Daily Times

MANCHESTER: Anthony Martial and Alejandro Garnacho struck as Manchester United notched a comfortable 2-0 Premier League home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday that moved them a step closer to a return to the Champions League. With the top four qualifying directly for next season’s group stage, United are fourth in the table on 66 points, four ahead of fifth-placed Liverpool with both sides having three games left. Wolves are 13th on 40 points. In a game played mainly at a sluggish pace, United’s Brazilian winger Antony curled a shot wide in the ninth minute after sloppy Wolves defending, and he continued to offer a creative spark as he regularly cut in from the right wing onto his favoured left foot to shoot.

The 23-year-old headed over from point-blank range on the half-hour mark but he made amends two minute later, tearing down the right on a quick counter-attack and squaring the ball for Martial to fire home. Antony was in the thick of the action again on the hour mark as Bruno Fernandes back-heeled the ball to him on the edge of the box, but the 23-year-old Brazilian’s shot deflected just wide of the near post. Fernandes should have made it two when he cut in from the left and fired from close range in the 64th minute but Wolves’ debutant keeper Daniel Bentley saved his shot, and Jadon Sancho’s similar effort was also kept out.

With the Wolves attack looking completely toothless, Casemiro forced another fine save from Bentley in the 82nd minute with a dipping shot, and substitute Wout Weghorst headed over the bar from close range from the resulting corner, but the second goal eventually came. Brought off the bench in the 82nd minute after a long spell out due to an ankle injury, Garnacho wrapped up the three points with a long run and shot that bounced off the inside of the right-hand post deep into stoppage time to seal the win.

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. 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 their 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.

Villa beat Tottenham as race for European spots tightens up:

Tottenham Hotspur’s wretched Premier League away form continued with a 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday that left their hopes of qualifying for Europe in the balance. Goals by Jacob Ramsey and Douglas Luiz extended Tottenham’s winless away streak to seven matches while Villa’s sixth successive home win kept their European hopes very much alive.

Forest grab priceless point with draw at Chelsea: Relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest grabbed a precious point at Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday, thanks to two goals from Nigerian forward Taiwo Awoniyi. Steve Cooper’s battling side earned the early advantage when Brazilian defender Renan Lodi lofted a ball into the Chelsea area in the 13th minute. Goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, who had not played since suffering an injury playing for Senegal at the World Cup last year, came off his line but misjudged the flight of the ball and Awoniyi rose between two defenders to head home. Raheem Sterling, lively from the start of the match, scored Chelsea’s 51st-minute equaliser with a simple close-range shot from a pinpoint cross by defender Trevoh Chalobah. The goal gave the home side the confidence that has been so lacking in recent games.

Southampton relegated after 2-0 loss to Fulham: Southampton were relegated from the Premier League after losing 2-0 at home to Fulham on Saturday, bringing an end to their 11-year spell in the English top flight with two games remaining in the season. Southampton, who needed a win to stave off relegation, can no longer reel in 17th-placed Everton and Ruben Selles’s side are bottom of the league on 24 points from 36 games. Southampton, who earned promotion to the Premier League in 2012 and finished in the top eight for four straight seasons between 2013-17, have earned only six league wins this season, racking up 24 defeats and six draws.