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England. — Antonio Conte warned Chelsea’s top four rivals that his side will fight to the finish as the race to qualify for the Champions League goes down to the wire. Olivier Giroud boosted Chelsea’s bid to snatch a top four place as the France striker sealed a 1-0 win over Liverpool that brought the Champions League finalists back down to earth.

Giroud’s first-half header at Stamford Bridge lifted fifth-placed Chelsea to within two points of fourth-placed Tottenham in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

“Usually when you play a must-win game it is not easy because it’s normal to be a bit nervous,” Blues boss Conte said.

“We had the will to win, to keep the hope alive that we can get a place in the Champions League.“I don’t know if this will be enough at the end of the season but we have to try.”

In a dramatic conclusion to the top four battle, Chelsea, who are three points behind Liverpool, host struggling Huddersfield on Wednesday and Tottenham face Newcastle the same evening.

On the final day of the season next Sunday, Chelsea head to Newcastle and Tottenham entertain Leicester.

“It’s important to face this situation with a lot of pride and show we are still alive,” Conte said.“Probably one month ago it was impossible to imagine we would arrive at the end of the season fighting for the Champions League.“We are winning and our opponents are dropping points. We are putting pressure on the other teams.”

It was a frustrating return to domestic action for Liverpool after their Champions League semifinal success against Roma in midweek. With only one win in their last five league games, third placed Liverpool have made their top four status an unnecessarily tense affair.

“I hate the result. The performance was good enough to get a good point, but we weren’t clinical enough,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said.

Klopp’s team should still be able to guarantee a Champions League berth if they beat Brighton at Anfield on Sunday.

Even if they don’t finish in the top four, Liverpool can return to Europe’s elite club competition by defeating Real Madrid in the Champions League final on May 26.

“When I woke up this morning I was hoping for a 3-0 win, so we didn’t have to care about the Brighton game and could start to prepare the final. Did I think it would happen? I’m not sure,” Klopp said.

“Chelsea has to win as well. We play at home in our last game, they play at Newcastle. That doesn’t sound like a holiday to me.

“Brighton is a very important game for us, but we’ve had a few of them in the past and they haven’t been too bad.”

Klopp also condemned Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah for a dive that earned him a booking.“That’s not what I want to see and not what he wants to do,” he said.

Liverpool had made a bright start and Roberto Firmino tested Thibaut Courtois with a dipping half-volley.

Sadio Mane’s 25-yard drive forced a sprawling save from Courtois and from the resulting corner, the Chelsea keeper needed to be alert to stop Virgil van Dijk heading in from close range.

Mane was in a personal duel with Courtois, who kept out another powerful blast from the Senegal winger, then scrambled to his feet to deny him again from the rebound. But despite their pressure, Liverpool were caught with a sucker punch in the 32nd minute as Giroud justified Conte’s decision to select him at the expense of the out of form Alvaro Morata.

Victor Moses teased Andrew Robertson as he worked space to swing over a cross and Giroud, stealing in front of the slow to react Dejan Lovren, glanced a fine header into the far corner of the net.

Giroud celebrated his fifth Chelsea goal since his January move from Arsenal by sprinting over to the bench and clambered up to hug teammate David Luiz, who wasn’t involved in the matchday squad.

Meanwhile, “I will miss you” Arsene Wenger told the Arsenal fans after being given a fitting farewell in his final home game in charge after 22 years with a 5-0 thrashing of Burnley .

On a day dominated by tributes to the Frenchman, both teams formed a guard of honour for Wenger, 68, before kick-off to a chorus of “there’s only one Arsene Wenger”.

All around a full house of 60 000 at the Emirates – in stark contrast to recent league games when fans have stayed away in protest at a poor season – fans sported red t-shirts emblazoned with “Merci Arsene” (Thank you Arsene).

“Thank you for having me for such a long time. I know that’s not easy but, above all, I am like you, I am an Arsenal fan,” Wenger said a post-match presentation on the Emirates turf.“I would like to finish by one simple word: I will miss you. Thank you all for being such an important part of my life.”

Before the game in his final programme notes, Wenger said he expected to be saddened by the occasion.

“I expect today will be dominated by sadness,” he wrote. “It’s the end of a long story for me at Arsenal. But I will also feel grateful for having led this club – that I cherish so much – for such a long time.”

Wenger won three Premier Leagues and a record seven FA Cups. His crowning glory coming in the 2003/04 season when Arsenal won the league without losing a single game. He was presented with the special gold trophy given to the club for that achievement after the match by two Arsenal legends Bob Wilson and Pat Rice, who worked on Wenger’s coaching staff for many years.

