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Tuesday May 17, 2011

United Seal 19th Title

Blackburn Rovers 1 Manchester United 1

Wayne Rooney drove home a penalty 17 minutes from the end to confirm Manchester United as Champions for a record 19th time.
Requiring only a point to lift their 12th Championship of Sir Alex Ferguson's incredible reign, United had fallen behind in the first half when Brett Emerton's far-post drive gave Blackburn Rovers a shock lead.
With Tomasz Kuszczak's nerves affecting his team-mates, for a while, United looked to be heading for a nerve-jangling final-day ending with Blackpool.
But an error from Rovers keeper Paul Robinson, who needlessly slid out on Javier Hernandez, gave United the opportunity to equalize.
Much to Robinson's frustration, the Mexican went down and after referee Phil Dowd had restored order, Rooney drilled home for United to overtake Liverpool as the most successful domestic team in the country, as Sir Alex Ferguson had promised all those years ago.

Blackpool 4 Bolton Wanderers 3

Blackpool gave themselves a fighting chance of avoiding relegation from the Premier League by coming out on top of a seven-goal thriller against Bolton Wanderers.
There were four goals in the opening 24 minutes alone, with Kevin Davies putting Bolton ahead and then Matthew Taylor equalizing after DJ Campbell and Jason Puncheon had netted for the Seasiders.
Campbell grabbed his second just before the break and, although Daniel Sturridge levelled again for Bolton in the 53rd minute, Charlie Adam's strike 10 minutes later proved to be the winner.

Sunderland 1 Wolves 3

Mick McCarthy's wait for a Premier League victory at the Stadium of Light arrived just when he needed it most as Wolverhampton Wanderers banked three precious points at Sunderland.
The Irishman's 19 top-flight home matches during his spell in charge on Wearside failed to yield a single win as his shoestring budget proved woefully inadequate.
However, his current employers took a huge stride towards booking their place in next season's Premier League with a 3-1 victory on top of their derby success against West Bromwich Alion last weekend.
Second-half goals from Steven Fletcher - his sixth in eight matches - and George Elokobi in front of delighted vice-president and Led Zeppelin star Robert Plant eased the visitors over the line after Stephane Sessegnon had cancelled out Black Cats old boy Jody Craddock's 23rd-minute opener.
The defeat was injury-plagued Sunderland's seventh of the season in the league on their own park in front of a largely disappointed crowd of 41,273.

West Bromwich Albion 1 Everton 0

Youssouf Mulumbu boosted West Bromwich Albion's hopes of finishing as the midlands' highest-placed club in the Premier League with a first-half winner against 10-man Everton at the Hawthorns.
The midfielder scored his seventh goal of the campaign after just 10 minutes as the Baggies finished their home program on a successful note.
Everton had substitute Diniyar Bilyaletdinov sent off late on after just five minutes on the pitch for a challenge on James Morrison.
Roy Hodgson's side are now four points clear of local rivals Aston Villa, who visit Arsenal on Sunday, thanks to a dramatic turnaround in fortunes under the former Liverpool manager.
They have collected 19 points from 11 matches since he replaced Roberto Di Matteo in early February and been beaten only twice.

Chelsea 2 Newcastle United 2

Carlo Ancelotti's new-look Chelsea looked anything but challengers for next season's Premier League title as they threw away victory against Newcastle United.
In what could be his final home match in charge, Ancelotti's team selection very much appeared to have the new campaign in mind and it looked promising when Branislav Ivanovic scored inside two minutes.
But Jonas Gutierrez soon levelled after unwittingly deflecting in Ryan Taylor's free-kick and although Alex headed the Blues back in front late on, Steven Taylor snatched a draw at the death.

Arsenal 1 Aston Villa 2

Arsenal's frustrating end to the season continued as Aston Villa ran out winners at Emirates Stadium after an early brace from Darren Bent.
The Gunners are now in real danger of seeing FA Cup winners Manchester City, who have a match in hand, overtake them in the race for automatic Champions League qualification after a third defeat in four matches.
Bent struck twice inside the opening 15 minutes following more poor defending from Arsene Wenger's men.
While the Gunners manager will no doubt point to key decisions from referee Michael Oliver to turn down a first-half penalty shout and then rule out a close-range header from substitute Marouane Chamakh before Robin van Persie bundled home a late consolation, the boos which rang out at the final whistle sent a clear message that more of the same next season will not be tolerated.

Birmingham City 0 Fulham 2

Birmingham City are facing a last-day battle for Premier League survival after Brede Hangeland's brace helped Fulham triumph at St. Andrew's.
The Carling Cup holders, lacking several key players through injury and suspension, produced their worst performance of the season to leave their top-flight status on a knife edge.
City are now level on points with Blackpool and Wigan Athletic, in 18th and 19th, and have to visit Tottenham Hotspur next Sunday. The Tangerines are away to Manchester United while Wigan travel to Stoke.

Liverpool 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2

Tottenham Hotspur seized the advantage in the race for the final Europa League spot as Liverpool's first match since the appointment of Kenny Dalglish as permanent manager ended in defeat.
Rafael van der Vaart's volley had given Harry Redknapp's side an early lead only for Liverpool to wrest back control of the match until 11 minutes after the interval when referee Howard Webb awarded Spurs a penalty and Luka Modric converted.
Spurs moved a point ahead of their rivals into fifth place as they inflicted a first home defeat for Dalglish, who signed a three-year contract on Thursday, since he replaced Roy Hodgson in early January.
That formidable home record - 20 points from eight matches prior to this encounter - counted for little as the visitors took the early initiative on their way to their first Anfield victory in 19 matches stretching back to 1986.

Wigan Athletic 3 West Ham United 2

West Ham United's relegation from the Premier League was confirmed after they threw away a two-goal lead at Wigan Athletic, who ensured their own survival battle goes to the last day of the season thanks to Charles N'Zogbia's stoppage-time winner.
The Hammers needed a victory at the DW Stadium to stand any chance of beating the drop and were 2-0 up at half-time courtesy of Demba Ba's headers on 12 and 26 minutes.
The Latics stormed back after the break. N'Zogbia scored twice, either side of a Conor Sammon goal, leaving Roberto Martinez's side in the bottom three on goal difference alone and sending the visitors down.
Wigan are 19th in the table with one match to go, level on 39 points with 18th-placed Blackpool and 17th-placed Birmingham City, who lost against Fulham.
Rock-bottom West Ham, meanwhile, must face up to the reality of life in the Championship.