Tottenham inflicted a chastening 4-0 home defeat on 10-man Aston Villa as Ange Postecoglou’s men emphatically won this key battle in the race for Champions League qualification.
Sunday’s crunch clash between fourth and fifth was described in the build-up by Villa skipper John McGinn as “the most important game in the club’s recent history”.
Unai Emery’s men had the chance to move eight points clear of Spurs in the final guaranteed Champions League spot, but instead the hosts’ captain saw red in an embarrassing second-half collapse.
Tottenham moved within two points of Villa with a win that started with James Maddison turning home a brilliant Pape Matar Sarr cross in the 50th minute.
Brennan Johnson scored a fantastic second three minutes later and McGinn’s rash, frustrated challenge on Destiny Udogie led to a straight red card that ended Villa hopes of a comeback.
Son Heung-min and substitute Timo Werner struck in stoppage time as Spurs secured a statement win in the Midlands, ending Villa’s run of three straight Premier League wins in this fixture.
The players emerged to smoke and pyrotechnics at Villa Park but there were no first-half fireworks to write about.
Ollie Watkins threatened to punish Spurs’ high line early on, with Micky van de Ven’s recovery pace bailing out Cristian Romero after the in-form striker burst past beyond him.
Another example of that approach saw Watkins slipped through before the offside flag saved the Villa striker’s blushes after his undercooked pass to Leon Bailey was cut out by Pedro Porro.
Guglielmo Vicario punched away a testing McGinn free-kick and Matty Cash prodded wide after a cutback was blocked, while at the other end Villa’s five-man defence was keeping Spurs’ attack quiet.
Villa went close to taking the lead on the stroke of half-time from a short corner. The ball was laid back for McGinn to hit a well-struck cross and Lucas Digne’s flicked header looped narrowly wide.
Postecoglou’s men escaped that threat and came back from the break with a pep in their step, and not even Van de Ven’s early withdrawal could throw them off kilter.
The injured Tottenham defender had to be replaced by Radu Dragusin and headed down the tunnel just as his team-mates and the away end burst into celebration behind him.
Sarr hit an outstanding cross from the right that Maddison met ahead of a pair of Villa defenders to turn home in the 50th minute.
The Spurs man wheeled off to celebrate with the away end, then turned to the home fans when bringing out his darts celebration.
The visiting hordes were on their feet again three minutes later as Ezri Konsa’s poor pass to Tielemans was cut out brilliantly by Dejan Kulusevski, with Son collecting the ball and playing on to Johnson to brilliantly bend beyond Emiliano Martinez.
Emery responded by changing personnel and shape, only to be derailed by McGinn’s dismissal in the 65th minute.
The frustrated Villa skipper wiped out Udogie with a stupid tackle, leading to a clash involving both teams as referee Chris Kavanagh brandished a straight red card.
“2-0 in your cup final” bellowed the gleeful travelling fans, who saw Kulusevski try to add a third as they cruised against the 10-man hosts.
Vicario spread himself to stop substitute Nicolo Zaniolo but Tottenham were in control and struck twice more late on.
Son lashed home from Kulusevski’s pass in the 91st minute and substitute Werner completed the rout four minutes into the additional 10 as the home fans cleared out.
Nottingham Forest 0-2 Manchester City: Haaland back on the goal trail as defending champions march on
Erling Haaland returned from injury to keep Manchester City’s title charge on track as Pep Guardiola’s side secured a 2-0 victory over relegation-battling Nottingham Forest.
Josko Gvardiol’s near-post header was all that separated the two sides at half-time as he fired City in front from a Kevin De Bruyne corner.
Forest were left to rue big opportunities missed in the opening 45 minutes, with Chris Wood and Murillo both having gilt-edged chances to find an equaliser at the City Ground.
But Guardiola, overseeing his 300th Premier League game as City boss, called upon Haaland in the second half, and the Norway international duly delivered to double City’s lead and nudge the reigning champions back to within a point of leaders Arsenal, who beat Tottenham earlier on Sunday.
It was almost a dream opening minute for Forest as Ola Aina’s floated cross to the back post was met by an unmarked Neco Williams, but he failed to connect properly with a close-range shot.
Forest were made to pay when City opened the scoring in the 32nd minute. De Bruyne’s excellent delivery found Gvardiol, who powered a header home at the front post.
Wood should have restored parity shortly after, as he found himself in acres of space when Gonzalo Montiel cut it back on the volley, but the ball got caught up in the striker’s feet with the goal at his mercy.