That “Invincibles” season was his last as a Premier League winner, though, and fans became tired of Arsenal’s inability to compete for Premier League and Champions League titles.

However, there was plenty for the supporters to shout about in a fitting finale for Wenger as Arsenal displayed the attractive brand of attacking football that characterised his most successful sides over the past two decades.

Defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Europa League semifinals on Thursday means Arsenal missed out on Champions League qualification for the second consecutive season. But they bounced back in style to secure the small consolation of ensuring they will finish sixth in the Premier League ahead of Burnley.

Wenger will wonder what might have been had Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang not been cup-tied for the latter stages of the Europa League as the Gabon striker took his tally to eight goals in 11 Premier League appearances since joining for a club record fee from Borussia Dortmund in January.

Aubameyang opened the scoring when he slid in to meet Alexandre Lacazette’s cross to get a party atmosphere started after just 14 minutes.

Burnley have qualified for Europe for the first time in 51 years thanks to finishing seventh.But it seemed incredible that only three points separated the sides before kick-off as Arsenal cut through the clarets at will going forward.

Lacazette stroked home Arsenal’s second just before halftime before Jack Wilshere teed up Sead Kolasinac for a third nine minutes after the break.

Aubameyang turned provider for Alex Iwobi to smash home the fourth after being given a huge amount of time inside the Burnley box to pick his spot.

And Aubameyang finished as he started by steering home Hector Bellerin’s cross to round off a five-star performance by the Gunners to send-off Wenger in style.

Wenger could even afford the luxury of also handing club captain Per Mertesacker an outing from the bench for the closing stages in his final home game before retiring at the end of the season.

However, Pep Guardiola celebrated his first Premier League title, following Manchester City’s goalless draw with Huddersfield Town, by immediately turning his attention to defending the trophy next season. The demanding City manager brought seven of his coaching staff onto the podium for his post-match press conference, a symbolic nod towards a close-knit group that has masterminded one of the most dominant league performances in history.

Despite surprisingly failing to defeat struggling visitors Huddersfield, City still have two games left in which they can set new Premier League records for the most wins, points and goals in a single campaign.

That target still inspires Guardiola, but so too does the prospect of trying to win the league title again next season.

“We cannot deny it would be nice to set records but it’s nicer when you win the Premier League,” said Guardiola.

“We spoke about that, these targets help to be focused, we tried and it’s so difficult,” he added.“It looks easy when you have to win games, but next season will be tougher, they’ll all want to beat us and we have to be focused. We have to understand how difficult it will be next season.”

Guardiola has only one season remaining on the three-year contract he signed at City in the summer of 2016.

The Catalan said before the Huddersfield game he was in no hurry to sign an extended deal but after leading City to their third title since 2012, Guardiola insisted he is happy in Manchester.

“I feel so comfortable here, we feel we are loved,” he said.“It’s a club with not a long tradition but in six or seven years, three Premier Leagues is not bad and to win it the way we did it, that’s why we are so satisfied.”

Having been assured of the title three weeks earlier, after West Brom’s surprise win at Manchester United, City had to wait until the visit of David Wagner’s struggling team to be presented with the trophy.

City laid on pre-match festivities, including survivors from their 1968 championship winning team, before Huddersfield provided dogged opposition and dampened the celebrations somewhat.

On the final whistle, and after unwanted pitch invaders had been removed, City were finally presented with the trophy along with the usual attendant pyrotechnics, confetti and smoke machines – all standard stuff but a far cry from the drama of their first Premier League title, won when Sergio Aguero scored with virtually the last kick of the season in 2012.“Every team who wins the Premier League does it their way and that’s what we did too,” said Guardiola.

“When you win a final or Aguero in the last minutes it’s something special.

“Here we’ve had time to accept it and I was surprised how we maintained our focus.”Impressive Huddersfield might even have escaped with a victory in the closing minutes when substitute Scott Malone raced through only to shoot directly at Emerson in the City goal.

The point is a huge boost for Huddersfield, who operate on the Premier League’s lowest budget, and their attempts to avoid relegation. “I congratulated Pep for what he has done in England,” said Huddersfield manager Wagner. “Not only that he won the title but how he won it. It has been so impressive.“I am a big admirer for his style of football. I love to watch his team. This is what I said to him before the game because I thought I may not get time after because the people will come on the pitch.” — AFP.