A police officer has been hospitalized and children as young as 10 injured in a brawl after a football match in Middlesbrough.
Following a convincing 3-nil victory Chelsea are just one step away from being crowned Champions of England. While Middlesbrough’s status in the league has been confirmed as they head to the Championship next season.
Chelsea re-establish a seven-point lead over Tottenham. Antonio Conte’s men can now win the title before Spurs next play with victory at West Brom on Friday night.
Goals from Diego Costa, Marcos Alonso and Nemanja Matic were enough to give the league leaders maximum points as they cruised in front of their fans.
Costa scored his 20th league goal of the season, converting a pass from the excellent Cesc Fabregas, and Alonso netted from a similar position before half-time.
Matic struck in a second half which began with Pedro hitting the bar as Brad Guzan conceded through his legs for a third time.
Boro, now with one win in 19 league games, will be playing in the Sky Bet Championship next season after a record-equalling fourth demotion from the Premier League.
Chelsea could relegate Middlesbrough almost 30 years after Boro inflicted the same fate on the Blues
Credit: Mail Sport
To those with an understanding of medieval history, the Battle of Stamford Bridge conjures up images of Vikings and chain-mail.
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Pep Guardiola said Manchester City deserved to beat Middlesbrough after a 2-2 draw left his side facing three crucial home games in their quest for Champions League qualification.
Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho became the Premier League’s highest-scoring Brazilian.
The 24-year-old came off the bench to score the important equaliser as his side recovered from a goal down to win 2-1 at Stoke.
It was his 30th top-flight goal and put him one clear of former Middlesbrough attacker Juninho.
Countryman Roberto Firmino, who scored the winner, is only 10 goals behind after 61 matches compared to his compatriot’s 131, but Coutinho plans to add many more having already equalled his best Premier League season tally of nine with seven games still to go.
“I am happy for that. I want to keep going to keep scoring and helping my team and keep learning from my manager,” said Coutinho, who only joined up with the squad on the morning of the match day after losing three kilograms in three days because of illness.
“[The club] asked me to stay at home because I was not feeling well but I wanted to be here.
“I wanted to be involved with the team. The manager decided [to put him on the bench] because I was not 100 percent.”