Liverpool, Chelsea qualify for Champions League

Villa beat Chelsea
Aston Villa's Jacob Ramsey and Chelsea's Ben Chilwell fight for possession. Photo: AFP

Bimingham:  Liverpool and Chelsea grabbed the final two Champions League places but Leicester City fell short of a top-four finish for the second successive season on a nerve-jangling final day of the Premier League season on Sunday.

Liverpool avoided any drama as they beat Crystal Palace 2-0 to finish in third spot -- a silver lining to a difficult season in which their attempted defence of the title crumbled.

Chelsea lost 2-1 at Aston Villa -- a result that could have been curtains for them in the top-four battle.

Yet they were saved as arch-rivals Tottenham twice came from a goal down to win 4-2 at Leicester City.

Harry Kane was on target for Tottenham to win the Premier League Golden Boot award for the third time with 23 goals while Gareth Bale struck twice late on.

Liverpool finished on 69 points with Chelsea on 67 and Leicester on 66.

Sergio Aguero scored twice on his final league game for champions Manchester City as they thrashed Everton 5-0.

Second-placed Manchester United beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 to end 12 points behind City.

Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea, who had Ben Chilwell on the scoresheet in reply to goals by Bertrand Traore and an Anwar El Ghazi penalty, had to rely on London rivals Tottenham.

Chelsea meet Premier League champions Manchester City in the Champions League final in Porto, Portugal, next weekend but wanted to secure their spot in the competition beforehand.

The visitors dominated the first half against Villa, with 68 per cent of possession, but it was their former forward Traore who grabbed the advantage for the home side, hitting the target off the underside of the bar from a Jack Grealish corner.

Chelsea should have equalised through Christian Pulisic before Traore won a penalty in the 51st minute when Jorginho clipped his ankle in the box and brought him down. Dutch midfielder El Ghazi scored from the spot.

Chilwell pulled a goal back for Chelsea in the 70th minute from a Pulisic pass, 10 minutes after Timo Werner had a goal ruled out for offside against captain Cesar Azpilicueta.

Azpilicueta was sent off in the 88th minute after reacting to a Grealish challenge by barging him in the face.

Chelsea will be concerned for first choice goalkeeper Edouard Mendy who had to be sustituted at half-time after falling heavily into the post.

Sadio Mane
Sadio Mane draws first blood for Liverpool against Crystal Palace. Photo: Reuters

Sadio Mane struck twice as Liverpool secured Champions League qualification with a 2-0 win over Palace at Anfield.

A fifth straight win completed an impressive end to what had been a disappointing and injury-plagued Premier League campaign for last season's champions.

With 10,000 home fans present, Liverpool made a nervy start and Palace's Andros Townsend missed a great chance when he intercepted a poor pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold but with only Alisson Becker to beat, he fired wide of the post.

Liverpool grew into the game though, creating several chances before Mane broke the deadlock in the 36th minute, firing home from close range after Palace were unable to clear an Andy Robertson corner.

Mane made sure of the win and a top-four spot when he drilled in a left-footed shot in the 74th minute after being set up by Mohamed Salah.

Liverpool ended the season unbeaten in their final 10 matches, winning eight of them. 

The game was the final match in charge of Palace for their manager Roy Hodgson, who is leaving the role at the age of 73.

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