Chelsea and United to Champions; Leicester and Tottenham to Europa League
London, Jul 26 (efe-epa).- The last contests of the Premier League soccer season on Sunday confirmed that Chelsea and Manchester United have qualified for the Champions League, Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester for the Europe League and Bournemouth and Watford were relegated to the lower division.
Chelsea and Man United grabbed the last two spots in next season’s UEFA Champions League, joining Premier League champs Liverpool and runner-up Manchester City.
Chelsea prevailed nicely its 2-0 contest against the Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge, its two tallies coming in the first half from Mason Mount and Olivier Giroud, thus allowing the Blues to repeat their presence in Champions League play and leaving the Wolves out of the Europa League.
Man United, meanwhile, confirmed the fall of Leicester City, which went to the wall fighting for second place but in the end had to settle for the Europa League. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s boys defeated the Foxes at King Power Stadium on goals by Bruno Fernandes on a penalty kick and by Jesse Lingard.
United ended up fourth in the Premier League table and once again returns to the Champions League after being absent for one season.
Leicester will be in the Europa League along with Tottenham Hotspur, which – despite not getting beyond a disappointing 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace, will be in the UEFA competition thanks to the Wolves’ loss.
At the lower end of the table, Bournemouth and Watford fell off the edge on the final day of the season, even though the Cherries managed to defeat Everton 3-1 on the road.
After five seasons in the top English soccer category, Bournemouth returns to the Sky Bet Championship.
Meanwhile, the Watford Hornets lost 3-2 to Arsenal at Emirates Stadium and were also relegated, joining Bournemouth and Norwich.
The beneficiary of it all was Aston Villa, who after moving up this season will remain in the Premier League for at least another campaign.
