Manchester City on Saturday closed in on a fourth consecutive English Premier League title by thrashing Fulham 4-0, while Burnley were relegated from the top flight after a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.
Luton Town are also virtually down. A 3-1 defeat at West Ham United left them three points adrift of safety and with a goal difference 12 worse than Nottingham Forest with just one game remaining.
There was no twist in the title race at Craven Cottage as defender Josko Gvardiol continued his hot streak in front of goal.
Photo: Reuters
The Croatian settled any Manchester City nerves by firing in on his weaker right foot after just 13 minutes.
Pep Guardiola’s men were dominant, but had to wait until the hour to make the points safe when Phil Foden swept in his 25th goal of the season.
Gvardiol then turned in Bernardo Silva’s cross at the back post for his fifth City goal, all of which have come in his past seven games.
Photo: AFP
A ￡77 million (US$96 million) signing from RB Leipzig in summer last year, Gvardiol could have become the first defender in English Premier League history to score a hat-trick when Manchester City were awarded a penalty in stoppage-time.
However, he turned down the chance to take it, allowing Julian Alvarez to round off the scoring.
Victory takes City two points clear at the top of the table and ramps up the pressure on second-placed Arsenal, ahead of their visit to Manchester United yesterday.
Should the Gunners fail to win, City can wrap up the title when they travel to Tottenham tomorrow.
“My players like to play with pressure, they are used to it. The players enjoy this feeling,” Guardiola said. “The destiny [of the title] is in our hands.”
Spurs kept their chance of UEFA Champions League soccer next season alive by coming from behind to send Burnley to the English Championship.
Jacob Bruun Larsen had fired the Clarets into a shock lead after Sander Berge’s pass cut the Tottenham defense wide open.
Spurs had lost their last four matches, but they turned the game around to move within four points of fourth-placed Aston Villa.
Pedro Porro blasted an equalizer high past Arijanet Muric.
Micky Van de Ven then curled in the winner to at least guarantee Spurs will be in Europe next season.
“Today the Premier League is over, but tomorrow we start day one of doing everything we can to get back to the Premier League,” Burnley manager Vincent Kompany said.
Luton will also be back in the English Championship next season after blowing a 1-0 lead and losing to West Ham in David Moyes’ final home game in charge of the Hammers.
Albert Sambi Lokonga’s early header gave the visitors hope of a great escape.
However, second-half strikes from James Ward-Prowse, Tomas Soucek and George Earthy all but ended Luton’s Premier League stay after a remarkable rise back through the leagues to get back to the top flight for the first time in 32 years.
“These players and supporters have given me the best 18 months of my life,” said Luton manager Rob Edwards, who broke down in tears after full-time. “It’s a huge sorry, but a huge thank you.”
With Luton set to join Burnley and Sheffield United in going down, all three promoted clubs will be relegated to expose to growing gulf between the top two divisions.
Forest missed the chance to mathematically confirm Luton’s relegation by blowing a late lead to lose 3-2 to Chelsea.
Mykhailo Mudryk’s opener for Chelsea was quickly canceled out by Willy Boly’s header.
Callum Hudson-Odoi then seemed to have sealed Forest’s survival against his former club when his fierce curling finish found the far corner 16 minutes from time.
However, two goals in two minutes from Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson boosted in-form Chelsea’s charge toward Europe next season.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men move level on points with sixth-placed Newcastle United, who were held 1-1 at home by Brighton & Hove Albion.
Crystal Palace’s stunning form since the arrival of Oliver Glasner as manager continued with a 3-1 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
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