Villa boost top five bid, Southampton beaten at Leicester
LONDON: Unai Emery vowed Aston Villa will fight until the end for a place in the Champions League after boosting their bid with a 1-0 win against Fulham on Saturday. Emery’s side are back in the hunt to finish in the Premier League’s top five thanks to Youri Tielemans’ 12th-minute header at Villa Park. Seventh-placed Villa extended their unbeaten run on home turf to 20 games in all competitions, lifting them level with sixth-placed Nottingham Forest and fifth-placed Chelsea on 60 points. After bouncing back from their dismal FA Cup semifinal loss to Crystal Palace last weekend, Villa will hope their rivals falter over the weekend as the top five race heads for a dramatic climax. “If we weren’t winning today, forget it completely,” Emery said. “Today, we got more or less to be close to Europe. Wow, fantastic, brilliant.
