Costly losses for Chelsea, Arsenal
It is looking increasingly likely that Chelsea and Arsenal will be the teams from the Premier League’s ‘‘Big Six’' to miss out on Champions League qualification this season.
Chelsea lost in Manchester for the second straight weekend, defeated 1-0 by runaway leader Manchester City to drop five points adrift of the top four with nine games remaining.
Arsenal is eight points further back in sixth after a 2-1 loss at Brighton that capped a miserable 10 days for the London club, during which it lost four straight games in three competitions. Arsenal hasn’t lost four matches in a row since 2002.
Two big-name managers were going to have their reputations damaged this season by missing out on the top four. Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger might have been predicted, but surely not Chelsea’s Antonio Conte.
Chelsea finished 15 points ahead of City last season in romping to the league title. Ten months later, City is 25 points clear of the soon-to-be-deposed champions.
The gulf in class between the two teams was stark at Etihad Stadium, with City enjoying 78 percent possession in a first half when Chelsea didn’t have a shot on – or off – target.
Chelsea got through that, only to concede within 33 seconds of the second half when David Silva crossed for Bernardo Silva to force in a finish at the far post.
City needs 12 more points to win the league, meaning it could yet be clinched at home to Manchester United on April 7.
Arsenal conceded twice in the first 26 minutes at Brighton, both following errors by goalkeeper Petr Cech. Lewis Dunk and Glenn Murray were the gleeful recipients.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang replied for Arsenal just before halftime.
‘‘It is very difficult, nearly impossible now,’' Wenger said of Arsenal’s top-four chances, ‘‘we are too far behind. We need two teams to collapse, not one.’'