Premier League
CHELSEA GAIN REVENGE OVER LEICESTER IN CRUNCH TOP-FOUR BATTLE
Chelsea seized control of their destiny in the Premier League top-four battle as they avenged their FA Cup final defeat by Leicester City to beat them 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday (May 18).
Roared on by 8,000 fans, Thomas Tuchel’s side dominated and were rewarded after the break with Antonio Rudiger bundling in their opener before Jorginho rolled home a penalty.
Timo Werner twice had goals ruled out before the break while Leicester, who looked flat after Saturday’s celebrations, offered little threat until Kelechi Iheanacho gave the visitors a lifeline with a cool finish in the 74th minute.
It was a nervy climax and Ayoze Perez wasted a glorious late chance to equalise but Chelsea clung on for a priceless win that moved them into third place on 67 points with one game remaining, meaning a win at Aston Villa on Sunday will guarantee them Champions League football next season.
For Leicester there is now the looming possibility that they will let a Champions League berth slip through their fingers for the second season in succession.
A win would have ensured a top-four finish but they will drop to fifth if Liverpool win at Burnley on Wednesday.
Leicester, who have 66 points, finish with a home game against Tottenham Hotspur while Liverpool’s final game of the season is at home to Crystal Palace.
Chelsea’s win guaranteed Manchester United runners-up spot behind champions Manchester City.
“Fantastic. It was an outstanding performance but the job is not done,” Tuchel said. “We have two more to go. The fans made a huge difference. The speed in our game, the hunger, the ambition. It was a very strong performance and I’m delighted the team can present itself like this in front of our fans.”
Bigger game
While Saturday’s historic first FA Cup final triumph sparked huge celebration in the East Midlands, Tuesday’s trip to Stamford Bridge was, in financial terms, an even bigger game.
Leicester have been in the top-four since January but could now miss the Champions League jackpot, as they did last season.
Chelsea flew out of the traps with Christian Pulisic just failing to turn in a cross and Reece James drilled a shot narrowly wide. Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel, magnificent at Wembley on Saturday, then made a sharp save from N’Golo Kante who, worryingly for Chelsea, went off injured before halftime.
Werner thought he had scored in the 21st minute when he was played in by Mason Mount but he had drifted just offside.
The German was celebrating prematurely again before the interval when Cesar Azpilicueta flicked on a corner and Werner turned the ball just over the line before it was cleared.
While the ball had definitely crossed, a VAR check showed that Werner’s arm had made the final contact.
Leicester’s luck ran out in the 47th minute when a Chelsea corner skimmed off the head of Jamie Vardy who was back defending and Rudiger forced the ball in.
Chelsea looked home and dry when Wesley Fofana tripped Werner just inside the box and Jorginho coolly rolled home the spot kick.
When Iheanacho swept in after a mistake by Mateo Kovacic it looked as though Leicester could get out of jail and Perez should have earned them a late point when, with the goal gaping, he fired a gilt-edged chance over the bar.
Tempers flared in stoppage time with virtually every player on the pitch involved in a mass shoving contest near the touchline after Rudiger pushed Ricardo Pereira.
When the dust settled it was Chelsea who had one foot in the Champions League, whatever happens in this month’s final against Manchester City in Porto.
-Reuters
Premier League
Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 1-0 to remain top of the Premier League as Arsenal and Manchester City came from behind to win on Saturday.
City were 3-2 victors over Fulham to stay one point behind Liverpool, alongside Arsenal who saw off Southampton 3-1.
Arne Slot has now won nine of his first 10 games since succeeding Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager, but was frustrated that the visitors invited a late onslaught from the winless Eagles.
Jota prodded the Reds into the lead from Cody Gakpo’s cross on nine minutes.
The Portuguese international was then guilty of missing two big chances to extend Liverpool’s advantage.
Palace failed to make them pay, but victory came at a cost for Slot as goalkeeper Alisson Becker limped off with a hamstring injury.
“If you score the second you break them mentally,” said Slot. “All the fans kept believing in a result because it was only 1-0, even though in my opinion we were the dominant team.”
