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• Aston Villa 2-2 Chelsea: Gallagher caps Blues fightback at Villa Park

  Conor Gallagher scored the equaliser as Chelsea fought back from two goals down to clinch a deserved 2-2 draw with Champions League-chasing Aston Villa on Saturday.

  Villa looked set to go nine points clear of Tottenham in the race to finish in the Premier League's top four, with Marc Cucurella's own goal and Morgan Rogers' low drive giving them a handsome half-time lead.

  Mauricio Pochettino's men dominated much of the first half without reward, but they continued to press after the interval and cultured finishes from Noni Madueke and Gallagher dragged them level.

  They almost completed a fine comeback in stoppage time, but there was relief for Villa when referee Craig Pawson disallowed a goal for Chelsea defender Axel Disasi following a VAR review due to an infringement from Benoit Badiashile.

  It meant Villa boss Unai Emery was unable to celebrate his new long-term contract with three points, with his team now seven points clear of fifth-placed Spurs, who have three games in hand on their rivals.

  Chelsea stay ninth and are five points adrift of the top seven, but with a game in hand to come, their European hopes are not yet over.

  Villa made a flying start and were ahead within four minutes, albeit in somewhat fortunate circumstances. John McGinn didn't get a clean connection on Lucas Digne's left-wing cutback, but his shot bounced off Cucurella and into the net.

  Chelsea thought they were level after 16 minutes as Nicolas Jackson raced clear to finish into the roof of the net, but his strike was disallowed for offside after a VAR review, with replays showing he was leaning beyond Matty Cash.

  Jackson should then have equalised when found by Cucurella six yards out, but he could only send his header against the foot of the post and wide.

  Villa then doubled their lead against the run of play shortly before half-time, with Djordje Petrovic powerless as Rogers squeezed his shot through Trevoh Chalobah's legs and in.

  A hamstring injury saw Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez withdrawn at half-time, and his replacement Robin Olsen was beaten after 62 minutes, Madueke stroking home after Gallagher forced a high turnover. 

  Olsen stuck out an arm to deny Madueke a second with 71 minutes gone, but he had no chance as the Blues levelled with nine minutes to play, Gallagher rifling a left-footed finish into the top-left corner.

  Chelsea thought they had won it when Disasi headed home five minutes into stoppage time, but referee Pawson disallowed the goal following a VAR review, with Badiashile adjudged to have fouled Diego Carlos in the build-up.

  Villa throw it away

  Villa could hardly have wished for a stronger position at half-time. Despite Chelsea carving out several good openings, they found themselves 2-0 up and primed to exploit their opponents further through the pace of Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey.

  Chelsea had lost 16 of their previous 18 Premier League games when trailing at half-time (one win, one draw), losing their last eight when two or more goals behind at the break.

  However, Emery's men simply didn't get going after the restart, and only a late VAR review saved them from a crushing defeat, with Disasi's potential winner chalked off for a foul by fellow defender Badiashile.

  Gallagher leads from the front

  Gallagher has polarised opinion at times this season, but Chelsea's stand-in skipper produced a talismanic display just when his team needed him most at Villa Park.

  The England international is known for his tenacious work out of possession, and he forced a turnover on the corner of the Villa box in the build-up to Madueke's goal.

  Gallagher's own strike, which flew into the top corner to stun the home faithful, took him to double figures for Premier League goal involvements for the season (four goals, six assists). He has only achieved that feat in one other campaign in the competition, scoring eight goals and adding three assists on loan at Crystal Palace in 2021-22.

  Four of his seven Premier League goals for Chelsea, meanwhile, have now come from outside the area.

• Everton 1-0 Brentford: Toffees join Bees in ensuring Premier League status

  Everton made mathematically certain of remaining in the Premier League on Saturday as Idrissa Gueye's goal handed them a 1-0 home win over Brentford, who are also safe after Luton Town's earlier loss to Wolves.

  Luton's 2-1 defeat at Molineux meant Brentford's slim fears of relegation were behind them before kick-off, while Everton knew a third straight victory would also secure their place in the top flight for next season.

  The Toffees' old wastefulness was on show in the first half, but Gueye powered home 15 minutes into the second period to hand them a third Goodison Park triumph in the space of six days.

  The result saw Sean Dyche's men climb above their visitors to go 15th in the table, one place and point clear of Brentford, who can also plan ahead for 2024-25 in the top flight after pulling clear of danger.

  Everton were without Dominic Calvert-Lewin through illness and Beto due to the head injury he suffered against Nottingham Forest. Their absences were felt when the first chance fell their way after six minutes, Youssef Chermiti failing to get a touch on McNeil's tempting cross.

  Mathias Jensen had Brentford's first sight of goal 20 minutes in following good work from Vitaly Janelt, but in-form defender Jarrad Branthwaite denied him with a huge block.

  The best opportunity of a low-key opening period, though, fell to Abdoulaye Doucoure, who sent an awkward volley spinning well wide after finding space on the stroke of half-time.

  Brentford should have gone ahead within five minutes of the restart, but Jordan Pickford brilliantly smothered Ivan Toney's shot when his England team-mate looked destined to tap home at the far post.

  McNeil then rattled the crossbar from range as Everton turned up the pressure, and they made the breakthrough on the hour.

  Gueye fired into the top-left corner after Brentford failed to clear following a goalmouth scramble, with the goal confirmed by VAR amid questions about a subjective offside.

  Keane Lewis-Potter worked Pickford from the edge of the box, but that was as close as Thomas Frank's men came to an equaliser, and Everton almost had a second when James Garner's free-kick struck the bar in stoppage time.

  Everton rescue act complete

  When Everton welcomed Burnley to Goodison Park on April 6th, they remained in severe danger of seeing a chastening campaign end in relegation.

  However, a run of four wins in five games – the most memorable being Wednesday's 2-0 triumph over Merseyside rivals Liverpool – has dragged the Toffees clear and ensured there will be no repeat of last year, when they remained at the highest level by the skin of the teeth on a nervy final day.

  Having earned their first win of the campaign against Brentford back in September, Everton have also done the double over the Bees for just the second time, previously beating them home and away in the second tier back in 1952-53.

  Toney struggles continue

  While Brentford had enjoyed a resurgence of their own prior to Saturday's game, beating Sheffield United 2-0 and Luton 5-1 in their last two matches, both of those victories came without injured striker Toney.

  He returned to the Bees' lineup here but was uncharacteristically quiet, failing to beat Pickford when presented with the visitors' best chance shortly after half-time.

  Toney has now failed to score in his last eight Premier League matches, his longest ever run without a goal in the competition. With Ollie Watkins and Dominic Solanke in fine form as Gareth Southgate prepares to name his England squad for Euro 2024, his barren spell has come at a poor time. 

• ‘Too many draws have cost us’ – De Zerbi

  Roberto De Zerbi has highlighted too many draws as Brighton’s problem this season while looking ahead to their trip to Bournemouth on Sunday.

  The Seagulls suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat to title-hopefuls Manchester City on Thursday, extending their winless run to five games.

  Despite sitting in 12th, Brighton still have an outside chance of getting a European place next season, though they would have to win all five of their remaining matches against teams above them in the table.

  Asked how his side will approach a tough fixture list at the end of the season, De Zerbi said: “It’s not a good thing we’re playing teams above us. We should be better. Chelsea and Bournemouth are very close with us, and we have the chance to win the game and fight to reach the highest position we can.

  “We’ve had too many draws. For sure we can lose 11 games in this moment, but we could win more games. Sometimes I think what I could do better to win more games, but it’s tough because we drew a lot, shooting a lot of times on goal without scoring, especially at home.”