Manchester City appeal rejected by Premier League: report
Manchester City appealed to the Premier League over a decision that could have huge implications on the title race
Manchester City are chasing their second domestic treble in just seven years in the final month of the season.
Pep Guardiola led the club to Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup glory in 2018/19 and the former Barcelona manager is eyeing a repeat this term.
Having already beaten Arsenal in last month's Carabao Cup final, City are three points behind the Gunners with a game in hand in the race for the title, and face Chelsea in the FA Cup Final at Wembley on May 16.
Arsenal boosted as Premier League reject Manchester City appeal
City's cup exploits have forced the postponement of their Premier League games at home to Crystal Palace - originally scheduled for the weekend of the Carabao Cup final on March 22 - and away at Bournemouth, which was due to take place 24 hours after the FA Cup Final.
The visit of Palace has yet to be rearranged due to the Eagles' run to the Conference League semi-finals, which limits the number of midweek slots they have available, but the fixture was provisionally set to take place on Wednesday, May 13.
However, following City's progress to the FA Cup Final and the subsequent postponement of the trip to Bournemouth, the club asked the Premier League if they could instead face the Cherries on Tuesday, May 12 and take on Palace seven days later, allowing them an extra day to recover for the Wembley showpiece. That scenario would also have seen Guardiola's side play their final two league games of the season at home.
Premier League policy tends to dictate that the fixture originally scheduled earlier in the calendar, in this case the Palace game, must be played first when more than one match has to be rearranged.
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And according to The Mirror, the league has rejected City's request to switch the clashes with Bournemouth and Palace.
It means that Guardiola's men are set to play their last four games of the campaign in just 12 days, with the visit of Palace on May 13 followed by the FA Cup Final, the trip to Bournemouth on Tuesday, May 19 and the Premier League finale at home to Aston Villa on Sunday, May 24.
The Bournemouth game could not be played on Wednesday, May 20, as that is the night of the Europa League final which will involve one of Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest, and UEFA did not want a Premier League fixture on the same night that an English club contested a European final.
The Mirror reports that the dates and kick-off times of the postponed fixtures will be announced today, with fellow FA Cup finalists Chelsea's rearranged game against Tottenham Hotspur also moved to May 19.
City visit Everton next Monday and host Brentford on Saturday, May 9, before their congested end to the season begins with the match against Palace.
Title rivals Arsenal will hope they can benefit from their rivals' fixture backlog, although they also have a two-legged Champions League semi-final with Atletico Madrid to contend with over the next two midweeks.
Mikel Arteta's side's final four league games are at home to Fulham and Burnley, and away at West Ham United and Palace.
James Roberts is a freelance sports journalist working for FourFourTwo and other titles. He started his career at the Oxford Mail, where he covered Oxford United home and away, before becoming a sports sub-editor for various national newspapers.
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