After 11 years in the English top-flight league, Nigeria’s Paul Onuachu and Joe Aribo’s Southampton have officially relegated from the Premier League after a 2-0 home defeat to Fulham on Saturday afternoon, leaving them at the top of the table with just 24 points.
With only two rounds of matches left for most teams including Southampton, they would only move to 18th on the table if other bottom sides lost their remaining fixtures.
It ended goalless in the first half of the crucial encounter despite both teams attempting to break through each other’s goalkeepers.
However, Vinicius finally broke the deadlock for the visitors barely three minutes after the break before Aleksander Mitrovic, who recently came back from an eight-match ban, sealed the win for Fulham with his 72nd-minute goal which sank Southampton to the English Championship.
They have been relegated for the third time since the 2004/05 season and lost more league games this season (24) than in any previous campaigns in their history.
Manchester United vs Wolves
Manchester United moved to 66 points with third-placed Newcastle United thanks to a comfortable two-nil win over Wolves at Old Trafford as the Red Devils returned to winning ways after two consecutive league defeats.
One goal in each half by Anthony Martial and teenage sensation, Alejandro Garnacho, who recently returned from injury, ensured the Red Devils’ victory and further boosted their chances of Champions League qualification.
Goalkeeper Daniel Bentley put on an incredible performance on several occasions throughout the game. Despite the defeat, the Englishman made multiple big saves to minimize the damage for Wolves.
Leeds United vs Newcastle United
It was a disappointing afternoon for Newcastle United in their push for Champions League football next season as Eddie Howe’s side were held to a two-all draw by relegation strugglers Leeds United, who secured an important point in their fight for survival.
Despite the visitors mounting the pressure early on in the match, Leeds United took the lead barely seven minutes in when Luke Ayling tapped Nick Pope’s parried ball into the net. However, in the 28th minute, Sam Allardyce’s men failed to double the lead after Patrick Bamford’s penalty was saved by Pope.
Barely three minutes later, Newcastle United were awarded a penalty after the ball struck Junior Firpo’s hand and Callum Wilson made no mistake in converting the spot-kick as the entertaining first half ended one-all.
The scoreline remained until the 69th minute when Wilson scored his brace again from a spot-kick to put the Magpies upfront for the first time in the encounter. However, ten minutes later, Rasmus Kristensen powered home a deflected volley to salvage a point for Leeds United.
Leeds United would soon be reduced to 10 men after Junior Firpo was shown a straight red card following a foul on Anthony Gordon but the Whites were able to see the game through.
They moved to 18th place on the league table with 31 points and only two games left – Leeds must avoid defeat in their remaining fixtures and would only hope results of other relegation strugglers end favourably to have any chance of staying in the top-flight division.
Chelsea vs Nottingham Forest
Two goals by Nigerian forward Taiwo Awoniyi helped Nottingham Forest play out a 2-2 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge as the Reds earned an important point in their push for Premier League safety.
Thirteen minutes into the match, the former Liverpool player put Forest ahead with a header over Edouard Mendy who was out of position to help Steve Cooper’s side go into the break with a lead.
Then six minutes after the break, Raheem Sterling equalised for the Blues with a shot inside the 18-yard area before scoring again in the 58th minute to put Chelsea in the lead for the first time in the fixture.
However, two minutes after the hour mark, Awoniyi found the back of the net with his head again as both sides shared the spoils but surely Nottingham Forest would be the happier side.
Thanks to the win, Nottingham Forest moved three points clear of the relegation zone – they sit 16th on the table with 34 points and with games left.
Full Matchday 36 results for Saturday;
Leeds United 2 vs 2 Newcastle United
Aston Villa 2 vs 1 Tottenham
Chelsea 2 vs 2 Nottingham Forest
Crystal Palace 2-0 Bournemouth
Manchester United 2 vs 0 Wolves
Southampton 0 vs 2 Fulham
