Chelsea took a significant step in the English teams’ tight fight to qualify for the Champions League, the contest the London club spurned along with others in their failed initiative to create the Super League.
Striker Timo Werner ended a two-month dry spell by scoring the goal that Chelsea beat West Ham 1-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.
The victory was combined with Newcastle’s 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool with a goal in injury time. Thus, Chelea stretched the advantage over its two main rivals in the fight to occupy the first four places that grant tickets to the “Champions”.
With five games remaining in the league, Chelsea is fourth, three points ahead of West Ham and four ahead of sixth-place Liverpool.
“It was a six-point game,” said Thomas Tuchel, the coach of the “Blues”, who will have a tight schedule for the season finale, including the FA Cup final against Leicester and the League semi-final. of Champions against Real Madrid.
Smiling, Tuchel congratulated each of his players on the field of the Olympic Stadium, after the final whistle.
In contrast, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp was not very happy with the dramatic finish in his fiefdom, where the defensive vulnerability that the Reds have shown throughout the campaign was again expensive.
Joe Wilcock made a shot that was deflected into the nets, in the fifth minute of injury. Thus, LIverpool lost even more options to be in the first four rungs, in a league that they won in 2020 with a staggering 18-point lead.
“I didn’t see that we deserved to play the next Champions League today,” said the dejected German strategist. “Either we learn or we will not play the Champions League.”
To stay out of the prestigious tournament and the wealth it distributes would be painful for a club whose owner, the American company Fenway Sports Group, was one of the main instigators of the project to create the Super League, breaking away from the traditional competitions in Europe.
Through this initiative, 12 of the wealthiest clubs on the continent would have played a rival Champions League tournament with eight other teams. The 12 founders would have had their place assured in the contest each year.
Such ambitions contrast with the fact that the Reds could lack even the sporting merits this season to advance to the Europa League.
Willock’s shot hit Fabinho’s outstretched leg before going to the net.
Mohamed Salah of Egypt opened the scoring in the 3rd minute for Liverpool, who seemed headed for a win that would have placed them in the top four of the table, ahead of Tottenham, West Ham and Chelsea.
Newcastle was nine points above the relegation zone.
Before the game, several hundred fans gathered in front of the stadium to complain against the American owners of Liverpool for having participated in the failed attempt to form the Super League.
“Henry, your hands are stained with blood,” was the legend on the billboards alluding to the Fenway Sports Group and its main owner John Henry.
Chelsea took the win when German Werner shot up close to receiving a low cross from Ben Chilwell in the 43rd minute. It was his first goal in 12 games in a first season with little glory at Chelsea.
Werner had another chance early in the second half, but missed the shot off a nearly empty goal to Tuchel’s astonishment.
In another duel, Brighton fell 1-0 to already relegated Sheffield United, risking their own chances of staying a bit.
It is seven points ahead of Fulham, which is second to last.
Two of the three teams that descended from the Premier last season have already secured their return to the prestigious top division of English football.
With two rounds to go, Watford secured their promotion by beating Millwall 1-0 and finishing five points behind Norwich in the second division. Norwich had achieved promotion last week and will be champion if they win one of the two remaining games.
The third promotion will come out of a league of four that includes Bournemouth, who also dropped last season.
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