Arsenal, Man U Let Opportunities Go to Waste in Chase for Champions League Spot

David De Gea with Manchester United in 2019
David De Gea with Manchester United in 2019. Photo by Ryan Browne/BPI/REX/Shutterstock (10220690fn)

In the race for 4th place in the Premier League and the competition’s last Championship League spot for the 2019-20 season, no one wants to take advantage of other teams’ missteps.

After Matchday 36 and with only 2 remaining, Chelsea holds the final spot with 68 points. Arsenal is in 5th with 66 points and Manchester United is in 6th with 65. But any of these teams could’ve been in 4th after the weekend.

It all started with Arsenal, who was blown out 3-0 at Leicester City on Sunday afternoon. The Gunners lost Ainsley Maitland-Niles to a second yellow card ejection in the 36th minute and things went downhill from there.

Leicester waited until the 59th minute to capitalize when Youri Tielemans scored the opener. Jamie Vardy added two more goals in the final 10 minutes to lead the Foxes to a 3-0 home win and leave Arsenal without any points on the day.

Meanwhile, Manchester United hosted Chelsea with a big chance to move ahead of the Blues but came up short. They drew 1-1 with Chelsea in a game marked by a horrible David de Gea error in the goal.

The Red Devils went up early with an 11th minute Juan Mata goal and looked poised to climb into 4th, but a 43rd minute David de Gea error on a routine save trickled out to Marcos Alonso. He buried a shot and leveled the game at 1-1, where it eventually finished.

No one seems ready to take advantage of other teams’ missteps. It remains to be seen who will grab the last slot.

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