LONDON: Youri Tielemans headed the only goal as Aston Villa beat Fulham 1-0 on Saturday to boost their hopes of finishing in the Premier League`s top five, while Arsenal suffered a blow ahead of their Champions League showdown with Paris St Germain.

Unai Emery`s Villa couldn`t afford anything less than a victory at Villa Park as the race to qualify for the Champions League approaches a dramatic climax.

Belgian midfielder Tielemans powere d in John McGinn`s 12th-minute corner to kept them in the hunt as Villa returned to winning ways.

Manchester City`s win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday had increased the pressure on Villa to get a result against Marco Silva`s men and they rose to the challenge.

Villa produced a dismal display in their 3-0 defeat against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-finals lastweekend.

But following their memorable run to the Champions League quarterfinals, Emery is desperate to lead Villa back into Europe`s elite club competition next season.

Villa remained in seventh place with three games left but they are now level on 60 points with Nottingham Forest and Chelsea, both of whom have an extra game to play.

`All our games, we know we have to win them to have a chance to be in the Champions League next season, Tielemans said. `This afternoon was a good win. A tough opponent, Fulham are a very good team. We could have finished the game earlier, but credit to the guys.

Defeat was a big blow to eighthplaced Fulham`s own European hopes. They have 51 points from 35 games.

At the Emirates Stadium, MikelArteta`s Arsenal took the lead against Bournemouth through Declan Rice`s opener on his 100th appearance for the club.

But Dean Huijsen equalised in the second half and Evanilson completed the comeback to give Bournemouth their first ever away win over Arsenal.

Bournemouth move up to eighth, which could be enough for European football next season, with 53 points from 35 games. Arsenal stay second with 67 points, three points above Manchester City in third.

Beaten 1-0 by PSG in the Champions League semi-final first leg on Tuesday, Arsenal will need a much-improved performance in the second leg in Paris on Wednesday.

HOME DROUGHT Elsewhere, Leicester City`s Jamie Vardy and Jordan Ayew scored their team`s first goals at the King Power Stadium in five months to secure a2-0 victory over fellow relegated side Southampton.

Vardy, who will leave the club at the end of the season after 13 years, bagged a farewell goal as he put second-bottom Leicester ahead in the 17th minute.

Leicester finally won for the first time since January as Ayew grabbed the second goal in the 44th minute.

Leicester are 19th on 21 points after their fifth win. Bottom side Southampton have 11 points and only three games left to avoid being the joint-worst team in Premier League history.

Relegated Ipswich fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 in Everton`s penultimate match at Goodison Park.

Kieran McKenna`s third-bottom side trailed to Beto`s 26th minute goal and Dwight McNeil`s effort nine minutes later.

But Julio Enciso `s 30-yard rocketreduced the deficit in the 41st minute and George Hirst equalised with 11 minutes left.

Everton`s emotional last match at Goodison before moving to their new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium next season comes against Southampton on May 18.

DE BRUYNE SINKS WOLVES On Friday, captain Kevin De Bruyne scored in his penultimate game at Etihad Stadium as City beat Wolves 1-0 to climb to third.

Pep Guardiola`s men, who are unbeaten in seven successive league games, provisionally climbed one spot with 64 points after 35 games, two points ahead of fourth-placed Newcastle and four points ahead of both Chelsea and Forest.

`We are better than we were weeks ago. If we play like we did today, it is really good but we cannot relax. Winning in that way is goodbecause it will make us realise that we still need to work,` Guardiola said.

Wolves had the better chances in a nervy first half before City broke the deadlock in the 35th minute when Jeremy Doku worked the ball down the left before cutting it back sharply from the left-hand side to De Bruyne who side-footed it home past Jose Sa.

The stadium crowd rose to chant `Oh, Kevin De Bruyne!` in an emotional moment. The 33-year-old announced last month that he would leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the season, making Friday his second-last game at his home stadium in a sky-blue City shirt.

Wolves, who arrived buoyed by six successive top-flight victories for the first time since 1970-71, still carried a threat and Matheus Cunha rattled the post with a stinging strike from the edge of the area in the second half but the loss left them 13th.-Agencies