London (AFP)

Manchester United and Chelsea have secured the last two tickets for the next Champions League on Sunday after the 38th and final day of the English league.

Respectively 3rd and 4th in the final classification, the two clubs will accompany the already qualified champion Liverpool and Manchester City in C1. Manchester United signed a sluggish victory in Leicester (2-0), while Chelsea, at home, beat Wolverhampton by the same score (2-0).

Leicester (5th) and Tottenham (6th) will represent England in the Europa League (in preliminary rounds for Tottenham).

At the bottom of the ranking, Watford and Bournemouth are relegated, joining Norwich, red lantern and assured for several days of going down.

Manchester United qualified without shining

The Mancunians, who needed a draw in Leicester, largely fulfilled their mission with this success on the ground of a direct competitor for accession to C1. However, they will still have to progress to compete with Liverpool and Manchester City in the league, as coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said before the meeting.

At King Power Stadium, the Red Devils had to wait until the end of the first period to be dangerous, including two strikes from Marcus Rashford.

Then it is the top scorer in the championship, Leicester center forward Jamie Vardy who almost scored his 24th goal, with a lobed header on the bar (60th).

The Mancuniens were finally saved by a penalty, logically obtained by Anthony Martial, sandwiched by Jonny Evans and Wes Morgan, and transformed by Bruno Fernandes, author of the almost decisive pass to the French striker (71st, 0-1) . Arrived during the winter break, the Portuguese was the great architect of the rise of Mancuniens in the standings, and this third place.

Leicester, who finish this season in fifth place, can harbor regrets, including after this game where most of the chances were in their favor. The three-month suspension from the league was fatal to Brendan Rodgers' formation, with just two wins from the nine games played since the resumption.

Chelsea finishes the job

Frank Lampard's players will be able to approach their second leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League against Bayern Munich (3-0 defeat in the first leg) with confidence. They will indeed play the queen competition again in the fall, thanks to their victory against Wolverhampton (2-0).

This took shape in added time of the first period, on a free kick from Mason Mount, while no shot had been on target from both sides (45th + 1, 1-0).

The second goal, cruel for Wolverhampton, came three minutes later on a counterattack. Warned a few seconds earlier, Olivier Giroud benefited from a deep pass from Mount to get ahead of Rui Patricio, then the return of two defenders, and free his team (2-0, 45 + 4).

Wolverhampton slipped to seventh, and will only qualify for the Europa League if Chelsea defeat Arsenal on Saturday in the FA Cup final.

Mission accomplished for Mourinho

Arrived at Tottenham in November, when Spurs were 14th, José Mourinho gradually brought them back up and allows them to clinch a qualification for the Europa League (in the preliminary rounds), thanks to Wolverhampton's defeat to Chelsea .

The way this qualification is obtained, a simple draw at Crystal Palace (1-1), is a reflection of the lack of enthusiasm generated by the game of Spurs since this fall, in contrast to that of the Pochettino era in the previous five seasons.

Arsenal ready, Aston Villa saved

Arsenal prepared well for their FA Cup final on Saturday against Chelsea, beating Watford (3-2). Watford descends at the same time in the Championship, in favor of Aston Villa, which barely holds up thanks to its 1-1 draw at West Ham (16th). Note also the victories of champion Liverpool in Newcastle (3-1), and Manchester City ahead of Norwich (5-0), with in particular the twentieth assist from Kevin de Bruyne this season, a league record since that established by Thierry Henry in 2002-2003. Norwich and Bournemouth will accompany Watford to the Championship.

Results of the 38th and final day:

Sunday

Southampton - Sheffield United 3 - 1

Newcastle - Liverpool 1 - 3

Manchester City - Norwich City 5 - 0

Burnley - Brighton 1 - 2

Arsenal - Watford 3 - 2

Crystal Palace - Tottenham 1 - 1

Everton - Bournemouth 1 - 3

West Ham - Aston Villa 1 - 1

Leicester - Manchester United 0 - 2

Chelsea - Wolverhampton 2 - 0

© 2020 AFP