Newcastle and Chelsea win to boost top-five hopes in Premier League as Ipswich relegated

By Canadian Press on April 26, 2025.

Newcastle and Chelsea picked up victories in the Premier League on Saturday to move into the Champions League qualification positions as Ipswich became the third and final team to be relegated.

On the day Newcastle manager Eddie Howe returned to the dugout after recovering from pneumonia, his team’s 3-0 win over Ipswich at St. James’ Park was significant at both ends of the standings.

Newcastle jumped into third place in the congested race to finish in the top five and secure a spot in next season’s Champions League. Meanwhile, Ipswich’s return to the Championship was confirmed, with the team partly owned by pop star Ed Sheeran joining Southampton and Leicester back in the second tier.

It’s the second straight season that the three promoted clubs have gone straight back down.

Chelsea climbed into fifth place, two points behind Newcastle and one behind Manchester City, by beating Everton 1-0 thanks to Nicolas Jackson’s first-half goal.

Just five points separate Newcastle and seventh-place Aston Villa, which wasn’t in action in the Premier League on Saturday. Instead, Villa was playing Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium in the first of the FA Cup semifinals.

In other league results, Jamie Vardy’s long goodbye to Leicester — after confirming Thursday he’d be leaving at the end of the season — began with having a penalty saved in a 3-0 loss at Wolverhampton. Matheus Cunha, linked heavily with a summer move to Manchester United, scored one goal and set up two for Wolves.

Last-place Southampton conceded in stoppage time to lose 2-1 at home to Fulham and stay on 11 points — tied for the lowest-ever tally for a single season in the Premier League, set by Derby County in the 2007-08 season.

Brighton scored in the 89th minute and again in stoppage time to secure a 3-2 win over West Ham, whose winless run extended to seven games under recently hired manager Graham Potter — formerly of Brighton.

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Steve Douglas, The Associated Press