Premier League Saturday Review « Football Blog – Football News

Results on Saturday mean that fourth place will be decided by the game on Wednesday.

Tottenham Hotspur beat Bolton Wanderers 1-0 at White Hart lane to stay on course for their first ever Champions League place while Manchester City all but ended Aston Villa’s fourth place hopes with a 3-1 win over Martin O’Neill’s side at Eastlands.

This sets up a mouth-watering encounter between the two sides on Wednesday at the City of Manchester Stadium.

City are a point behind their midweek opponents, and one can confidently say that the team to win this game will be the team to play in Europe’s elite competition next year.

After the game against Bolton, Spurs manager Harry Redknapp said that he was extremely calm ahead of the crunch encounter against Roberto Mancini’s men.

'I don't feel any pressure at all, as we weren't a top four club when I came. We have a good team and play great football, the way it ought to be played, and I get great pleasure from watching that. We have a lot of internationals who have played in big games like this one, so we shouldn't be nervous.'

'It is so important and it will be like a cup final. I'm desperate to see us do it. It would be great.'

Mancini was delighted with his side’s result against Aston Villa, and said that they had a great chance to come fourth, especially because they play their game against Spurs at home, but admits that it will not all be easy.

'We wanted a final this season and now we have a final,' he said. 'It is our most important game of the year and we need all our players to be strong. It will be tough but we want to win it. It is about finishing in the top four, not my future. We must buy good players to come here and top players want to be in the Champions League. We hope that our fans can play a role as well by getting behind our backs.’

Adam Johnson, the young left midfielder, who was signed from Middlesbrough in the January transfer market, was the man who turned the game around, first winning a penalty and then, setting up Adebayor for the second.

Johnson is looking for a place in the England squad this summer at the World Cup, and his manager backs him and believes that he could be a great acquisition for Fabio Capello.

'I was happy with the way Johnson played. Johnson is young and exciting and I think next year he will be even better, for us and England.’

One more thing this win for City meant that now Aston Villa are very unlikely to finish fourth. They are two points behind City and three points behind Spurs, also having played a game more than both of them. A win for either side at Eastlands will see them out of the running.

Manager Martin O’Neill was obviously very disappointed after the game, and the Irishman referred to the Adebayor goal as the ‘pivotal point in the game.’

‘Up until they got the penalty, we were in command. We were playing exceptionally well and able to take any pressure they applied. We looked dangerous, got our goal and had good chances to make it 2-0. We then conceded a penalty and from kick-off we hit the bar and within seconds they had scored. It was a pivotal moment in the game.’

In the final round of fixtures played on May 9^th, Tottenham and City travel to Burnley and West Ham respectively. Both these teams have nothing to play for, with one relegated and the other safe. Thus, both City and Tottenham will be expected to win their final games, meaning that the Wednesday fixture will be the one that decides their fate once and for all.

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Source: Premier League Saturday Review

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