LONDON — Manchester City enjoyed a huge let-off in their quest for a top-four finish in the Premier League and Swansea City edged to within sight of survival with a crucial victory Saturday.
A freakish penalty 'miss' by Leicester City's Riyad Mahrez at the Etihad Stadium allowed Manchester City to squeeze out a 2-1 victory that lifted it to third place, above Liverpool.
Mahrez beat Willy Caballero with 13 minutes remaining but had slipped in his run-up and inadvertently struck the ball twice, once with each foot, to send it spinning into the net.
Eagle-eyed referee Robert Madley correctly applied the law and City breathed deeply before seeing out the remainder of the game to stay on course for Champions League qualification.
"When I saw the reaction from Willy, I understood immediately that it was two touches," City manager Pep Guardiola, whose side finish with matches against West Bromwich Albion and Watford, told reporters.
"The referee was so brave in making the decision. I've seen that happen before, a long time ago! It's not normal to see something like that, but it is what it is."
With Chelsea having wrapped up the title Friday and Sunderland and Middlesbrough already relegated, the final flurry of matches will decide which two clubs join the champion and second-placed Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League and which becomes the third side to slide through the trapdoor.
For much of a season in which it sacked two managers, Swansea has looked destined to return to the second tier after a five-season stay in the top flight.
But under Paul Clement it has improved dramatically and Saturday's 2-0 victory at hapless Sunderland means it will be safe if Hull City loses to Crystal Palace Sunday.
Fernando Llorente and Kyle Naughton were both on target for the Swans who have 38 points with one game left, the same as Crystal Palace who have a superior goal difference.
Hull has 34 with two games left.
In the battle for south coast bragging rights Southampton beat Middlesbrough 2-1 Saturday with goals by Jay Rodriguez and Nathan Redmond keeping it above Bournemouth which beat Burnley 2-1 thanks to Joshua King's late winner.
Southampton is ninth and Bournemouth 10th with both clubs on 45 points.
Fifth-placed Arsenal, making a late dash to keep alive its hopes of a 21st successive top-four finish, can crank up the pressure on Liverpool if it wins at Stoke City later Saturday. Liverpool is away at West Ham United Sunday.
City, which has 72 points to Liverpool's 70 and Arsenal's 66, has its destiny firmly in its own hands.
Dortmund stays third
Borussia Dortmund kept the upper hand in the battle for third place despite a 1-1 draw at Augsburg Saturday as it stayed ahead of fourth-placed Hoffenheim on goal difference on a frantic penultimate match-day of the season.
Champion Bayern Munich showed who is boss in the Bundesliga, scoring three times late in the game to win 5-4 at RB Leipzig in a free-flowing game with the Bavarians having secured the title two weeks ago and the host certain of second place.
Bayern's Robert Lewandowski scored his second goal of the afternoon in the 84th minute to cut the deficit to 4-3. David Alaba's stoppage-time free kick drew it level and Arjen Robben's last-gasp winner completed its sensational turnaround after having trailed 3-1 and 4-2.
Dortmund, through to the German Cup final later this month, is level on 61 points with Hoffenheim, which crushed Werder Bremen 5-3 with two goals from Andrej Kramaric, but has a better goal difference going into the last matchday next week.
Hamburg SV continued its battle to avoid relegation by scoring a stoppage time equalizer through substitute Pierre-Michel Lasogga to earn a 1-1 draw at Schalke 04.
The result kept Hamburg, the only team to have played in the top division every season since the Bundesliga's creation in 1963, in the relegation playoff spot but sent 17th-placed Ingolstadt into the second division, joining already-relegated Darmstadt 98, which lost 2-0 to Hertha Berlin.
VfL Wolfsburg's Mario Gomez grabbed an 58th minute equalizer against Borussia Moenchengladbach for his 16th goal of the campaign that kept the Wolves two points ahead of Hamburg, whom it faces on the last match-day. — Agencies
