Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle sealed Champions League places on the final day of the Premier League season as Aston Villa missed out amid controversy in their 2-0 defeat at Manchester United.
Reduced to 10 men by the sending off of goalkeeper Emi Martinez late in the first half, Villa withstood a wave of attacks and then thought they had a 73rd-minute lead when Morgan Rogers nicked the ball away from Altay Bayindir before applying the finish.
But referee Thomas Bramall had blown for a foul on the goalkeeper and although replays suggested it was a clean challenge, VAR could not intervene as the whistle had gone before the ball crossed the line.
Just three minutes later, Amad Diallo headed in Bruno Fernandes’ cross before Christian Eriksen’s penalty gave United, beaten by Tottenham in the Europa League final in midweek, a 2-0 win at the end of a miserable season which sees them finish 15th.
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But Villa, furious with the officials, were left in sixth and must make do with the Europa League.
Villa’s defeat saw Newcastle cling on for fifth spot despite finishing with a 1-0 home defeat to Everton, who took the points with a 65th-minute goal from Charly Alcaraz, who headed in Vitalii Mykolenko’s cross.
City made light work of sealing third place with a 2-0 win at Fulham. Ilkay Gundogan scored an acrobatic opener in the 21st minute, turning in the rebound from a Matheus Nunes shot, and then won the penalty which Erling Haaland converted with 18 minutes remaining.
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And Chelsea won the crunch fixture away to Nottingham Forest 1-0 with Levi Colwill tapping in the only goal of a cagey encounter at the City Ground early in the second half, taking fourth place and leaving Forest down in seventh place and bound for the Conference League.
Chelsea’s win was also bad news for Brighton, who came from behind to beat Tottenham 4-1 with a brace from Jack Hinshelwood before late goals from Matt O’Riley and Diego Gomez after Dominic Solanke’s early penalty.
Their eighth place will no longer be enough for Europe with Chelsea, who face Real Betis in the Conference League final on Wednesday, in the top five.
Champions Liverpool needed a late Mohamed Salah goal to take a point off FA Cup winners Crystal Palace in a 1-1 draw, having fallen behind to an early Ismaila Sarr goal before having Ryan Gravenberch sent off in the 68th minute for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Incoming Southampton boss Will Still saw his side beaten 2-1 by Arsenal as Martin Odegaard scored an 89th-minute winner after Ross Stewart’s 56th-minute header had cancelled out Kieran Tierney’s goal on his final Arsenal appearance.
West Ham saw off Ipswich 3-1 with goals from Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus after Nathan Broadhead had cancelled out James Ward-Prowse’s first goal in 12 months, while a second-half brace from Antoine Semenyo saw Bournemouth beat relegated Leicester 2-0.
Marshall Munetsi hit a 75th-minute equaliser for Wolves in a 1-1 draw at home to Brentford.
