Aston Villa's bid to finish in the Premier League's top four was rocked by a 1-0 defeat at Brighton, while Chelsea beat West Ham 5-0 to keep their hopes of European qualification alive on Sunday. A Villa win combined with a Tottenham defeat to Liverpool in Sunday's late match would have sealed a Champions League place for Unai Emery's side. But Villa could not fulfill their part of that equation as Joao Pedro's 87th-minute goal condemned them to a second painful defeat in four days.
Pedro ended Brighton's six-match winless run, heading in the rebound after Robin Olsen saved his penalty, which was awarded for Ezri Konsa's foul on Simon Adingra.
Villa were surprisingly beaten 4-2 by Olympiakos in the first leg of the Europa Conference League semi-final on Thursday and were again well below their best.
Villa remain in fourth place, seven points ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham, who have two games in hand.
Emery's men host Liverpool and travel to Crystal Palace in their final two matches as they fight to return to the Champions League for the first time since 1982-83.
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea crushed London rivals West Ham and climbed above Manchester United to seventh place.
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino is trying to convince club co-owner Todd Boehly to hand him a second season in charge after his difficult debut season.
Pochettino admits it is “not his decision” if he stays, but securing a place in Europe could be enough to avoid being fired.
Cole Palmer put Chelsea ahead in the 15th minute with his 21st league goal of the season, with the striker firing home after West Ham failed to clear.
Conor Gallagher doubled Chelsea's lead after 30 minutes with a thrilling volley after West Ham's Kurt Zouma deflected the ball towards the midfielder.
Noni Madueke scored Chelsea's third goal six minutes later when the winger turned in Thiago Silva's header from close range.
Nicolas Jackson piled on the misery for woeful West Ham in the 48th minute with a tap-in from Madueke's cross.
The Senegalese attacker was on target again with ten minutes to go.
The lopsided nature of the defeat did little to allay speculation about the future of West Ham boss David Moyes, who has come under fire from fans for his perceived negative game plans.
Ninth-placed West Ham have reportedly held talks with former Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui and could opt for a move from Moyes, whose contract expires at the end of the season.
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