Manchester United moved closer to the top four by beating relegation-threatened Norwich 1-0 on Saturday in the English Premier league.
United, which lost Anthony Martial in the warm-up following a leg injury, scored the only goal at Carrow Road in the 72nd minute when Juan Mata drove in a near-post finish from Wayne Rooney’s assist.
“Today was about winning,” said Mata. “We do everything for the fans. They have had a difficult season but deserve happiness.”
Chasing a Champions league spot, United remains in fifth place but is now just one point behind rival Manchester City, which hosts third-placed Arsenal on Sunday.
Norwich, which hasn’t scored in four games, was unable to make any real impact on the match and remains 19th on 31 points with two games left. The Canaries will need to win both to stand any realistic chance of staying up. It has now only won two of its last 16 games.
“We have to keep fighting. We have to stop making errors but it is a bit late in the day,” said Norwich manager Alex Neil.
United needed to win to keep pace with rivals Man City, and was rarely troubled in the final third.
In other results, AFC Bournemouth held WBA to 1-1. Newcastle United also played goalless draw against Aston Villa. Crystal Palace beat Stoke City 2-1. Chelsea lost 2-3 to Sunderland. West Ham were thrashed by Swansea 4-1 and leicester City won 3-0 against Everton.
Middlesbrough promoted
MIDDlESBROUGH: Middlesbrough gained promotion to the English Premier league on Saturday after a seven-year absence, following a 1-1 draw with 10-man Brighton which could be worth almost $250 million to the northern club.
Needing only to avoid defeat to gain promotion, Middlesbrough took the lead on 19 minutes after Cristhian Stuani tapped in a cutback from David Nugent.
Brighton, which itself needed to win the game to secure automatic promotion, drew level in the 55th through Dale Stephens’ header. Stephens got a red card three minutes later for a reckless challenge on Gaston Ramirez.
Middlesbrough joins champion Burnley in the Premier league next season. Brighton has to settle for the playoffs, alongside Hull, Derby and Sheffield Wednesday.
Bayern secure Bundesliga
BERlIN: Bundesliga top-scorer Robert lewandowski scored twice for Bayern Munich to clinch an unprecedented fourth successive title with a 2-1 win at Ingolstadt on Saturday.
The Poland striker opened the scoring with a penalty in the 15th minute and claimed his 29th goal of the season in the half. Moritz Hartmann pulled one back with another penalty before the break but Bayern never looked in danger of missing out on its record 25th Bundesliga title, and its 26th German championship overall.
Borussia Dortmund’s 1-0 loss at relegation-threatened Eintracht Frankfurt meant even a defeat would have been enough for Bayern, eight points clear of Dortmund with one round remaining.
Also, Borussia Moenchengladbach came from behind to beat Bayer leverkusen 2-1 and all but secure the Champions league playoff spot.