Man City, Chelsea and Newcastle secure Champions League spots as angry Villa misses out

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle secured the remaining Champions League places on a dramatic final day of the Premier League season.

Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest were the big losers on Sunday — missing out in the race for the top five.

Villa was left with a sense of injustice after having a goal ruled out against Manchester United just moments before going behind and eventually losing 2-0 at Old Trafford.

A draw would have been enough for Unai Emery’s team on a day when Newcastle lost 1-0 at home to Everton.

Chelsea beat Forest 1-0 to secure a return to the Champions League after a two-year absence.

City ended the season in third place with a 2-0 win against Fulham. Arsenal was second behind champion Liverpool.

Emery’s fury

Villa was down to 10 men before halftime when goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was sent off for a foul on Rasmus Hojlund and coming under intense pressure from United. But the game looked like it had swung in the visitors’ favor when Morgan Rogers seized on a fumble by United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir and fired the ball into the open net.

Celebrations were cut short because referee Thomas Bramall had blown his whistle before the goal was scored, which meant VAR could not overturn the decision.

Video replays were inconclusive as to whether Bayindir was in control of the ball, having initially let it slip from his grasp.

“The TV is clear ... but of course we have to accept it,” Emery said. “It was a mistake. A big mistake.”

Villa’s fury was compounded when Amad Diallo put United ahead in the 76th minute. Christian Eriksen added another from the penalty spot late on — prompting sarcastic applause from Emery, who also waited to confront the referee after the final whistle.

Villa, which was a Champions League quarterfinalist this year, qualified for the Europa League in sixth place.

Man United finished 15th in the 20-team league.

Newcastle reprieve

In a season in which Newcastle ended its decades long trophy-drought, it very nearly blew the Champions League at the death.

Having started the day in fourth, the English League Cup winner dropped out of the top five when Carlos Alcaraz struck for Everton in the second half at St James’ Park.

But Newcastle ended the day and the season in fifth — ahead of Villa on goal difference — courtesy of the events at Old Trafford.

Chelsea’s return

Two-time Champions League winner Chelsea is back among the elite of European soccer.

Levi Colwill’s goal was enough to secure a win at Forest and fourth place in the standings.

Chelsea last won the Champions League in 2021, but has missed out on qualification in each of the past two seasons during a turbulent period under American owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.

But a return to European club soccer’s top competition is a sign that things are moving in the right direction, while Enzo Maresca’s team can still end the season with silverware in the Conference League final against Real Betis on Wednesday.

Forest finished the season in seventh and will play in the Conference League next season.

Consolation for City

After ending the season empty-handed for the first time in eight years, City will at least be in the Champions League next term.

That was far from guaranteed for much of a season in which the four-time defending champion saw its title defense unravel before Christmas.

An early exit from the Champions League followed and City was beaten by Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final last weekend.

There is still the possibility of a trophy at the Club World Cup in the United States, starting in June, but City manager Pep Guardiola’s priority in the closing weeks of the campaign was to secure a return to the Champions League.

“It’s like a title,” Guardiola said. “At the end we finished third, not miles away from Arsenal, but the distance to Liverpool is huge. We have to improve and hopefully we can do it.”

Ilkay Gundogan and Erling Haaland were on target against Fulham at Craven Cottage to ensure the season ended on a winning note.

Title celebrations

Liverpool title celebrations have been going on for a few weeks now, but the Premier League champion finally got its hands on the trophy in front of its own fans.

Virgil van Dijk held it aloft to roars from the Anfield crowd and an explosion of fireworks.

Crystal Palace came close to dampening those celebrations, but Mohamed Salah — who else? — struck in the 84th and the game finished 1-1.

Arsenal, runner-up for the third year in a row, beat last-placed Southampton 2-1 after Martin Odegaard’s 89th-minute winner.

Tottenham routed

Tottenham followed up its Europa League triumph on Wednesday with a 22nd league defeat of the season to round off a dire domestic campaign.

Leading through Dominic Solanke’s first-half penalty, Spurs conceded four goals after the break to lose 4-1 at home to Brighton.

Ange Postecoglou’s team finished 17th — just one place above the relegation zone — but will play Champions League soccer next season by virtue of winning the Europa League.

Amorim’s apology

Man United coach Ruben Amorim apologized to fans after what he described as a “disastrous” season.

United ended the campaign with a slew of unwanted records, including the club’s lowest Premier League finish and points total. The 20-time champion also fell to a club record number of losses in the modern era, but Amorim said the good times would be back.

“I want to apologize for this season. I know you are really disappointed with me and really disappointed with the team,” he said. “Today after this disastrous season I want to tell you the good days are coming.”

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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