Late goal hurts Tottenham's Premier League survival hopes and Chelsea loses to Man United
News > Top Stories
Audio By Carbonatix
10:25 AM on Saturday, April 18
By STEVE DOUGLAS
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Tottenham remains rooted inside the relegation zone. Chelsea is stuck outside the Champions League spots.
It was a disappointing Saturday for the two London giants in the Premier League, starting with Tottenham conceding an equalizer deep into stoppage time to draw 2-2 with Brighton.
That kept Spurs, ever-presents in England's top flight since 1978, in third-to-last place and in grave danger of relegation with five games left.
Chelsea then lost 1-0 at home to Manchester United in a showdown between teams fighting for a place in the top five and therefore Champions League qualification. Matheus Cunha scored the only goal.
While United strengthened its grip on third place, Chelsea stayed in sixth and is looking increasingly unlikely to get back into Europe's top competition next season. That would be a huge financial blow to Chelsea's American ownership which has spent heavily to build an underperforming playing squad.
Tottenham is still without a win in the Premier League in 2026 — a stretch of 15 matches. That's a remarkable run for one of the country's so-called “Big Six” which played in the Champions League this season as the reigning Europa League winner.
Yet Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi still believes his team is capable of winning all of its remaining games and staying up.
“Now it's difficult to hear my words,” he said, "but if you watch the players and analyze the level of the players, I think we can win five games in a row.
“Not to be arrogant because I am not arrogant, especially now, but we have the quality enough to fight and win games in a row.”
Georginio Rutter's late equalizer for Brighton at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium meant last-place Wolverhampton's impending relegation was put off for bit longer. However, Wolves are destined for the drop, with their 3-0 loss at Leeds meaning they are 15 points from safety with five matches remaining.
Xavi Simons looked as if he'd won the game for Tottenham when he cut inside and curled a finish into the top corner in the 77th minute, sparking joyous celebrations by newly hired manager Roberto De Zerbi. The Italian, formerly Brighton's manager, was taking charge of his second game and first at home.
Earlier, Pedro Porro gave Tottenham the lead with a 39th-minute header, before Kaoru Mitoma volleyed home an equalizer in first-half stoppage time.
Tottenham is a point behind West Ham, which visits Crystal Palace on Monday, and two behind Nottingham Forest, which hosts Burnley on Sunday.
Wolves have been in the Premier League for the past eight seasons but are now on the brink.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin converted a stoppage-time penalty to round off the win for Leeds after early goals by James Justin — with a bicycle kick — and Noah Okafor.
Leeds is eight points clear of the relegation zone.
Man United moved 10 points clear of Chelsea and looks certain to qualify for the Champions League after a big win sealed despite not having four center backs available.
Cunha converted a cut-back from Bruno Fernandes, who now has 18 assists for the campaign — two off the Premier League record held jointly by Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry.
Chelsea was without Joao Pedro, who was injured in training this week, and lost Estevao to an injury midway through the first half.
Chelsea has lost its last three league games and five of its last six games in all competitions, piling the heat on inexperienced manager Liam Rosenior.
“At the moment, any small mistake we are making and the ball ends up in the back of our net,” Rosenior said, “and that has to change.”
Newcastle's players were jeered after a 2-1 home loss to Bournemouth, the team's third straight defeat in the Premier League.
It left Newcastle in 14th place in the 20-team top flight with five games remaining of the campaign and manager Eddie Howe under increasing pressure.
Adrien Truffert grabbed the winner in the 85th minute as eighth-place Bournemouth extended its unbeaten run to 13 straight league matches.
Brentford failed to boost its unlikely Champions League qualification hopes by drawing a fifth straight game in the Premier League, this time 0-0 at home to Fulham.
Brentford could have climbed above Chelsea, which plays Manchester United later, and into sixth place with a win but missed a slew of chances. Top scorer Igor Thiago hit the goal frame.
Ten years after winning the Premier League, Leicester looks to be heading to the third tier of English soccer.
A 1-0 loss at Portsmouth on Saturday left Leicester in second-to-last place in the Championship, eight points from safety with just three games left.
Wrexham, the Welsh club owned by Hollywood celebrities, moved just two points off the playoff places with a 2-0 win over Stoke.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
