Man City CL hopes hit by home draw with Arsenal

By our correspondents
May 09, 2016

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MANCHESTER: Manchester City’s participation in next season’s Champions League is in doubt after they drew 2-2 with Arsenal on Sunday to give Manchester United the chance to overtake them.

City’s departing manager Manuel Pellegrini had hoped for a winning farewell at the Etihad and exquisite goals from Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne, who ran half the length of the pitch and held off four defenders, twice put the hosts ahead.

But Arsenal hit back both times, Olivier Giroud ending his barren spell with a simple header from six yards for his first goal in 16 games before the Frenchman laid off a delicate pass for the advancing Alexis Sanchez to beat Joe Hart.

Substitute Wilfried Bony volleyed against the bar late on for Champions League semi-finalists City, who were booed by their supporters at the final whistle.City stayed fourth in the table with one match left to play, two points ahead of United who have two games left.

At White Hart Lane, two goals from Steven Davis gave Southampton a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur who missed the chance to confirm a second-place finish in the Premier League.

Less than 24 hours after watching Leicester City’s title celebrations, Spurs displayed familiar limitations as they again failed to kill off a team despite taking the lead after 15 minutes when Son Heung-min rounded Southampton keeper Fraser Forster.

Southampton always looked dangerous and equalised when Dusan Tadic controlled the ball deftly to set up Davies who flicked the ball home from close range after 31 minutes.

The same combination provided Saints’ winner halfway through the second half when Davies played a neat one-two with Tadic on the edge of the box and scored with a low shot that beat Hugo Lloris in his bottom corner.

Southampton climbed into sixth place, still in the hunt for a Europa League slot, while Spurs stayed second, three points ahead of arch-rivals Arsenal who have a game in hand.

“We are still in a great position and if we look back to the start of the season, we all should be proud,” Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino said.

“We need to look at ourselves, not at our neighbours (Arsenal). We need to think like a big club, not worrying about what’s happening in another house, and we need to change that mentality, to be strong, to be a big club,” he added.

Southampton manager Ronald Koeman was delighted with his side. “If we can win next week at home, we will have 63 points — a really fantastic achievement by the team. We like to play in Europe and it’s important for the club and the players.”

In another match, a much-changed Liverpool side still had too much class for Watford as goals from Joe Allen and Roberto Firmino gave Juergen Klopp’s side a comfortable 2-0 win at Anfield.

Allen and Christian Benteke, who have struggled to secure first-team spots this season, combined well for the opener after 35 minutes when the Welshman burst on to the striker’s knockdown.

Klopp’s side continued to dominate after the break and Firmino added a second with a right-foot shot from outside the box after 76 minutes.

The victory left Europa League finalists Liverpool eighth in the table with two games remaining. Watford stayed 13th.

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