Southampton relegated in front of British PM, Man United ignite push for top-four finish

SOUTHAMPTON, England: Southampton’s 11-year stay in the English Premier League is over, with relegation sealed on Saturday by the 24th loss of a forgettable season and in front of their most famous fan. Not even the presence of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at St. Mary’s stadium could inspire Southampton in their 2-0 home loss to Fulham, which consigned the south-coast team to life in the Championship with two games to spare.

“It is a moment that has been coming,” said James Ward-Prowse, Southampton’s England midfielder. “We knew we had put ourselves in a difficult position. When these things happen you go away individually and as a club and ask if you have done enough? I don’t think we have.” At the other end of the league, Manchester United have almost done enough to secure a return to the Champions League.

United rebounded from back-to-back losses to ignite their push to reach Europe’s top competition with a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton. United moved level on points with third-placed Newcastle — which drew at Leeds 2-2 — and both teams were four ahead of fifth-placed Liverpool in the race for a top-four finish. All three teams have three games left.

Tottenham dropped out of contention for Champions League qualification after losing 2-1 at Aston Villa, which moved level on points with their beaten opponent. They are fighting for berths in the two minor European competitions — the Europa League and the Europa Conference League — with Brighton, which are two points further back in eighth place but have three games in hand. With Southampton down, there are two more relegation spots to fill and two of the four teams in most danger — Leeds and Nottingham Forest — showed fighting spirit to avoid the drop.