Premier League: Leeds nearing relegation after loss to West Ham, Brighton outclass Southampton to qualify for Europe
Leeds is on the brink of relegation from the Premier League after a 3-1 loss at West Ham on Sunday.
The Yorkshire club is two points adrift of 17th-place Everton going into the final game of the season.
The defeat came despite Rodrigo firing the visitors ahead in the first half at London Stadium, with Declan Rice, Jarrod Bowen and Manuel Lanzini securing the win for West Ham.
Leeds needs to beat Tottenham next week and hope other results go its way to stand any chance of survival, with Sam Allardyce’s rescue mission looking destined to fail.
A win for @WestHam in their final home match of the season 🏟#WHULEE pic.twitter.com/iCgPP6F8UX
— Premier League (@premierleague) May 21, 2023
The veteran manager was hired with four games to go in a last-ditch bid to avoid the drop, but has only been able to pick up one point from a possible nine.
Rodrigo’s 17th-minute volley looked like it might set up a first win for Allardyce, but Rice evened the score in the 31st.
It got worse in the second half for Leeds as Bowen struck his 12th goal of the season in the 72nd and Lanzini made sure of the points in time added on.
The loss leaves Leeds third from bottom, but a win for Leicester against Newcastle on Monday would see it drop down to 19th going into the season’s finale next Sunday.
Brighton qualifies for Europe for 1st-ever time after beating Southampton 3-1
Evan Ferguson scored two goals as Brighton beat Southampton 3-1 in the Premier League on Sunday to qualify for Europe for the first time in its hory.
The win means sixth-place Brighton cannot finish lower than seventh this season and could still overtake Liverpool in fifth.
Ferguson struck in the 29th and 40th minutes to put Brighton in control against already-relegated Southampton at Amex Stadium.
Mohamed Elyounoussi pulled one back for the visitors in the 58th, but Pascal Gross made it 3-1 in the 69th.
Ferguson has won many admirers this season and he opened the scoring when collecting Alexis Mac Aller’s pass at the edge of the area and firing home his fifth league goal of the campaign.
He made it 10 in all competitions when turning home Kaoru Mitoma’s pass with a finish in the bottom left corner.
Elyounoussi headed James Ward-Prowse’s corner after the break to give Southampton hope of taking something from the game.