Premier League: Watford and Bournemouth relegated as Aston Villa survive on final day
Written by News on 27/07/2020
Watford and Bournemouth have been relegated from the Premier League on a dramatic final day of the season.
Aston Villa, who were seven points from safety earlier this month, have survived – finishing a point above the bottom three after a 1-1 draw with West Ham.
Watford, who have had four managers this season, were beaten 3-2 by Arsenal, while Bournemouth beat Everton 3-1.
Both sides have had five years in the Premier League, the top division of English football, but now join Norwich, who were already down, in returning to the Championship next season.
Watford captain Troy Deeney, who scored one of his side’s goals, told Sky Sports that non-playing staff may suffer.
“The harsh reality is people will probably lose their jobs,” he said.
“Ultimately, we haven’t been good enough.”
Villa manager Dean Smith, told Sky Sports “it’s a proud moment”, which “feels better than last year when we won promotion”.
Smith, who lost his father Ron – like him a Villa fan – to coronavirus, said his squad “used the pandemic best”, by “working on defending better”.
At the top end of the table, Chelsea confirmed they will play in the lucrative Champions League next season after a 2-0 over Wolves meant they finished fourth.
Manchester United join them in European football’s premier competition after a 2-0 win at Leicester City secured them third spot in the final standings.
Leicester, the 2016 champions, finish fifth, despite spending much of the season in the top four.
It means they will play in next season’s Europa League along with Tottenham and Wolves, who finished sixth and seventh respectively.
Arsenal will take Wolves’ place in the competition, however, if they beat Chelsea in Saturday’s FA Cup final.
Elsewhere, champions Liverpool finished 18 points ahead of Manchester City after beating Newcastle 3-1, while City thrashed relegated Norwich 5-0.
All the matches on the final day were played out in empty stadiums due to COVID-19 restrictions, meaning fans of all the clubs involved could not experience the agony and ecstasy first hand.
The three-month pause in the season from March to June ensured the 2019-20 campaign finished later than any other and next season will start more than a month later than normal, in September.
Fans are hoping to be allowed back into stadiums on a socially distanced basis from October.
(c) Sky News 2020: Premier League: Watford and Bournemouth relegated as Aston Villa survive on final day
