Tottenham Hotspur’s wretched Premier League away form continued with a 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa that left its hope of qualifying for Europe in the balance on Saturday.
Jacob Ramsey smashed home Villa’s opener in the eighth minute and Villa could and should have been out of sight before halftime against a lacklustre Spurs side.
Tottenham did show more appetite after the break but there was no coming back after Villa’s Douglas Luiz found the net with a 72nd-minute free kick that keeper Fraser Forster should have saved.
Villa was full value for the points, which boosted its own hopes of a European finish, although it did have some anxious moments late on after Harry Kane fired home a penalty.
Unai Emery’s side moved up a place to seventh with 57 points - the same as sixth-placed Tottenham with both sides having two games left to play.
Eighth-placed Brighton and Hove Albion, which faces Arsenal on Sunday, is two points behind both Villa and Spurs but has three games in hand in the battle to qualify for Europe.
Eze double gives Palace 2-0 win over Bournemouth
Eberechi Eze scored twice as Crystal Palace beat a disappointing Bournemouth 2-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.
Eze doubled Palace’s lead 13 minutes into the second half, cutting in on his right foot and sending an unstoppable shot into the top corner for his 10th league goal of the campaign. | Photo Credit: REUTERS
Both teams came into the match with little to play for, with Palace already safe from relegation and 14th-placed Bournemouth just a point away from securing its survival.
That lack of jeopardy made for a drab opening 38 minutes in which neither side managed a shot on target, until a sublime piece of skill from Wilfried Zaha carved open the visiting defence.
The Ivorian left three Bournemouth defenders standing with a brilliant turn in the box and cut back a low cross from the byline that took a faint touch off Jordan Ayew before falling for Eze to smash home in the 39th minute.
Eze doubled Palace’s lead 13 minutes into the second half, cutting in on his right foot and sending an unstoppable shot into the top corner for his 10th league goal of the campaign.
Bournemouth failed to offer any attacking threat and went the entire match without a shot on target, with the only real blemish for Palace an apparent hamstring injury that forced Zaha off early in the second half.
The win moved Palace on to 43 points. Bournemouth, which is eight points clear of the relegation zone and will be safe if Leicester City fails to beat Liverpool on Monday, ends its campaign with games against Manchester United and Everton.
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