The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
City close in on Champions League spot
Arsenal also win to take battle to finish in top four to final day of season
MANCHESTER CITY 3 WEST BROM 1
Manchester City moved up to third in the Premier League with a comfortable 3-1 win over West Brom on an emotional night at the Etihad Stadium.
Goals from Gabriel Jesus, Kevin De Bruyne and Yaya Toure saw City cruise to victory on Pablo Zabaleta’s final home appearance for the club.
West Brom were outplayed but claimed a late consolation through substitute Hal Robson-Kanu.
The result tightened City’s grip on a top-four position but Arsenal’s victory over Sunderland meant their close battle with the Gunners and Liverpool for Champions League spots would go to the final day.
In such form, however, City should be confident of completing the job at Watford on Sunday.
There may have been tributes aplenty to Zabaleta, but in terms of business, City were ruthless without needing to hit top gear. They bossed the game from start to finish with West Brom looking disinterested.
ARSENAL 2 SUNDERLAND 0
Alexis Sanchez hit a brace as Arsenal secured victory over relegated Sunderland in front of a sparsely populated Emirates Stadium to keep alive their dwindling hopes of Champions League qualification.
The Gunners needed to beat David Moyes’ men to take the battle to finish in the top four of the Premier League down to the last day of the campaign. They made heavy weather of their task, with Sanchez scoring a closerange double inside the final 17 minutes to secure the points for the Gunners with a 2-0 win.
Under-fire Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has never finished outside of the top four in a full season at the helm but despite this win, and even though it remains mathematically possible, the club look set for a Europa League campaign next year.
Manchester City’s victory over West Brom means Arsenal need to beat Everton on Sunday and hope Liverpool slip up at home to Middlesbrough to gate-crash the top four.
Wenger’s own position still remains a mystery as he has yet to announce if he will sign a new deal to remain at the club beyond the FA Cup final meeting with Chelsea in two weeks time.
A lot of the home fans who stayed away from this clash did so in protest against Wenger remaining in charge – those who opted to attend were left short-changed.