Leicester City made to wait for Premier League crown as Southampton sweep aside Manchester City
Leicester City must wait for the Premier League title after they were held to a draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford. The Foxes need just two points from their remaining two games of the season, but can clinch the title if Tottenham Hotspur fail to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Monday 2 May.
Claudio Ranieri's side found themselves a goal behind after just eight minutes when Anthony Martial converted Antonio Valencia's cross – a goal that moved him top of United's top goal scorer charts with 15 for the season.
Nine minutes later, however, Leicester skipper Wes Morgan outmuscled Marcos Rojo to head Danny Drinkwater's free kick past David de Gea.
Both sides saw penalty appeals turned away by referee Michael Oliver when Riyhad Mahrez was floored by Marcos Rojo and when Memphis Depay was pulled back by Drinkwater in the closing stages of the match. The Leicester midfielder was shown a second yellow card after the incident, but Oliver judged the foul to have taken place outside the penalty area.
Marouane Fellaini endured another controversial afternoon and could face a possible FA ban after he elbowed Robert Huth, an incident that went unnoticed by the referee.
While Leicester took a step closer to clinching the Premier League crown, Manchester City's grip on a Champions League spot was loosened after defeat at Southampton. Saints scored twice in three minutes from clinical finishes from Shane Long and Sadio Mane but Kelechi Iheanacho, starting up front in place of the rested Sergio Aguero, pulled one back on the stroke of half time.
Mane added his second after 58 minutes, reacting quickest to convert a rebound following a save from Joe Hart and sealed his hat-trick with another cool finish with 20 minutes of the match remaining. Iheanacho added a superb second 10 minutes later but by that point, the home side were already out of sight.
Manuel Pellegrini made five changes to his side with one eye on City's Champions League semi-final second leg clash with Real Madrid on Wednesday (4 May) but paid the price. His side are now just four points ahead of fifth place Manchester United, having also played a game more.
Jurgen Klopp also rang in the changes ahead of Liverpool's Europa League semi-final with Villarreal but saw his young side dismantled by Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium. Two goals from Andre Ayew and another from Jack Cork confirmed the club's Premier League status for another season in a game where Brad Smith was also sent off for two bookable offences.
Swansea's win moves them up to 13th in the table having opened up an unassailable 11-point gap between them and 18<sup>th place Sunderland.
Liverpool's hopes of securing any European football for next season now look increasingly reliant on them winning the Europa League.
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