fbpx
Connect with us

English Premier League

Record lows for Man Utd, 16th, and Spurs, 17th, as Chelsea and Aston Villa boosts top 5 hopes

Record lows continue for Man Utd, 16th, and Spurs, 17th, as Chelsea and Aston Villa boosts their Premier League top 5 hopes.

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are experiencing historically poor seasons. United have 10 wins, 9 draws, and 18 losses with a -12 goal difference, while Spurs have 11 wins, 5 draws, and 21 losses with a +2 goal difference, both with one game remaining.

Meanwhile, Chelsea and Aston Villa are pushing for top-five finishes, with Chelsea in 4th and Villa in 5th, each with 66 points.

Villa’s recent 2-0 win over Spurs and Chelsea’s draw against United have bolstered their hopes for Champions League qualification.

Aston Villa moved into the top five thanks to goals from Ezri Konsa and Boubacar Kamara as Ange Postecoglou rested key Tottenham players for a 2-0 defeat.

Chelsea move step closer to returning to the Champions League after two years away, with Marc Cucurella nodding in after Reece James’ cross to inflict Man Utd’s 18th defeat of the Premier League season and extend their winless run to a record eight games.

Up next for Man Utd and Tottenham, the Europa League final, against each other.

Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa, speaking to Sky Sports: “We work on set pieces nearly every day. We have a set piece coach in and we worked on that specific corner and it came off. We knew hwe had to score early int he second half and give the fans something to cheer for.

“We knew today was must win. We want to play Champions League football again. We knew Tottenham had a final on Wednesday but we needed to stay focused and win.

“We had a taste of it this season and us as players, it’s a competition you want to play in. It’s the main goal for us going into the last game.

“Taking it game-by-game really. We had to go to Bournemouth and win then the focus is on today. We’ll rest now and focus on United. It’s not in our hands as of yet but we’ll do all we can.”

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery, speaking to Sky Sports: “Good evening. Very happy. We won and we are on a run but still have work to do. We have to ready and be consistent. We finished the season here with our supporters and our enegery and our wishes to be in Europe. We still have chances to play in the Champions League.

“They [Spurs] competed well and did a fantastic job. We were consistent, demanding and when we scored the first goal, they gave up. Good luck to them in the final.

“We needed to manage the 90 minutes and we worked it fantastic. We are being demanding in this moment. We can get Champions League, fantastic.

“We are wishing to continue in the season we are doing. We are now in a good moment. We try to play well and in our best moment. Some players are enjoying it now.

“We are going to continue in our plan. We will work tomorrow and have Sunday and Monday off.”

Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou, speaking to Sky Sports: “He [Pape Sarr] felt something in his back and took him off as a precaution. Not too significant and Mikey was OK but was just fatigued.

“He [Son Heung-min] is ready and available. They all are ready to start. It was important tonight and he feels like he is getting back to some rhythm.

“I thought up until they scored the boys worked hard, they were really disciplined and organised. We didn’t really let them create too many openings. We had our moments as well going forward but once they scored we lost a little bit of belief.

“A lot of those guys haven’t played a lot and we looked like we were fatiguing and then the game just got away from us.”

Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella, speaking to Sky Sports: “I am very happy. I think the team deserves this moment.

“We know that we needed to stay in the game.

“It was very important. We have been working for these moments. We have two more games left – we need to push hard. We need to finish the season strong.”

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: “I think we started great, well but in the final third we needed to be a bit more aggressive. We were there, we faced the game in the right way. It was a bit of bad luck today. Sometimes we want to press and to score a goal but we lost a little bit of concentration.

“It was different but you never like when you lose the game. We were competitive, that was clear.

“We have to prepare for each competition, with five days, we can rest. We have five days to prepare [for the Europa League final], two days to fully recover and then two days to prepare.

“In the end I looked at all the players and I think they are ok.

“Of course, we are excited to be in the final. Since day one the pressure has been there but I live quite well with the pressure. When you have the final of any cup, we show up so we are prepared for that.”

Chelsea’s captain Reece James, speaking to Sky Sports: “We have been working the whole season. The messages have been clear from the start.

“Executing them has been hard, but this is what we do – day in, and day out.

“The first half was super tough. We stayed in the game, and we knew that we had to come out and score.”

On the Champions League: “I think that’s where the club belongs, in the Champions League. Competing in the best competitions.

“People like to write us off and call us inexperienced. We played against a very experienced United team today. We were there and we won the game. We got what we needed to do.”

Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella, speaking to BBC: “We are very happy, we deserved a moment like this. We know that we needed to stay in the game and we gave all that we had and we have three points that I think we deserve.

On his goal: “I’m very happy because I can help the team. Once Reece [James] has the ball, I know I need to attack there.

On Reece James’ performance: “It has been a tough season for him, a lot of injuries but he is one of the best players that we have in the squad. We are very happy to have him in the team and he helps us a lot.

On a good end to the season: “It is very important [to get Champions League football], step by step we are creating something special and now only two games left to achieve something special. The most important thing is it depends on us so we have to play the game on Sunday and then we are thinking about the [Conference League] final. Today is a moment to enjoy because we work all season for these moments so now we have ambitions to achieve these things.”

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, speaking to Sky Sports: “It was quite confident because I know how difficult it is to play against United.

“We expected a very tough game. They played very well. I was completely confident, overall, it was a game that we could have a good moment and score a goal.

“I used to watch five, six, seven games when we play against a team. I have never watched them [Man Utd] so aggressive – they were man to man, and it was very difficult.

“Off the ball I think we played a fantastic game. The team was very aggressive until the end, we tried to press higher, and I think we deserved to win the game.

“It is nice to work on some solutions and then you score.”

On Marc Cucurella: “He is a very good player. It is about timing and being in the right position in the right moment.

“Cucurella is very intelligent and very clever.”

On the media scrutiny over Chelsea: “For me, personally the problem is in general, you, the press. You think it is the same Chelsea from years ago. It is not the same.

“I don’t think since I am here, we are expecting more money than other clubs. It is about building something important. People have to trust us – we are going in the right direction.”

Related Topics
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

More in English Premier League