Liverpool Title Charge Alive, Cardiff Sink

NEWCASTLE, United Kingdom- Liverpool kept the pressure on Manchester City in a gripping race for the English Premier League title with a dramatic 3-2 win away to Newcastle on Saturday.

Victory saw Liverpool, fresh from their 3-0 Champions League semi-final first-leg defeat by Barcelona, return to the top of the table and lead City, who still have two games to play, by two points.

Reigning champions City will return to the top of the table by a point if they win at home to Leicester on Monday.

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It seemed Liverpool would have to settle for a draw at St James' Park when, after twice taking the lead through Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah they were pegged back by goals from Christian Atsu and Salomon Rondon.

But Divock Origi's 86th-minute header restored Liverpool's lead and they then survived eight minutes of injury time, caused mainly as a result of a lengthy stoppage that saw the injured Salah carried off on a stretcher.

Liverpool's win means the title race will go all the way to the final day of the season a week on Sunday when the Reds are at home to Wolves and City are away to Brighton. 

At the same time, Cardiff needed a win to have a realistic chance of beating the drop on the last day of the season, but they were out-classed by Palace in south Wales.

Wilfried Zaha put Palace ahead in the 28th minute before Martin Kelly's own goal three minutes later gave Cardiff hope.

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Michy Batshuayi restored Palace's lead in the 40th minute and Andros Townsend made it three after 70 minutes, with Bobby Reid's 90th minute goal little consolation for Cardiff.

Third bottom Cardiff are four points behind fourth bottom Brighton with only one game remaining, ensuring they will join already relegated Huddersfield and Fulham in the second tier next season.

The Bluebirds will make an immediate return to the Championship after last season's promotion, their fate sealed by a dismal run of nine defeats in their last 11 league games.

It won't be a season fondly remembered by Cardiff, with their relegation coming after the tragic death of striker Emiliano Sala, who died in a plane crash en route to Wales before he had even played a game for the club.

"They've tried hard. We've shown limitations today and that's why we are where we are," said Cardiff boss Neil Warnock.

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In their first season back in the top-flight, Wolves moved a step closer to sealing an impressive seventh place finish as Leander Dendoncker clinched a 1-0 win over relegated Fulham. 

Belgian midfielder Dendoncker netted in the 75th minute at Molineux to give Wolves a third successive win.

Nuno Espirito Santo's team are four points clear of eighth placed Everton, who only have one game left, and six ahead of ninth placed Leicester, who have two matches remaining.

If Manchester City win the FA Cup final against Watford later on May 18, the team which finishes seventh will go into the Europa League qualifying rounds next season.

In the 88th minute, Fulham provided an historic footnote as Harvey Elliott was sent on to become the Premier League's youngest ever player at 16 years and 30 days.

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English midfielder Elliott, born in April 2003, surpassed the previous record set by former Fulham player Matthew Briggs, aged just 16 years and 65 days in 2007.

Marko Arnautovic ended his 11-game goal drought with a brace in West Ham's 3-0 win against Southampton at the London Stadium.