Haaland returns yet Man City stumbles to leave Champions League hopes in doubt

The longawaited return of Erling Haaland couldnt stop Manchester City from tumbling to another poor result in a season to forget for the deposed Premier League champion Indeed after a dire 00 draw at alreadyrelegated Southampton on Saturday even qualification for the lucrative Champions League something taken for granted by City for so many seasons is still far from certain with two games leftFailing to beat the Premier Leagues lastplaced team and one of the worst to ever play in Englands top flight threw Citys ambitions of a topfive finish back into doubt Even more so with Aston Villa one of a raft of clubs battling with City to get into the Champions League beating Bournemouth 10 thanks to Ollie Watkins firsthalf goalIt could barely be tighter in that race Thirdplaced City moved two points clear of Newcastle and Chelsea who meet at St James Park on Sunday and also sixthplaced Villa Nottingham Forest is two points further back but also has a game in hand at home to alreadyrelegated Leicester on Sunday Six points separate Arsenal in second place and Forest in seventhIt seemed as if City turned the corner after a terrible run of results from November to February that knocked Pep Guardiolas team out of contention for a fifth straight Premier League title as well as the Champions League Indeed arriving at Southampton on the back of four straight victories and with star striker Haaland back after six weeks out with an ankle injury City was even looking good to jump above Arsenal and finish second behind alreadycrowned champion LiverpoolYet City was sluggish Haaland barely got a chance and the recalled Phil Foden continued to look a shadow of the guy who was English soccers player of the year last season This draw will revive the concerns about Guardiolas team ahead of games to close its Premier League campaign at home to Bournemouth a club chasing a first ever qualification for European competition and away to Fulham Before that there is an FA Cup final against Crystal Palace next weekendFor Guardiola whose team failed to beat an opponent on the bottom of the standings for the first time since joining City in 2016 it will be a fight until the end to qualify for the Champions League We take that point still Guardiola said Its in our handsSouthampton avoid unwanted recordSouthampton was able to celebrate no longer being at threat of earning the label of the worst ever Premier League team The draw moved the Saints onto 12 points one more than the lowest ever points haul in a single Premier League season set by Derby County in 200708Watkins milestoneWatkins stretched out his boot and glanced home Morgan Rogers cross for Villas winner that also marked a milestone for the striker The England international moved into the outright lead as Villas record scorer in the Premier League with 75 goals one more than Gabby AgbonlahorVilla finished with 10 men after Jacob Ramseys 80thminute sending off for two yellow cards but hung on to stay in contention to qualify for the Champions League for a second straight seasonThe chase for EuropeFinishing in eighth place could secure qualification for next seasons Conference League Europes thirdtier competition and that remains the carrot for Brentford and Brighton after wins on SaturdayBrentford beat alreadyrelegated Ipswich 10 thanks to Kevin Schades glancing header from a corner in the 18th minute Brighton won at Wolverhampton 20 after a 10th goal of the season by Danny Welbeck a penalty in the 28th and Brajan Gruda who chipped the goalkeeper in the 85th for his first goal for the southcoast clubEighthplaced Brentford and ninthplaced Brighton were tied for points two more than Bournemouth and four more than Fulham which lost at home to Everton 31This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params