to claim a Europa League spot as they have three games left to play.
Tottenham Hotspur dropped to eighth place with 57 points, giving up an early lead thanks to a superb free kick from Harry Kane and losing 3-1 at home to ninth place Brentford, for whom Brian Mbeumo scored twice in the second half. Fulham drew 2-2 at homeWith Crystal Palace.
City, which hosts Chelsea on Sunday, has 85 points in its three remaining games, while Arsenal has 81 points in one game. This is City’s seventh Premier League title since they were bought by Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2008, and they are now just two wins away from completing the triumph previously achieved only by Manchester United in 1999.
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City will face Manchester United in the FA Cup final on June 3 and will take on Inter Milan in the Champions League final a week later. Although Arsenal threatened to knock City out of their position this season, it all ended up being an illusion as Pep Guardiola’s team proved unstoppable again early in the season.
After losing to Tottenham Hotspur on February 5, they took 40 points from the next 42 offered and won their last 11 matches. They have also confidently beaten Arsenal at home and away. If City wins their last three matches, they will score 94 points, which is not as many as in 2017-18 and 2018-19, when Guardiola won his first two league titles.
But the way they finished the season suggests that the gap between them and the rest is widening. Arsenal will have to settle for second place and a return to the Champions League after a five-year absence. But manager Mikel Arteta will have much to reflect on when he analyzes how the Gunners sagged under City’s relentless pressure. The loss to Forest means Arsenal have won only two of their last eight games in the league.
Union, this season’s surprise team, has only themselves to blame for the defeat, giving the hosts the first two goals, and remains fourth with 59 points, the same number as fifth-place Freiburg.
Only the top four clubs qualify for Europe’s premier club tournament next season.
Hoffenheim took the lead on 22 minutes when Diogo Leite’s defensive mistake sent the ball straight to Ilhas Beb.
The situation got even worse for the Portuguese defender in the 36th minute when he conceded a penalty, which Andrej Kramaric converted, making the score 2-0.
The visitors managed to get back into the game before the break thanks to Danillo Doeha’s powerful header in the compensatory time, but despite several good chances in the second half, they failed to equalize.
Instead, Kramaric forHe scored his second goal.
Aiss Laidouni’s goal in the compensatory time gave them some hope, but Munas Dabbourg scored again for Hoffenheim to keep his team in the top division for another season.
Another Berlin club, Hertha, was less fortunate and was relegated after Bochum (1-1) equalized in the last minute against VFL.
Brazilian FA (CBF) president Ednaldo Rodrigues told Reuters in March that Ancelotti would be an obvious choice for the vacant national manager position if he were available at the end of the European season.
After Real Madrid’s humiliating 4-0 loss to Manchester City in the Champions League semifinals on Wednesday, speculation intensified that his job was in jeopardy as Real also failed to win the La Liga title as bitter rivals Barcelona won it with four games to go
Everyone knows my situation well: I’m under contract until the end of the 2024 season and I want to stay, Ancelotti said at a press conference, clearly annoyed when asked again about interest from Brazil.
When a reporter asked if the club had assured him that he would stay, Ancelotti replied emphatically: Yes!
Real, however, has not made an official statement about Ancelotti’s future.
President Florentino Perez gave a vague answer to a question about Ancelotti after Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory in the Copa del Rey final.
Italian Ancelotti experienced Perez’s temper when he was fired in 2015, a year after leading Real to its long-awaited 10th European title.
This season could have been better, but it was good, Ancelotti said when asked how he felt about the 2022-23 campaign.
Of course we are not satisfied with La Liga, but we fought to the end in the other competitions … and won three of them.
Ancelotti was referring to victories in the Spanish Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup and the European Super Cup.
Brazil’s FA did not respond to Reuters inquiries early Saturday morning, but its president recently said they were willing to wait for Ancelotti until June so they could evaluate other options, including Jose Mourinho of Roma and Jorge Jesus of Fenerbahce.
City are poised to win their fifth league crown in six years, and also claim a treble this season by reaching the Champions League and FA Cup finals.
Co.The Guardiola team has a four-point advantage and one game to spare against Arsenal, who need to beat Nottingham Forest on Saturday to really stay in the title race, at least until City take on Chelsea a day later.
