“It’s very disappointing, especially the way we started the season (with five successive league wins)”, Sagna said. United play their game in hand at West Ham tomorrow and can knock Manuel Pellegrini’s side out of the Champions League spots for the first time this season with just one match to go.
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“I think we deserve to be in the Champions League next year because we have had 37 games in a spot of Champions League, so I hope we are not going to lose that spot in the last game”.
Manchester City drew 2-2 with Arsenal to leave their Champions League qualification in serious doubt and Tottenham Hotspur failed to nail down second place in the Premier League after losing 2-1 at home to Southampton on Sunday.
Following Manchester United’s loss at West Ham United in midweek, City are now in charge of their own destiny as they seek to secure a top-four finish.
In Sunday’s other game, Liverpool beat Watford 2-0 through goals by Joe Allen and Roberto Firmino to stay in eighth place, but the Premier League isn’t the team’s priority for the rest of the season. “We didn’t win this game because we conceded two goals, not because we felt pressure”. A draw or victory at Swansea will be enough to ensure incoming City manager Pep Guardiola will have Champions League soccer in his schedule next season.
“We were in control of it going into the West Ham game”, United midfielder Michael Carrick said, “but we’ve let it slip”.
Manchester City’s Eliaquim Mangala (left) vies for the ball with Alexis Sanchez of Arsenal in their English Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Sunday.
But sitting in front of the media for his final press conference at the Etihad Campus on Thursday, the Chilean defended his final campaign and was keen to point out what he has achieved during his three-year reign.
Outgoing Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini is interested in managing Everton, according to the Daily Mail. “We managed to reach the semifinal, which means we are quite a good team”.
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While City are now sweating on their top-four position, third-placed Arsenal, who play relegated Aston Villa in their final game, are now nearly there. Of course, it’s impossible to play all the games well, but if you look at the amount of goals we have scored I think it’s 50 or 60 more than any other team. “Winning the three points would have been a very good way to say goodbye”. Saturday’s goal, and that’s the main thing, shows that we are eager to keep working, that we remain confident until the end. “We have had strong concentration in recent games and our character has been questioned a few times this season”.
