Manchester United responded to Leicester’s victory earlier on Thursday as they got the better Crystal Palace, winning 2-0 at Selhurst Park.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men were far from their best but goals from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial was enough to seal the victory and stay level on points with the Foxes.
The visitors had one or two scares in the match, however. Palace were perhaps unfortunate to not be given a penalty in the first half when Wilfried Zaha went down having tangled legs with Victor Lindelof.
And when the game was at 1-0, the home side thought they’d equalised but a VAR review showed scorer Jordan Ayew was narrowly offside.
It was the ideal response from the Champions League hopefuls, who would’ve been aware that their rivals for fourth spot, Leicester, coasted to a 2-0 victory at home to Europa League qualification contenders Sheffield United.
The Foxes took the lead after 29 minutes when Ayoze Perez scored his eighth goal of the season. Debutant Thomas found the striker unmarked 15 yards out and his low effort beat Dean Henderson.
The three points were wrapped up when Premier League centurion Jamie Vardy who turned provider this time.
The former England striker found Demarai Gray, who fired past Henderson to wrap up all three points for the hosts and keep their Champions League dreams alive.
At the other end of the table, Aston Villa missed a huge chance to help their survival bid as Theo Walcott’s late header saw them held to a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park.
Neither side was able to register a shot on target until the 72nd minute. When it arrived it brought a goal as Ezri Konsa touched home Conor Hourihane’s cross to hand the visitors a relegation lifeline.
But Dean Smith’s men were denied a precious three points when Lucas Digne’s deep cross found Theo Walcott and the substitute headed the ball back towards the far post.
As it hung agonisingly in the air for Villa, hero Konsa could not get the necessary connection to keep the ball from crossing the line and Anthony Taylor confirmed (via his watch) what Smith feared.
Villa have got two games remaining now; Arsenal at home and then face West Ham United in the East End. Considering they are level with Bournemouth on 31 points and three behind the Hammers and Watford, their fate is out of their hands.
Meanwhile, Brighton just missed out on confirming their Premier League status for next season as they drew 1-1 at Southampton.
A win would have been enough to put them enough points clear of the drop and the Seagulls took the lead through Neal Maupay’s effort.
But the scores were level on 66 minutes when Danny Ings got his 20th Premier League goal of the season, putting him three behind top scorer Vardy.
Graham Potter’s men will be disappointed they didn’t get the win tonight but they’re six points clear of the relegation zone with two games left so it’s very likely we’ll be seeing them in the top flight next term.
————————
By: Joe
Title: Premier League RESULTS: Manchester United and Leicester win as top four race intensifies, Aston Villa’s survival bid suffers blow
Sourced From: talksport.com/football/733505/premier-league-results-man-united-leicester-top-four-aston-villa-survival-hope/
Published Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2020 19:01:37 +0000
