Man City leave it late to boost European hopes Villa thump Newcastle
LIVERPOOL, England - Two late goals boosted Manchester Citys hopes of Champions League qualification as they beat Everton 2-0 to move to fourth in the Premier League on Saturday, while Aston Villa also stayed in the hunt with a thumping home defeat of Newcastle United.
With Liverpool potentially sealing the title on Sunday and the relegation places looking set, the race to finish in the top five and qualify for next seasons Champions League is adding some much-needed tension to the run-in.
Outgoing champions Manchester City are by no means certain to secure their spot and for long periods at Goodison Park they were flat and looked in danger of dropping more points.
But goals by Nico OReilly and Mateo Kovacic in the final minutes secured a win to move them above Nottingham Forest into fourth spot with 58 points from 33 matches, one point behind third-placed Newcastle and one ahead of Forest and sixth-placed Villa who crushed Newcastle 4-1 in the late kickoff.
City host Villa on Tuesday in a crunch game.
Of course, we are miles away from (league leaders) Liverpool. But now it (Champions League qualification) is in our hands, we need a final on Tuesday. Hopefully we can achieve this big success to qualify for the Champions League, relieved manager Pep Guardiola said after the win at Everton.
OReilly stabbed home the ball from four metres after connecting with Matheus Nuness low cross before Kovacic drilled in the second goal from the edge of the box.
Evertons defender James Tarkowski had struck the post with a header from a corner in the first half for Everton, who remain 13th with 38 points from 33 games.
Villa bowed out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage on Tuesday despite a thrilling 3-2 second-leg win at home
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