Premier League round-up: Bournemouth boost UEFA Champions League chances after hard-fought Fulham win as Brighton maintain pressure

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Aston Villa's progression to the UEFA Europa League final in Istanbul has certainly piqued the interest of those in the hunt for a top-six finish in the Premier League.

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Should Villa beat Freiburg later this month - live on TNT Sports and HBO Max - and finish fifth in the Premier League, then the team that ends the campaign in sixth place will secure a spot in next season's UEFA Champions League.

And as things stand, Bournemouth remain in the driving seat to secure a spot in Europe's elite club competition.

Andoni Iraola's team had looked set for a frustrating afternoon in the capital against a Fulham side who remained in with an outside chance of securing a top-six finish before kick-off.

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Bournemouth's hopes of finishing sixth suffered a blow when they were reduced to 10 men shortly before the break after Ryan Christie received his marching orders for a dangerous challenge on Fulham full-back Timothy Castagne.

But Fulham failed to capitalise upon their numerical advantage and also ended the half a man down after Joachim Andersen was dismissed. The Dane's initial yellow for a foul on Adrien Truffert was upgraded to a red following a VAR review.

Ryan Christie is sent off in Bournemouth's 1-0 win at Fulham

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It was Bournemouth who found the breakthrough shortly after the restart through Rayan as the Brazilian extended his goalscoring run to three matches.

Having received the ball from James Hill down the right, the 19-year-old cut inside onto his left before unleashing an unstoppable effort past Bernd Leno from 20 yards.

Fulham struggled to make their Craven Cottage dominance count after going behind and fell to a second successive league defeat.

Seagulls take flight against Wolves

Having signed a new contract on Thursday evening, Fabian Hurzeler saw his Brighton & Hove Albion side claim a huge three points in their own quest to land a UEFA Champions League spot.

The Seagulls were grounded at St James' Park last week when Newcastle United eased to a 3-1 win over the south coast side.

However, there was no stopping Brighton against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday afternoon once Jack Hinshelwood put the home side in front with just 35 seconds on the clock.

The 21-year-old netted for the third game running having connected brilliantly with Maxim De Cuyper's lofted cross to head past Dan Bentley.

And Hurzeler's side were two goals to the good inside five minutes as De Cuyper again turned provider, this time for Lewis Dunk.

Yankuba Minteh added Brighton's third late on as he beat Bentley at his near post with the home side in seventh place, two points behind Bournemouth.

United held at Sunderland

Fresh from booking a Champions League spot with a 3-2 win over Liverpool last weekend, Manchester United made the trip to Sunderland on Saturday afternoon in a bid to confirm a third-placed finish.

Liverpool's 1-1 draw with Chelsea in the lunchtime kick off presented Michael Carrick's side with the chance to guarantee they would finish the campaign above their rivals.

It was one that United failed to grab, though, as they played out a 0-0 draw with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

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A Casemiro-less United struggled to assert their dominance against The Black Cats as they managed just a single shot on target, via Matheus Cunha, in the stalemate.

Sunderland managed the best opportunity of the game when Lutsharel Geertruida struck the woodwork from range with 20 minutes to go.

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