Chelsea has sacked Liam Rosenior after a torrid Premier League run, while Manchester City moved top of the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Burnley.
Chelsea confirmed Rosenior’s departure on Wednesday, local time, less than four months into the job and just four days before it plays in an FA Cup semifinal at Wembley after a desperate Premier League run of five losses without scoring a goal.
Assistant boss Calum McFarlane will take charge on an interim basis until the end of the season.
“This has not been a decision the club has taken lightly, however recent results and performances have fallen below the necessary standards, with still so much more to play for this season,” Chelsea said in a statement.
The team that won the Club World Cup last year now looks likely to miss out on next season’s Champions League. That would mean a huge financial hit for a club that has spent billions of dollars under US owners Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly.
The five-game losing streak is its worst since 1912 — the same year the Titanic sank.
Chelsea’s fans have been bitterly disappointed by the recent run of form. (Getty Images: PA Images/Gareth Fuller)
Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat to Brighton proved the last straw for Rosenior, an inexperienced coach at the highest level who was hired from Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg in January. It was a seventh loss in eight games in all competitions.
Chelsea has won one of its last nine in the league, is seventh in the standings and seven points adrift of the top five, who all qualify for the Champions League.
Rosenior, 41, turned on his players following the Brighton match, saying the performance was “indefensible” and that “something needs to change drastically”.
The club’s hierarchy clearly agreed, despite saying Rosenior had “always conducted himself with the highest integrity and professionalism”.
Rosenior replaced Club World Cup-winning coach Enzo Maresca in January and only took charge of 23 games.
He started impressively with a run of six wins in seven games, but things unravelled quickly in recent weeks, including elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain.
His tenure was brought to an end despite Chelsea preparing for its FA Cup semifinal against Leeds on Sunday.
Rosenior becomes the fifth permanent manager to lose his job since Clearlake and Boehly bought one of English soccer’s most storied clubs in 2022.
“As the club works to bring stability to the head coach position, we will undertake a process of self-reflection to make the right long-term appointment,” Chelsea said.
City rise to top, relegate Burnley
Erling Haaland slotted home his 24th goal of the season. (Getty Images: Fantasista/Chris Brunskill)
Manchester City completed its ominous, late-season rise to the top of the Premier League by beating Burnley 1-0 thanks to Erling Haaland’s early goal on Wednesday, ending Arsenal’s 200-day stay in first place.
The result condemned Burnley, managed by former Chelsea player Scott Parker, to relegation after one season back in the top flight.
Haaland ran onto Jeremy Doku’s pass to convert a deft finish in the fifth minute, allowing City to back up its 2-1 victory over Arsenal on Sunday that, for many, turned Pep Guardiola’s team into the title favourites.
However, with goal difference potentially coming into play, City might regret not putting more past Burnley at Turf Moor.
Winning by a one-goal margin left City and Arsenal tied on both points (70) and goal difference (+37). City only leads courtesy of more goals scored (66 to Arsenal’s 63).
City was nine points adrift of Arsenal after drawing with West Ham on March 14. Three straight wins, combined with back-to-back losses for Arsenal, have seen the title race turn on its head.
In the other match on Wednesday, Leeds scored in the seventh minute of stoppage time to draw 2-2 at Bournemouth and edge nine points clear of the relegation zone.
Sean Longstaff’s late equaliser denied Bournemouth a win that would have lifted the team to sixth place, four points off the Champions League qualification positions.
AP
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