Aston Villa manager Unai Emery celebrated a “very special day” after the Premier League club clinched a spot in Europe’s top-tier club-football competition for the first time since 1983 and said he is excited by the future of his team.

The West Midlands side secured the Champions League spot on Tuesday after Tottenham Hotspur suffered a 2-0 home loss to Manchester City in the Premier League. Aston Villa had won the old European Cup, precursor to the Champions League, in 1982, but have not played in the continental competition for 41 years.

Villa are fourth in the Premier League standings with 68 points, five more than Tottenham, who sit fifth with one game to play. City are now within touching distance of an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League title.

“It’s a very special day today,” Emery told Villa’s website. “It was our dream when we started the season to be here. To play Champions League is, after the Premier League, the best.

“You can play in the Premier League against the best teams in the world, it’s very difficult. When you are playing in the Champions League you are playing against the best teams, at the same time, from other countries. And it’s amazing.

“And we are always responsible about the history here, we know the history of Aston Villa is so long and so successful. Even in the Champions League, before it was the European Cup, we knew the responsibility was to try to increase our level, try to be demanding and to dream.

“I want to enjoy more and, next year, now the new challenge starts for us. To build again a team, and being strong to go and always increase our level. This is our objective.”

The confirmation of their top-four finish coincided with the club’s End of Season Awards Dinner at Villa Park, where captain John McGinn also spoke on the achievement.

“On behalf of all the players, it’s been an amazing season,” the 29-year-old Scotland international said.

“We got promoted, we got into the Premier League and were seven points behind with four games to play, we managed to stay in the league.

“We kept building and thankfully we’ve achieved something we haven’t done for 40 years. So, on behalf of all the players and staff, we’re over the moon, we’re delighted.”

Villa will conclude their campaign with a trip on Sunday to in-form Crystal Palace, who are 12th in the league.

-Reuters

Arsenal kept their Premier League title dreams alive by ending an Old Trafford hoodoo to grind out a 1-0 win at Manchester United on Sunday to move back top of the table.

Leandro Trossard scored the only goal on 20 minutes as Arsenal won for just the second time in 17 games away at United to go a point clear at the summit.

Manchester City still have the destiny of the title in their own hands as the defending champions have two matches left to Arsenal’s one.

However, the Gunners kept the pressure on Pep Guardiola’s men ahead of their tricky trip to Tottenham on Tuesday.

Defeat further dented United’s chances of competing in Europe next season.

Erik ten Hag’s men showed more spirit than in a dismal 4-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on Monday, but have now won just one of their last eight Premier League games.

United remain eighth in the table, three points adrift of both Newcastle, who they face on Wednesday, and Chelsea.

Arsenal have been in scintillating form in 2024 to remain in the race for their first league title in 20 years.

Mikel Arteta’s men have won 15 and drawn one of their 17 league games since the turn of the year.

But Arsenal were far from their flowing best as the expected onslaught of an injury-ravaged United never materialised under unusually stifling heat in England’s north-west.

The manner of defeat at Palace had increased the scrutiny on United boss Ten Hag.

He made three changes to the team swept aside at Selhurst Park as Scott McTominay, Sofyan Amrabat and Amad Diallo came in.

The Dutchman’s options were again hamstrung by a lengthy list of absentees with captain Bruno Fernandes among those sidelined and a bench littered with youngsters.

But his decision to retain Casemiro as a makeshift centre-back after his woeful showing against Palace will become another stick to beat the beleaguered coach with.

The Brazil captain was dropped from their squad for the Copa America in midweek due to his terrible form.

After United had managed to keep the free-scoring visitors at bay for the opening 20 minutes, Casemiro was culpable for the opening goal.

The 32-year-old was laboured in pushing up from a United goal-kick to play Kai Havertz onside and Trossard then stole in on the blind side of Casemiro to tap in the German’s cross.

United’s new co-owner Jim Ratcliffe was in attendance at Old Trafford rather than at Wembley to see the club’s women pick up their first ever major trophy in the FA Cup final.

The work that lies ahead of Ratcliffe has been laid bare in recent weeks, but the home side did manage to keep the majority of the 74,000 crowd onside by taking the game to Arsenal after the break.

Arsenal, though, were rarely seriously troubled as they held out for a sixth clean sheet in their last seven away league games.

Alejandro Garnacho was United’s one live wire but smashed into the side-netting with his best chance to equalise.

Gabriel Martinelli and Declan Rice were denied by brilliant Andre Onana saves to prevent Arsenal the second goal they craved to avoid a tense finale.

The visitors desperation to see the game out was evident as Martinelli took the ball to the corner with 10 minutes of the 90 still to play.

But Arsenal did just enough to ask the question City, who host West Ham on the final day of the season after their visit to north London in midweek.

-AFP

Tottenham Hotspur Ange Postecoglou visited Buckingham Palace this week but the Australian could leave King Charles disappointed on Saturday by relegating Burnley, a club the British monarch has a soft spot for.

Speaking ahead of the game in which Tottenham will try to halt a four-match losing sequence in the Premier League and send Burnley down, Postecoglou recalled his royal date.

“We got an invite from the Australian government. Me and the other Aussies in the group, Mile (Jedinak), Scott (Munn), Charlie Grant from the women’s team. It was nice, a different experience,” Postecoglou told reporters.

Burnley will be relegated unless they win at Tottenham and Postecoglou was asked about the King’s allegiance and whether he had any qualms about upsetting him.

“Probably why they kept him away from me!” he said. “I would be happy to disappoint him on that front. No problem.”

The Tottenham contingent did not meet Charles personally and Athens-born Postecoglou joked he might have got himself thrown out if he had.

“Yeah, but I didn’t get within 10 feet of the King and if I had of got closer I probably would have asked him about the Parthenon marbles and I would probably have got thrown out,” he said.

“It was nice for me and my wife. These are experiences you are just fortunate because of the position I hold, not necessarily who I am.

“When you’re in that space it’s special. So, yeah, it was a good day.”

Greece has long-called for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures — or Elgin Marbles — which were transported from Athens to London in 1807 and sit in the British Museum.

Speaking of more usual topics, Postecoglou said Tottenham’s poor end to the campaign which is likely to have scuppered their Champions League qualification hopes has not changed his thinking about what the club need to do in the close season.

“The planning for the summer has been in hand for quite a while,” he said. “We know what we need to do. Nothing in that space has changed. So for me, how players and staff deal with adversity is more important for our growth than a reflection of us wanting to make more changes.”

Spurs avoided humiliation after a late push at Anfield last weekend, but the 4-2 defeat left them in fifth place and seven points behind Aston Villa, although they have one game in hand.

The loss came after their 4-0 thrashing at Newcastle United, followed by a 3-2 home defeat by Arsenal and a 2-0 loss at Chelsea but Postecoglou said clear thinking was needed rather than knee-jerk reactions.

“I think I have been consistent in saying we have got a challenge at the moment — a short term challenge,” Postecoglou said. “A significant rebuild, and the challenges will always be there and it is how you approach them.

“From my perspective, I need to be clear-headed about what we want to do and what we want to achieve. It is fair to say everyone is trying hard, it’s not because of a lack of trying — we need to stay calm and clear-headed.”

-Reuters