MANCHESTER, England (AP) – Amid the blue smoke emitted by the flares carried by hundreds of fans, the silhouette of Manchester City buses was visible, approaching the stadium. Seeing them, the crowd began chanting, “Champions!”
–
It was a premature chant. You still had to play and win a game, which those fans could not see from the stands.
–
And there were no celebrations for now for Manchester City.
–
A 2-1 loss to Chelsea on Saturday means City must still win one of the remaining three games of the season to claim its third Premier League title in four years.
–
Losing to the Blues is becoming too common for Pep Guardiola, the City manager, whose bid to win four titles this season was thwarted by a loss to Chelsea itself three weeks ago.
–
And in three weeks, the two teams will meet again. This time on the highest stage of club football: The final of the Champions League.
–
“We can learn from this and move on,” Spanish Guardiola stressed. “We have three other chances to be champions.”
–
City’s margin of advantage is undoubtedly enough to keep the lead and that Sergio Agüero does not regret too much the missed penalty in the first stage that could have extended the score to 2-0 in the first half shortly after Raheem Sterling’s goal.
–
Instead of firing a cannon shot into the net, the Argentine tried a balloon that Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy blocked with one hand.
–
In the second half, Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma knocked Sterling down in the box, but referee Anthony Taylor missed the penalty, even though manager Pep Guardiola pleaded for a VAR review.
–
Hakim Ziyech scored the tying goal in the 63rd minute and Marcos Alonso scored the winning goal in injury time.
–
There is still time to win the title. That could happen before City’s next game on Friday if guard Manchester United loses any of its three games this week, starting with this Sunday at Aston Villa.
–
Chelsea was in third place, qualifying for the next Champions League. But he could also qualify, regardless of his position in the local table, if they beat City in the final of this Champions League on May 29 in Istanbul.
–
In another match of the day, Liverpool kept alive their slim hopes of finishing in the top four, beating Southampton by an unconvincing 2-0 at Anfield.
–
Those coached by Jürgen Klopp only achieved their second home win in the league in 2021, thanks to a header from Sadio Mané in the first half and to Thiago Alcántara’s first goal with the team, at 90.
–
“In a way we are in the fight,” said the German Klopp. “It is not impossible, but it is difficult, we will try and see where we get.”
–
Tottenham was again almost out of the Champions League after losing 3-1 to Leeds.
–
The Spurs are seventh, seven points behind fourth with three dates to go. Liverpool is sixth, six points behind.
–
For its part, Crystal Palace ensured its permanence in the Premier by beating 2-0 to the already relegated Sheffield United 2-0.
–
–
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
– .