Fresh from a dominant win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, Arsenal were expected to sweep aside winless Southampton.
But the Saints shocked the Emirates 10 minutes into the second half when Cameron Archer fired in his first Premier League goal since a summer move from Aston Villa.
The lead only lasted three minutes before Kai Havertz scored for the seventh consecutive home game.
Gabriel Martinelli was introduced after an hour and took just eight minutes to make his mark with a finish on the volley from Bukayo Saka’s cross.
Having set up Arsenal’s first two goals, Saka pounced on a loose ball to score the third himself.
Fulham’s outrageous opener
Rodri’s season-long absence due to a serious knee injury is expected to be a major blow to City’s chances of retaining the title for a fifth consecutive season.
But it was the Spaniard’s deputy Mateo Kovacic who scored twice to turn the game around for the champions at the Etihad.
The visitors had not lost since the opening night of the season at Manchester United and led thanks to Andreas Pereira’s finish from an outrageous backheel assist by Raul Jimenez.
Kovacic’s deflected effort quickly brought City level before a cleaner strike less than two minutes into the second half made it 2-1.
Jeremy Doku then smashed into the top corner from outside the box to give City a two-goal cushion, which they needed.
Rodrigo Muniz gave Fulham hope on 88 minutes, but City held out for a 17th consecutive win against the Cottagers.
West Ham eased the pressure on new boss Julen Lopetegui by ending a run of three home defeats to start the new season.
Michail Antonio, Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta struck for the Hammers in a 4-1 win over Ipswich, who are still waiting for their first Premier League win 22 years.
There were six goals before half-time as Brentford beat Wolves 5-3 to leave the visitors still rooted to the foot of the table.
Leicester secured their first league win of the season as Facundo Buonanotte’s strike beat Bournemouth 1-0.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag faces a huge match if he is to remain in charge when the Red Devils visit Aston Villa in the pick of Sunday’s action.
-AFP
Premier League
Premier League rejects City request to delay next season’s games after Club World Cup
The Premier League has rejected Manchester City’s request to postpone the first two games of the 2025-26 season to help the players recover after their FIFA Club World Cup campaign in the U.S., the club’s manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.
City and Chelsea are the two English clubs who have qualified for the expanded month-long Club World Cup set to start on June 15. The Premier League’s season will begin in August.
An increasingly packed soccer calendar has been a concern among a growing number of players and managers. A report by global players’ union FIFPRO said some players get only 12% of the year to rest.
The Premier League did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
City midfielder Rodri said in September that players could be close to strike action over the time they are required to play. A knee ligament injury has since put him out for the season.
“I don’t know if we will play more games than the treble year (2022-23)… maybe we’ll play less games,” Guardiola told reporters.
“The Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery. Thank you so much. They don’t postpone these games so that will be the moment of, oh, what do we have to do?”
He said the Club World Cup will make it even more difficult for clubs to manage player workload.
-Reuters
Premier League
Ten Hag’s Man United future not my call, Ratcliffe says
Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said a decision about under-fire manager Erik ten Hag is not his call, and was reticent about whether he still has faith in the team’s boss amid their worst start to the Premier League season since 1986-87.
“I don’t want to answer that question,” Ratcliffe told the BBC. “I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day it’s not my call, it’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.
“That team that’s running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren’t there in January, February, March or April — Omar (Berrada, CEO), (Sporting Director) Dan Ashworth — they only arrived in July.
“They’ve only been there . . . you can count it in weeks almost — they’ve not been there a long time so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.”
Ten Hag’s job was the subject of speculation for much of last season en route to the team’s lowest Premier League finish of eighth. After an FA Cup final victory over Manchester City and an end-of-season review, however, Ten Hag signed a new contract to extend his stay at Old Trafford until 2026.
“Our objective is very clear, we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it’s not there yet, obviously, that’s very clear,” Ratcliffe said.
Ten Hag continues to plead for patience from fans with the team languishing 13th in the Premier League table, having lost three of their six opening games. They were headed towards defeat by Porto in the Europa League on Thursday before Harry Maguire scored a last-gasp goal to salvage a 3-3 draw.
-Reuters
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