Leeds in peril, Brighton seal European spot
Leeds United slipped closer to relegation from the Premier League after a 3-1 defeat against West Ham in their penultimate game of the season on Sunday. Sam Allardyce's side blew the lead at the London Stadium as Rodrigo's opener was erased by goals from Declan Rice, Jarrod Bowen and Manuel Lanzini. Leeds remain third bottom and are two points adrift of fourth bottom Everton, with both teams having just one game left. Even if Leeds beat Tottenham at home on the final day of the season, the Yorkshire club would still be relegated if Everton win their last game against Bournemouth at Goodison Park. Leeds, whose goal difference is three worse than Everton's, are likely to need the Toffees to lose to have a chance of staying up. Second bottom Leicester, three points from safety, have slender hopes of avoiding relegation with games at Newcastle on Monday and West Ham on the final day. Leeds, who last played in the Championship in 2020, have lost twice and drawn once in three games since Allardyce replaced the sacked Javi Gracia earlier this month. "We haven't shown the quality when needed. So next week has to be much better to beat Tottenham. That's all we can do," Allardyce said. "The players need to roll their sleeves up, apply themselves in the right way, beat Tottenham and hope other results go in our favour." Elsewhere on Sunday, Brighton secured European football for the first time in their history with a 3-1 win against Southampton. Brighton's Evan Ferguson netted with composed strikes in the 29th and 40th minutes. Mohamed Elyounoussi got one back for already-relegated Southampton after 58 minutes, but Pascal Gross wrapped up the Seagulls' victory.  Later on, Manchester City celebrated their Premier League title triumph with a 1-0 win against Chelsea before Ilkay Gundogan lifted the trophy in front of their jubilant fans. City clinched a fifth title in six seasons on Saturday when second-placed Arsenal crashed 1-0 at Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Pep Guardiola's side marked their third successive title by winning a 12th consecutive league game as Julian Alvarez's first-half goal extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 24 matches. (AFP) __________

Last updated: 2023-05-22 HKT 02:10 (AFP)