I don’t know about the greatest in history, but they’re clearly a fantastic team, and have been for a long time, Lampard told reporters Friday before Chelsea’s trip to Etihad Stadium.
Huge credit for that consistency. They are very close to becoming the greatest team, especially if they win the Champions League… In their form you wouldn’t want to bet against them for anything.
I think they are the best team in world soccer. Is that good for English soccer? Yes, why wouldn’t it be? We need to raise the standards. The rest of the players in the league should try to strive for that.
Lampard said he wanted to bring City striker Erling Haaland to Stamford Bridge during his first stint at the helm of Chelsea from 2009-21, when he was the permanent head coach.
The Norwegian, who moved to City from Borussia Dortmund earlier this season, has scored 36 league goals this season, the same number as Chelsea.
I think he is special, I thought he would adapt immediately and show his level, Lampard said. I don’t know if he would have decided to come here anyway, but I was a big fan of his.
It’s a credit to him because I like to see players at that level, with character and a hunger to be the best.
Chelsea defender Benoit Badiachile will miss Sunday’s game after suffering a groin injury in training, Lampard said.
Chelsea is 11th in the league with 43 points in 35 games.
A fifth English Premier League title in six seasons will be confirmed on Saturday if runners-up Arsenal lose to Nottingham Forest.
Not that Guardiola wants to be crowned champion under those circumstances.
If we can win (on Sunday) and celebrate in the stadium with our people, it will be the best celebration, he said Friday.
In his position, he can afford to be picky about how he wants the title party to go.
City’s dominance in the league has been seriously threatened by an Arsenal team that has led the table for most of the campaign and had an eight-point lead over theThe champion at the beginning of April.
But the combination of the Gunners’ late-season slump and City’s 11 consecutive victories virtually guaranteed that the title would remain at Etihad Stadium for a third straight year.
In the Premier League, Guardiola said, it’s a matter of not being far from the top of the league; not giving up, never and for nothing; and waiting.
He openly questioned whether his players had lost their edge this season after winning four leagues in his seven years at the club. He called the players happy colors and warned that Arsenal would destroy them if they didn’t improve.
No one doubts City now, as the team is three games away from triumphing in the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.
The 4-0 defeat of Real Madrid in the Champions League semifinals on Wednesday highlighted City’s devastating form and mood.
Only the most unlikely slump would make City give up the Premier League title, but Guardiola said he would leave nothing to chance against Chelsea with brittle confidence.
The last (match) is the most difficult because there are a lot of emotions and a lot of things, he added. We can’t get distracted right now. We can’t forgive ourselves if we get distracted by anything.
Chelsea has had one of its worst seasons in recent memory, despite spending about $630 million on new players.
In a chaotic first year under new owners Todd Boeley and Clearlake Capital, the London club fired two managers in an attempt to reverse its fortunes and will not qualify for European competition next season.
Interim manager Frank Lampard said he tried to sign City striker Erling Haaland when he first took charge of Stamford Bridge in 2019-21.
I was really anxious to get him here, but obviously it didn’t happen, Lampard said Friday. He’s special. I thought he would adapt right away, just (because of) his level.
Whether he would have come or not, I don’t know, but I pushed hard, and several other players too. But he was the most outstanding.
Lampard has two more games to play as interim coach, and Mauricio Pochettino is expected to be the next permanent Chelsea manager.
Lampard’s return to the club where he was an icon as a player did not go well. He only won one of theeight games as head coach and lost six.
You want to always get results, but in soccer you have to be realistic, Lampard said. In general, there’s a lot to work on. I can have some influence on certain people in the group because I feel really good about the club.
After City got so close to us, Arsenal’s only hope is to extend the title race by beating relegation-threatened Forest.
Mikel Arteta’s team has exceeded expectations in claiming the title, but two wins in their last seven league games have effectively given the title to City.
The Arsenal manager, however, was defiant on Friday.
We’re still there, he said. With two games to go, we can still be champions, playing against arguably the best team in Premier League history.
For 10 months, we’re still there. With two more games to go, we’re definitely not going to pass up this opportunity.
