Chelsea into CL after Arsenal draw, United’s top-four hopes end

LONDON: Chelsea were assured of a place in next season’s Champions League after their 3-0 win over Watford was followed by London rivals Arsenal being held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.

Quick-fire headed goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and David Luiz, both set up by Eden Hazard early in the second half, helped Chelsea to victory against a spirited Watford.

Argentine marksman Gonzalo Higuain added a third with a cool finish in the 75th minute to move Chelsea into third place on 71 points in the Premier League, a point clear of Tottenham Hotspur in fourth and four ahead of Arsenal, with one final league game left this season for each side.

Manchester United’s hopes of a top-four finish were ended after they were held to a 1-1 draw by bottom side Huddersfield Town.

Sixth-placed United failed to take the race for Champions League qualification to the final day as they trail Tottenham by four points with just one game left.

Chelsea had been booed off at halftime with the score still 0-0 at Stamford Bridge but Loftus-Cheek provided the breakthrough with a header in the 48th minute and Luiz netted the second just three minutes later from another corner.

Higuain added the third with an elegant chip past goalkeeper Ben Foster from a difficult angle as Maurizio Sarri’s side took full advantage of Tottenham’s loss on Saturday.

Chelsea host Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday, with the tie poised at 1-1 after the first leg. Winning the Europa League would make Sarri’s troubled first season a relative success with a Champions League berth now secure.

“We want to be in the top four at the end of the season. We want to be in the Champions League,” Sarri said, while Arsenal were playing Brighton at the Emirates. “The Europa League is also a very important competition and we want to win it because we think we deserve to a trophy this season. So we have two targets.”

Arsenal’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League via a top-four finish in the Premier League were all but snuffed out as they are three points behind north London rivals Tottenham, who have a far superior goal difference.

Arsenal, however, could still qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League. The Gunners will carry a 3-1 lead into Thursday’s second leg of their semi-final away to Valencia.

Needing victory to keep their top-four chances realistically alive, Arsenal got the perfect start when referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot after Alireza Jahanbakhsh impeded Nacho Monreal.

Pierre-Emerick Aubame­yang made no mistake with the penalty to notch up his 20th league goal of the season.

Brighton levelled from a disputed penalty in the 61st minute. Solly March went down under minimal contact from Granit Xhaka and Glenn Murray found the net from the resulting spot-kick.

United needed a win in their penultimate league game to keep alive their chances of catching Tottenham but allowed Isaac Mbenza to run clear through on goal on a lightning counterattack in the 60th minute at the John Smith’s Stadium and equalise with a shot between the legs of goalkeeper David De Gea.

Phil Jones and Marcus Rashford then wasted good chances for a winner by missing the target while Paul Pogba hit the crossbar with a late effort, meaning United will have to settle for Europa League football next season.

Scott McTominay had given United an early lead with a shot that somehow slipped past goalkeeper Jonas Lossl in the eighth minute, but Huddersfield which is dead last in the table and had nothing play for gradually grew into the game after that. And Lossl made amends when he collected a cross on the hour mark and quickly booted the ball up the pitch for Ibenza to run onto. Luke Shaw completely failed to deal with the ball and Mbenza was allowed to come all alone with De Gea to slot in the equaliser.

“It is probably the right place for us, the Europa League,” United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said. “We weren’t good enough in the end. We are all disappointed we are not in the Champions League. We have been inconsistent throughout the season, in games as well. Today was the same. It is a fair reflection that we will finish sixth.”

The English Premier League’s thrilling title race is also going down to the final day after yet another late winner from Liverpool.

With Mohamed Salah back in the locker room, shaken by a heavy knock to the head, it fell to his replacement to score the crucial goal.

Divock Origi glanced home a deflected 86th-minute header to earn Liverpool a 3-2 win at Newcastle United in Saturday’s late game, lifting Juergen Klopp’s side to 94 points, back above Manchester City and into the lead by two points.

The pressure is back on the champions, who host in-form Leicester on Monday needing a victory to keep the destiny of the title in their own hands heading into the last weekend.

“Unbelievable,” Klopp said, after uttering an expletive live on British television.

Liverpool have just their final day home game with Wolves remaining but the result means the race will go down to the wire.

Virgil Van Dijk headed Liverpool in front in the 13th minute, but seven minutes later Newcastle drew level through Christian Atsu.

Liverpool restored their lead in the 28th minute when Daniel Sturridge, starting in place of the injured Roberto Firmino, back-heeled the ball from the corner to Trent Alexander-Arnold and the full-back’s cross was expertly turned in by Salah.

Managed by former Liverpool boss Rafe Benitez, 14th placed Newcastle drew level nine minutes after the break when the visitors failed to clear a corner and Salomon Rondon’s brilliant fierce left foot drive beat the helpless Alisson Becker.

Then, with their talismanic forward Salah carried off on a stretcher with a head injury and facing a massive blow to their title hopes, Origi rose at the near post to head in a Xherdan Shaqiri free-kick and give Klopp’s side the victory.