LIVERPOOL, England – A poor week got worse for Aston Villa on Sunday after a shock 1-0 defeat to Brighton in the race for the Premier League’s top four.
Unai Emery’s side lost 4-2 at home to Olympiakos in the first leg of the Europa Conference League semi-final on Thursday. And on a day when Villa could have secured their place in next season’s Champions League, they suffered another setback.
João Pedro’s 87th-minute goal at the Amex Stadium gave fifth-placed Tottenham hope in their pursuit of Villa in fourth place. Tottenham faced Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, with the chance to move within four points of Villa with a game in hand.
Villa would have been assured of finishing in the top four if they had won at Brighton and Spurs had lost to Liverpool.
CHELSEA BEATS WEST HAM
Chelsea’s troubled season could yet end on a high after Mauricio Pochettino’s side boosted their chances of reaching European football next season with a 5-0 thrashing of West Ham on Sunday.
The victory at Stamford Bridge took Chelsea up to seventh in the standings and two points behind sixth-placed Newcastle. Only the six best teams in the Premier League will be guaranteed a place in Europe next season.
While Chelsea’s exorbitant spending under US owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital should put the 2021 Champions League winner back in contention for the biggest prizes, qualifying for Europe would represent progress after finishing halfway bottom of the table last year and another season of struggling this term.
After a morale-boosting 2-0 victory over Tottenham on Thursday, Chelsea went on to defeat West Ham.
Nicolas Jackson scored twice in the second half after Chelsea took a 3-0 half-time lead through goals from Cole Palmer, Conor Gallagher and Noni Madueke.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP Football:
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