Damned United! Leeds lose to send Foxes up as Hoops seal survival
Arteta urges Arsenal to put rivalry aside
LEICESTER CITY’S return to the Premier League at the first time of asking was confirmed after Leeds fell to heavy defeat against QPR.
Goals from Ilias Chair, Lucas Andersen, Lyndon Dykes and Sam Field ensured a third defeat in five for Daniel Farke’s side, who look set for the play-offs unless Ipswich fail to capitalise.
The Tractor Boys are one point behind Leeds but have two games in hand and a golden opportunity now to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2002.
Kieran McKenna’s side go to Hull City tonight, before travelling to Coventry City on Tuesday.
If they win both, promotion will be confirmed before the final game of the season a week today.
Just like at Middlesbrough on Monday, Leeds went behind in the opening 10 minutes through a goal that should have been avoided, but this time, there was no comeback.
Chair was allowed to cut in on his right foot and his strike from distance deflected off Joe Rodon before flying past Illan Meslier.
Minutes later, Leeds failed to deal with Andersen’s long throwin, with the ball returning to the Denmark international. He curled in a wicked left-footed strike for his first QPR goal.
Leeds had chances of their own with Asmir Begovic denying Joel Piroe and Crysencio Summerville in the first half.
After the break, Georginio Rutter dragged wide from a few yards out before Begovic made another brilliant save to deny Mateo Joseph on a night of frustration for the visitors.
Their misery was confirmed when Dykes headed in from Chair’s corner before Field nodded in from Chair’s free-kick as Marti Cifuentes’s side secured their Championship status with a deserved victory.
Leeds, despite an unbeaten run from the start of this year until April 6, have capitulated in the last few weeks with just four points from a possible 15. Ultimately, that looks to be the difference between a play-off spot and automatic promotion.
MIKEL ARTETA has urged his players to put their north London rivalry with Tottenham to one side as Arsenal look to stay top of the Premier League with victory at their neighbours. The Gunners will make the short trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tomorrow knowing they will remain at the summit if they leave with the three points. It would take Arsenal a step closer to a first league crown in two decades, when Arsene Wenger’s Invincibles secured the title at White Hart Lane. Spurs have since moved into a new home and will have a partisan crowd cheering them on against Arsenal as the hosts aim to keep their own top-four ambitions on track. Arteta wants to remove the emotion of derby day and focus on the job at hand. ‘We played there a few times already and it’s a great place to play football,’ he said.
‘We have to put the rivalry aside and we have to live the game with passion and the intensity that it demands rather than anything special because the game has everything you need to enjoy it.’
Remarkably, Arsenal have played four matches since Tottenham last kicked a ball — losing to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinal but beating Wolves and Chelsea to stay top, even if Manchester City have a game in hand.
However, Arteta does not want to use fixture congestion as an excuse heading into one of the most important north London derbies in recent history.
‘For sure we’re going to be fully ready,’ he said.
‘We have a bit of time to recover and prepare from the Chelsea game and I’m sure we’re going to be fully ready to go again on Sunday. I love the fact that we played four games.’
Despite being top of the table, Opta’s predictions give Arsenal just a 26.6 per cent chance of lifting the Premier League, with City firm favourites following a comfortable win over Brighton on Thursday.
‘Maybe we can tweak the computer to make it a bit higher,’ Arteta added with a smile.
Meanwhile, Son Heung-min has acknowledged Arsenal are one of the best teams in the world.
Spurs enter the fixture after an untimely two-week break on the back of a painful 4-0 loss at St James’ Park.
Arsenal were also reeling a fortnight ago but have responded to their Champions League exit with impressive back-to-back wins.
This match begins a difficult final month of the campaign for Tottenham, with fixtures to come against Arsenal’s title challengers Liverpool and Manchester City as well as London rivals Chelsea.
But Spurs captain Son insisted: ‘I think it will be a good test for our team.
‘It’s against one of the best teams in the world so it’s perfect (for us).’
“We have to live the game with passion”