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Aston Villa gave their Champions League hopes a huge boost with a 4-1 thumping of in-form Newcastle. Manchester City left it late to beat Everton 2-0, while Southampton finally reached the 11-point mark thanks to a draw with West Ham. Arsenal have work to do in the Women’s Champions League after losing the first leg of their semi-final 2-1 at home to Lyon.
Newcastle arrived at Villa Park on the back of a 5-0 thumping of Crystal Palace and on a six-game winning run in all competitions but were given a taste of their own medicine. Ollie Watkins returned to the starting line-up for Villa and opened the scoring inside 33 seconds, before teeing up Ian Maatsen to put Villa back ahead after Fabian Schar levelled. Dan Burn’s own goal and a stunning Amadou Onana effort completed a statement win, with star man Watkins using anger at being benched against Paris St Germain as fuel.
Speaking about boss Unai Emery, Watkins said: “I’m not going to lie, I was fuming I weren’t playing and I let him know that.” Emery had no problem with the England striker’s words, responding: “It’s fantastic to be angry, it’s fantastic to play like he played today.” Villa’s victory tightened the race for the top five even further and made Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Everton crucial for Pep Guardiola’s men.
The match appeared to be meandering to a goalless draw but Nico O’Reilly opened the scoring in the 84th minute and Mateo Kovacic doubled the advantage in added time. Guardiola said: “We have five or six games left so to win here at Goodison Park in the moment they had, winning at Nottingham Forest (last weekend) – and Liverpool and Arsenal couldn’t win here – is massively important. “Of course, we are miles away from Liverpool and Arsenal but tonight we sleep fourth.
Now it is in our hands.” City face a crunch clash against Villa on Tuesday before next weekend’s FA Cup semi-finals. 🤩 — Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) A miserable season will not end with Southampton setting a new record for the lowest ever Premier League points tally.
Saints went into April on only nine points, still two adrift of Derby’s historic low from the 2007-08 season, but two draws since mean they have at least equalled the Rams’ mark. Lesley Ugochukwu’s goal in added time earned them a 1-1 draw after Jarrod Bowen had fired the hosts into the lead. Interim boss Simon Rusk was delighted with a point, saying: “I think we can be really pleased.
I thought that it was the least we deserved.” Arsenal fought back from two down against Real Madrid in the Women’s Champions League quarter-finals, and they will need more of the same if they are to make the trophy decider. The Gunners remain the only English team to win the competition, and are one of two Women’s Super League sides to make the last four along with Chelsea.
But eight-time champions Lyon are in pole position after coming away victorious from the Emirates Stadium. Mariona Caldentey had equalised from the spot for the home side in the 78th minute after Arsenal had fallen behind to Kadidiatou Diani’s goal. But Melchie Dumornay was on hand to settle the first leg with eight minutes remaining.
The Reds in full flow 🤩 — Liverpool FC (@LFC) The Premier League title could be decided on Sunday, with Liverpool and Arsenal both in action. Arne Slot’s team will secure the silverware if they beat Leicester and Arsenal lose to Ipswich. A defeat for Leicester would see the Foxes mathematically relegated, as would a Wolves victory at Manchester United.
The day’s other Premier League game sees Chelsea travel to Fulham, while the Blues’ women’s team are in Barcelona for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final. In the Scottish Cup semi-finals, Celtic meet St Johnstone at Hampden Park, with the winner facing Aberdeen in the final after the Dons’ extra-time win over Hearts on Saturday..
