aston villa

Premier League: Aston Villa’s Top Four Bid Rocked At Brighton, Chelsea Rout West Ham

Danijones8 months ago04 mins

Aston Villa’s bid to finish in the Premier League’s top four was rocked by a 1-0 defeat at Brighton, while Chelsea thrashed West Ham 5-0 to keep alive their hopes of European qualification on Sunday. A Villa win combined with a Tottenham loss at Liverpool in Sunday’s late game would have sealed a Champions League place for Unai Emery’s side. But Villa were unable to fulfil their part of that equation as Joao Pedro’s 87th minute goal condemned them to a second painful defeat in four days. Ending Brighton’s six-match winless run, Pedro headed in the rebound after Robin Olsen saved his penalty, which had been awarded for Ezri Konsa’s foul on Simon Adingra. Surprisingly beaten 4-2 by Olympiakos in the Europa Conference League semi-final first leg on Thursday, Villa were well below their best once again. Villa remain in fourth place, seven points clear of fifth placed Tottenham, who have two games in hand. Emery’s men host Liverpool and travel to Crystal Palace in their last two games as they fight to return to the Champions League for the first time since 1982-83. At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea crushed London rivals West Ham to move above Manchester United into seventh place. Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino is fighting to convince the club’s co-owner Todd Boehly to give him a second season in charge after his troubled debut campaign. Pochettino admits it is “not his decision” if he stays, but securing a place in Europe could be enough to avoid the sack. Cole Palmer put Chelsea ahead in the 15th minute with his 21st league goal of the season, the forward firing home after West Ham failed to clear. Conor Gallagher doubled Chelsea’s advantage after 30 minutes with a blistering volley after West Ham’s Kurt Zouma deflected the ball towards the midfielder. Noni Madueke bagged Chelsea’s third six minutes later as the winger turned in Thiago Silva’s header from close-range. Nicolas Jackson piled on the misery for woeful West Ham in the 48th minute with a tap-in from Madueke’s cross. The Senegal striker was on target again with 10 minutes left. The lopsided nature of defeat did little to quell speculation over the future of West Ham boss David Moyes, who has come under fire from fans for his perceived negative game-plans. Ninth placed West Ham have reportedly held talks with former Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui and could opt to move on from Moyes, whose contract expires at the end of the season. (This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Topics mentioned in this article

Premier League: Arsenal’s Title Bid Rocked By Aston Villa Loss

Danijones8 months ago07 mins

Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes suffered a massive blow as Aston Villa struck twice in the closing stages to boost their top four bid with a dramatic 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Mikel Arteta’s side would have gone back to the top of the table with a victory, but instead they surrendered the initiative to Manchester City after conceding two goals in the last six minutes. Leon Bailey put the visitors ahead and Ollie Watkins doubled their lead as Villa boss Unai Emery enjoyed a second sweet win this season over the club that sacked him in 2019. Arsenal’s first defeat in 12 league games leaves them in second place, two points behind City, while third placed Liverpool are behind Arsenal on goal difference. With just six games left, champions City are closing in on an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League crown. City’s rout of Luton on Saturday had knocked Arsenal out of first place. But the Gunners should have been on a high after Liverpool suffered a shock 1-0 defeat against Crystal Palace just half an hour before kick-off in north London. Instead, Arsenal produced a spluttering display that could prove fatal to their challenge for a first English title in 20 years. It has been a dispiriting week for the Gunners, who were held to a 2-2 draw by Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday, setting up a tricky trip to Germany for the second leg on Wednesday. After blowing an eight-point lead in the title race last season, Arsenal are in danger of squandering the advantage yet again. Villa had moved up to fourth place without kicking a ball after Tottenham’s thrashing at Newcastle on Saturday dropped them below Emery’s men on goal difference. And Villa’s second win in six league games moved them three points clear of Tottenham, who have a game in hand in the race to qualify for the Champions League via a top four finish. Arsenal had started brightly and Kai Havertz’s low drive was palmed away by Emiliano Martinez before Gabriel Jesus headed into the side-netting from Bukayo Saka’s cross. Accelerating onto Martin Odegaard’s pin-point pass, Saka took aim from inside the area, but couldn’t test Martinez from an acute angle. Watkins should have put obdurate Villa ahead when he was allowed to break into the Arsenal area unimpeded for a low strike that cannoned back off the post and ricocheted along the goalline to safety. Just seconds later, Arsenal were repelled by Martinez’s superb reflex save after Leandro Trossard met Jesus’s cross with a close-range shot that appeared destined for the net until the Argentine keeper stuck out a foot to block it. As Arsenal’s pressure mounted, Saka curled narrowly past the far post from 12 yards. But superbly-organised Villa remained resolute, reaching half-time on level terms before Youri Tielemans was inches away from giving them the lead on the hour. Robbing the careless Zinchenko 20 yards from goal, Tielemans unleashed a blistering shot that hit the bar, then bounced onto the post before cannoning to safety. Martinez pushed away Jesus’s shot from the edge of the area, but Arsenal were labouring to unlock a Villa defence expertly marshalled by Diego Carlos. The Emirates crowd grew increasingly frustrated as Villa pushed Arsenal back in the closing stages. And their fears were confirmed in the 84th minute when Emery’s men snatched the lead. Lucas Digne’s low cross eluded Arsenal defenders William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, leaving Bailey with the simple task of slotting into the empty net from close-range. Two minutes and 26 seconds later, Watkins delivered the knockout blow, stealing the ball from Emile Smith-Rowe and clipping a delicate finish past David Raya for his 10th goal in his last 11 league games. Emery celebrated with a jubilant jig on the touchline, while Arteta stood ashen-faced as Arsenal faced up to a catastrophic loss. (This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Topics mentioned in this article