Late Bale show at Leicester gives life to Chelsea's Champions League football
The drama unfolded on the final day of the English Premier League ensured that Chelsea would play Champions League football next season despite losing 1-2 to Aston Villa as Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to dent Leicester City dreams. The foxes looked to overcome the Blues for a long 75 minutes before slipping to a dramatic 2-4 fallout against Spurs, pulled by an own goal and a brilliant Gareth Bale brace. Chelsea finished the table on fourth, a point ahead of Leicester and two points behind Liverpool, who fought the odds to finish third from a position that looked to miss the Champions League places. The Reds beat Crystal Palace 2-0 thanks to the double scored by Sadio Mane at Anfield. Tottenham will play in the European Conference Cup by finishing on seventh, pipping city rivals Arsenal, who defeated Brighton 2-0 to finish on the eighth. The Gunners are missing out on European football for the first time in a quarter-century. This is the second time in a row that Leicester City is missing out a place in the Champions League after finishing on fifth behind Chelsea. Keeper Kasper Schmeichel could not resist the pressure as he pushed one Spurs corner to his own net to make 2-2 after two coolly taken penalties by Vardy had guided them to a 2-1 lead. On loan from Real Madrid, Bale put the final nails with two brilliant strikes, first on 87th and the second in the last minute of the stoppage time.