One giant point
Yaya signs off on a City night of records But Conte’s giant gamble backfires for sorry Blues Kane goal is simply champion for Spurs
BERNARDO SILVA: Golden goal
MAN CITY
YAYA TOURE made an emotional farewell to Manchester City on a record-breaking night for Pep Guardiola’s champions.
Toure played his 316th and final game for the club as they put the gloss on their title triumph by establishing new records for points, wins and goals in the Premier League era.
The victory over Brighton was their 31st win, gave them 97 points – two more than Chelsea in 2004-05 – and the three goals set a best of 105.
After the match, Toure – who was made captain for the night – was presented with a lifetime season card by brother and former City defender Kolo.
Toure was also given a copy of the mosaic that was unveiled at City’s training campus 24 hours earlier and a frame shirt with 316 on the back.
Toure’s every touch was cheered, particularly when he rolled back the years with one surging run to the byline before cutting the ball back for Gabriel Jesus to fire into the side-netting.
The midfielder – who is 35 on Sunday – underlined he could still do a decent job in the Premier League with another club next season as he pinged the ball about with his normal precision.
All that was missing was a goal he and the crowd so desperately wanted. That was left to Danilo and Bernardo Silva who produced well-taken finishes before the break after both had been set up by Leroy Sane, who also made the third for Fernandinho in the second half.
Leonardo Ulloa headed Brighton’s goal from Davy Propper’s cross after a blunder by Claudio Bravo, making his first league start of the season.
MAN CITY (4-3-3): Goals:
ANTONIO CONTE’s huge gamble blew up in his face as Chelsea’s last hope of Champions League football all but disappeared on a night of frustration.
David Wagner’s Huddersfield got the point they needed to ensure Premier League football next season with a heroic backs-to-thewall defensive display.
Conte had made six changes from the team who beat Liverpool and will be rueing that decision, after Laurent Depoitre gave Town an unexpected lead that Marcos Alonso cancelled out.
But despite a furious late assault, Chelsea could not find a winner. Conte’s changes included Alvaro AT STAMFORD BRIDGE achievable target; for Huddersfield, survival.
For the out-of-touch Morata, with just one league goal this year and having lost his place recently to the effervescent Olivier Giroud, it was a crucial night.
Already the rumours of a summer departure for the unhappy Spaniard had started, with his old club Juventus keen on him. But it was also a significant night for Conte and more than likely the Italian’s last home league game in charge of Chelsea, with a departure expected after the FA Cup final in nine days’ time.
Conte had hinted beforehand that everyone would know by then.
His team were straight out of the blocks as Alonso picked up Cesc Fabregas’s pass to launch a fierce volley that was saved by Jonas Lossl, then Willian shot wide.
Chelsea should have gone ahead when, from Fabregas’s corner, HARRY KANE’S right boot secured Champions League football for the first season of Tottenham’s new season as yet again the striker had the final answer for the critics.
Chelsea’s draw meant that his goal in the 50th minute was enough to ensure a four-point gap between their London rivals in fifth with just the final weekend’s fixtures still to be played.
But they limped into the top four rather than swaggered with a long season played out for the most part on Wembley’s energy-sapping hallowed turf clearly beginning to have a marked effect even on this team of workaholics driven on by Mauricio Pochettino, right.
Having blithely dreamed of FA Cup finals and European success in 2018, suddenly Tottenham found themselves coming into this match trophy-less and in danger of missing out on the Champions League.
With just one win in five games in all competitions,