Aston Villa slips up in race for Champions League after 1
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — A bad week for Aston Villa got worse on Sunday after a surprise 1-0 loss at Brighton in the race for the top four in the Premier League.
Unai Emery’s team lost 4-2 at home to Olympiakos in the first leg of their Europa Conference League semifinal on Thursday. And on a day when Villa could have secured its place in next season’s Champions League, it suffered another setback.
Joao Pedro’s 87th-minute goal at the Amex Stadium gave hope to fifth-place Tottenham in its pursuit of Villa in fourth. Tottenham played Liverpool at Anfield later Sunday with the chance to move within four points of Villa with a game still in hand.
Villa would have been certain of a top-four finish if it had won at Brighton and Spurs had gone on to lose against Liverpool. But after Pedro saw his late penalty saved by Robin Olsen, he was alert enough to head home from the rebound.