Forest went agonisingly close again on the stroke of half-time, with Ederson – who was subsequently taken off at the break – fortunate not to concede after he failed to deal with Callum Hudson-Odoi’s corner, but Murillo could not apply the finish a few yards out.
Wood saw another huge chance pass by early in the second half, but his close-range effort was blocked after some excellent work from Anthony Elanga down the left.
De Bruyne showed his creative spark once again as he slotted a throughball behind the Forest defence in the 63rd minute, but Julian Alvarez’s effort from the edge of the area flew into the stands behind the goal.
Matz Sels was called into action moments later, palming behind De Bruyne’s thunderous long-range strike, which was heading for the top-left corner.
But City’s second finally arrived when, in the 71st minute, De Bruyne teed up Haaland, who calmly got the better of his marker, shifted it onto his right foot and slotted into the bottom-left corner to end Forest’s hopes of a comeback.
While City remain hot on Arsenal’s heels, Forest stay just one point above the relegation zone, having lost three of their last four matches.
Guardiola – 300 not out
Sunday marked Guardiola’s 300th Premier League game in charge of Man City, seeing him become the 19th manager to reach this total, and just the fifth to do so for a single club.
Of the 300 games under the Spanish manager’s tutelage, City have won 221, scoring 741 goals in the process, while only conceding 247 times.
City now have a four-point lead over Liverpool, whose title hopes are fading quickly, and an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League crown is certainly on the cards for Guardiola.
Forest’s recurring issues show no sign of abating
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have now conceded 29 first-half goals in 35 league games this season, with only Sheffield United (38) and Burnley (30) having conceded more.
The Tricky Trees – who are one of three teams fighting for 17th place after Everton hauled themselves to safety over the past week – have also conceded 23 goals from set-pieces this term in the competition, at least five more than any other team.
Despite being behind at the break, Forest’s xG of 1.27 was the most by any side in the first half of a game against City this season, in all competitions, with a wastefulness in front of goal another glaring problem that Nuno must fix.
Lyon are through to their 11th Women's Champions League final after sealing a 5-3 aggregate victory over compatriots Paris Saint-Germain.
The record eight-time winners scored three times in the final 10 minutes of last week's first leg to take a narrow 3-2 lead into the return fixture at Parc des Princes.
However, they were quicker out of the blocks in the second leg, with just three minutes on the clock when Selma Bacha drilled home from range for her first Champions League strike in five-and-a-half years.
Tabitha Chawinga responded before the break to reduce PSG's aggregate deficit to a single goal, but Melchie Dumornay put the tie beyond doubt nine minutes from time, as Sonia Bompastor's side set up a final showdown with Barcelona on May 25.
Data debrief
Lyon continued their dominance over PSG in Champions League semi-final encounters, having now progressed from each of their last four such ties.
The eight-time champions lost their first two semi-finals they contested in this competition, but have now won each of the last 10, and will seek a record-extending ninth title in Bilbao next month.
Inter's 'leader' Inzaghi upping the standards, says assistant Farris
Simone Inzaghi has set and maintained high standards at Inter, so says his Nerazzurri assistant Massimiliano Farris.
Inter clinched their 20th Serie A title by beating fierce rivals Milan in Monday's derby.
That meant that Sunday's home meeting with Torino was something of a celebration for Inter and their fans, and the team delivered with a 2-0 victory.
Hakan Calhanoglu scored both of Inter's goals, and Farris, who spoke to the media instead of his boss, piled the praise on Inzaghi.
In quotes reported by Football Italia, Farris told DAZN: "We've tried to build a positive environment. We lost important players [last summer], but we welcomed important players who made themselves loved.
"Going to the pitch and working this season was a pleasure. We had a lot of fun and it's the players' merit.
"We are Inter, we have great value, and we couldn't afford to lose games like we used to. He's our leader, he kept a high bar in difficult moments.
"Today, we are repaid for everything, and we can enjoy more of what happened in the previous two years. In football, defeats [hurt] more than victories, but now we must enjoy this moment."
With victory over Milan, Inzaghi became the second-fastest coach to reach 600 points in Serie A, after Carlo Ancelotti.
Farris added: "Simone already said it in the previous interviews. We’ve been fighting for every target across the last three years. We have won cups, we reached a Champions League final.
"We are aware that in the first season, we missed something that we could have taken home [the title].
"Perhaps it was the price to pay, as staff members, when you get to a club like this, but I think this season's achievements give value to all other trophies.
"Today's atmosphere was incredible, so good. Ninety minutes and more of celebrations and it was fair to start those who have brought the team here. This doesn't mean the others didn't contribute. On the contrary, everyone was helpful, I should name them all. I wouldn't even call them reserves."
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