02/21/26 01:05:00
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02/21 13:03 CST Aston Villa and Chelsea drop points in the Premier League after
being held to draws
Aston Villa and Chelsea drop points in the Premier League after being held to
draws
By JAMES ROBSON
AP Soccer Writer
MANCHESTER, England (AP) --- Aston Villa's Premier League title challenge was
hit after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to relegation-fighting Leeds on
Saturday.
It took an 88th-minute equalizer from substitute Tammy Abraham to rescue a
point for Villa --- but the draw means Unai Emery's team could be cut further
adrift of Arsenal and Manchester City at the top of the standings.
"There are two sides --- one is that we lost two points, or that we won one
point," Villa coach Unai Emery said. "We have 51 points. Today, we lost two, or
we won one. At this point, hopefully, we can get the next matches,
understanding this point better."
Second-place City plays Newcastle in the later kickoff on Saturday and leader
Arsenal is at Tottenham on Sunday.
Chelsea was also held to a 1-1 draw by another team battling for survival ---
Burnley.
Villa's draw leaves it seven points behind Arsenal and continued its shaky
recent form of just one win in four in the league.
It could have been worse after Aton Stach put Leeds ahead from free kick in the
31st.
Abraham, a January signing from Besiktas, came on in the 75th and leveled from
close range for his first Premier League goal since his move to Villa Park.
Leeds is seven points clear of the relegation zone.
Chelsea hit by late goal
Zian Flemming scored in the 93rd at Stamford Bridge to salvage a draw for
second to last place Burnley.
Joao Pedro's goal in the fourth looked like being enough for the home team,
which went down to 10 men when Wesley Fofana was sent off in the 72nd.
"You need to be ruthless in this league because if you don't defend set plays
well then you get punished," Chelsea coach Liam Rosenior said. "I felt we were
very happy --- and it's not the way I want to play --- just to maintain
possession, I want us to go for more goals."
The point moved Chelsea up to fourth --- above Manchester United on goal
difference, having played a game more. But the race for Champions League
qualification could be even tighter by the end of the weekend with Liverpool
now having the chance to move level on points with Chelsea if it beats
Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
United plays Everton on Monday.
Milner sets new Premier League record
James Milner played his 654th game in the Premier League to set a new
appearance record for the competition.
The 40-year-old Milner surpassed the previous benchmark set by Gareth Barry,
which had stood since 2018. And he doesn't sound like he's ready to call it a
day yet.
"I'll keep pushing, let's see where that takes us," Milner said after
Brighton's 2-0 win, which delivered a setback to Brentford's Champions League
challenge.
Goals from Diego Gomez and Danny Welbeck put Brighton in control before the
break at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford is five points off the Champions League places.
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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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