Arsenal lose, Villa keep CL hopes alive

AP:

THIS WAS not the way Arsenal wanted to prepare for the Champions League semifinal against Paris Saint-Germain.

Ahead of Wednesday’s crucial second leg in Paris, Mikel Arteta’s team squandered another lead and lost to Bournemouth 2-1 in the Premier League yesterday.

PSG also lost by the same score against Strasbourg but the context was different.

PSG, leading 1-0 after the first leg against Arsenal, have already wrapped up the Ligue 1 title and coach Luis Enrique rested front-line players.

While Arsenal’s title hopes were ended last week, their bid to be runner-up for the third year in a row was under threat from Manchester City and Newcastle, and even Champions League qualification is not yet certain.

Defeat at home to Bournemouth continued their alarming domestic slump in the second half of the season.

Arsenal have won only three of its last 10 league games and just one of the last five.

Blowing the lead against Bournemouth was the fourth time in five league games that Arsenal have dropped points from a winning position.

Declan Rice opened the scoring but Bournemouth turned the game on its head after the break.

Dean Hujsen headed the visitors level from a corner and Evanilson poked in the winner from close range eight minutes later.

“We had so many open situations, big spaces, big opportunities to score, and we didn’t,” Arteta said. “When we have them we didn’t kill them, we give them hope, and then they score from set-pieces. It became very chaotic.”

Bournemouth completed a league double against Arsenal following a 2-0 win in October.

Arsenal are three points ahead of City with three rounds to go. Fourth-placed Newcastle are five behind Arsenal with a game in hand.

In the meantime, Youri Tielemans kept Aston Villa in the hunt for Champions League qualification after topping Fulham 1-0.

The midfielder’s first-half header moved seventh-placed Villa level on points with Chelsea in fifth and Nottingham Forest in sixth.

Villa bounced back after losing the FA Cup semifinal against Crystal Palace a week earlier.

“We wanted that win so badly in front of our fans, especially after last week. This was a massive win for us,” Tielemans said.

The top five teams qualify for next season’s Champions League and just four points separate third-placed Manchester City and Villa.

Tielemans headed in powerfully from a 12th-minute corner, but Villa could not extend their lead. Ollie Watkins was denied by Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno in the second half and substitute Donyell Malen hit the bar in stoppage time.

Villa were Champions League quarterfinalists this season after a 41-year absence from Europe’s top club competition. But their season has come off the rails in recent weeks after being eliminated from the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain, losing to top-five rivals Manchester City and being knocked out of the FA Cup.

A return to the Champions League would end the season on a high.

“We’re not favourites because other teams are in front of us, but we can continue to dream for it, playing strongly to take again the Champions League,” manager Unai Emery said.

“The real objective is for us to be in Europe, and after today, we are close to being in there.”

Leicester won for the first time since January by beating last-placed Southampton 2-0.

With both teams already relegated, there was little but pride at stake at King Power Stadium and Leicester gave their fans some rare cheer with only their fifth league win.

Club great Jamie Vardy – leaving at the end of the season – scored in the 17th and Jordan Ayew added the second from a free kick just before halftime.

Leicester’s last win was on January 26 against Tottenham.

Southampton’s 28th loss of a miserable campaign could see them equal Derby’s record for the lowest points total in a Premier League. Derby ended the 2008-09 campaign with 11 points.

With three rounds remaining, Southampton has 11 points.

Relegated Ipswich fought back from 2-0 down to draw with Everton 2-2.

Beto and Dwight McNeil put Everton in control in the Merseyside club’s penultimate game at Goodison Park before they move to a new stadium.

But Julio Enciso’s stunning long-range effort before the break sparked a comeback for Ipswich. Substitute George Hirst levelled with a far-post header.