22 May 2011
ASTON VILLA 1 (Downing 33)
LIVERPOOL 0
Aston Villa's average season ended on a high with a win over Liverpool but both clubs will be looking forward to a better campaign next season. The only goal came just after the half hour when Stuart Downing thumped
in Marc Albrighton's cross at the far post.
Attendance : 42,785
Assist : Albrighton
BOLTON 0
MANCHESTER CITY 2 (Lescott 43, Dzeko 62)
Man City confirmed third place - and an automatic place in the Champions League group stages - with a comfortable win at Bolton. A goal in each half did the damage as Adam Johnson's corner was missed by Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott looped a header in although it looked to have caught him totally unawares. The lead was doubled when Gareth Barry's cross wasn't cleared and Edin Dzeko turned and fired in. Bolton ended with ten men when on loan Daniel Sturridge was shown a straight red for a high challenge on Dzeko.
Attendance : 26,285
Red Card : Sturridge 86 (Bolton)
Assists : Johnson (ck), n/a
EVERTON 1 (Beckford 74)
CHELSEA 0
Chelsea finish second despite defeat at ten man Everton but boss Carlo Ancelotti was sacked by the London side within hours of the final whistle. Everton played most of the second half with ten men after Seamus Coleman was shown a second yellow for a rash tackle on John Obi Mikel, however they still grabbed the win with a superb solo goal from Jermaine Beckford who collected the ball inside his own area and ran at
the defence before clipping a neat effort over the keeper.
Attendance : 38.712
Red Card : Coleman 53 (Everton)
Assist : Arteta
FULHAM 2 (Sidwell 36, Zamora 57)
ARSENAL 2 (Van Persie 29, Walcott 89)
Arsenal have to make do with fourth place and face a qualifying round for the Champions League after sharing four goals with Fulham. The hosts led when Bobby Zamora's cross was slotted in by Steve Sidwell but within three minutes the Gunners levelled through Robin Van Persie who controlled a pass from Abou Diaby before netting from the edge of the area. The Dutchman's strike meant that he has scored in each of Arsenal's last nine away games. Fulham took the lead again in the second half as Zamora headed in Jonathon Greening's cross but their cause wasn't helped when Zoltan Gera was sent off for a dangerous two-footed tackle on Thomas Vermaelen. With time almost up, Arsenal earned a point when Theo Walcott cut in from the right and drilled home a low shot off of the post.
Attendance : 25,674
Red Card : Gera 75 (Fulham)
Assists : Zamora, Diaby, Greening, Vermaelen
MANCHESTER UNITED 4 (Park 21, Anderson 62, Evatt 74 og, Owen 81)
BLACKPOOL 2 (Adam 40 fk, Taylor-Fletcher 57)
Blackpool are relegated after a roller-coaster of a game at Champions Man United ended in defeat on a nerve wracking afternoon around the bottom of the Premier League.
Blackpool almost led inside half a minute when Charlie Adam's cross was put wide by Keith Southern from an excellent position. United battled back with both Rafael and Dimitar Berbatov forcing good saves from Matt
Gilkes before they split the visitors apart as Berbatov's pass sent Ji-Sung Park through and after holding off his man, he clipped the ball over the keeper and into the net. Berbatov then had a close range effort saved before Park was barged over in the area for what looked a clear penalty but ref Mike Dean waved it away. The Blackpool equaliser came right out of the blue as a free kick - arguably incorrectly awarded - was curled in off the post from 20 yards by Adam to send the Seasiders out of the drop zone as results stood at the time. It was also the first time United have conceded a league goal at home in the first half this season!
The second half began with another Blackpool free kick in a similar position but this time Edwin Van Der Sar palmed Adam's stinging shot over the bar. They actually began the half well and it was no great surprise when they took the lead as a good move ended with David Vaughan crossing and Gary Taylor-Fletcher scoring off the far post with a delicate flick although he may have been very marginally offside. The lead didn't last long as United levelled as Park's cut back from the left was superbly swept inside the far post by Andersen although at this stage Blackpool remained out of the bottom three. United were suddenly on fire as Gilkes saved brilliantly from Berbatov's header and a bullet shot from Paul Scholes was blocked. Nani also missed a sitter of a header as the visitors were being constantly stretched at the back no more so than when Chris Smalling's low cross was diverted into his own net by Ian Evatt to put Blackpool back into the bottom three. Evatt almost made amends as he burst into the area only for his effort to be blocked by Van Der Sar and it proved vital as, in an awful few minutes for Blackpool, both Wigan and Birmingham netted elsewhere and then United added a fourth as Andersen sent sub Michael Owen clear and he slotted past Gilkes to effectively hammer the final nail into the Tangerine coffin.
Attendance : 75,400
Assists : Berbatov, Taylor-Fletcher (won fk), Vaughan, Park, n/a, Anderson
NEWCASTLE 3 (Taylor 16, Lovenkrands 39, Olsson 47 og)
WEST BROM 2 (Tchoyi 62, Tchoyi 71, Tchoyi 90)
A nothing game at Newcastle but it saw a dramatic comeback as West Brom came from three down to earn a point thanks to a superb hat trick by Somen Tchoyi. The home side were cruising as they led by three goals
just after the interval as Steven Taylor bundled the ball in after Ryan Taylor's corner wasn't dealt with and then Peter Lovenkrands added a second after keeper Scott Carson palmed his shot into the air before
scrambling it clear only for the officials to rule that it had crossed the line. Goal Line Technology anyone? The third followed early in the second half when Jonas Olsson diverted Jose Enrique's cross into his own net. Enter Tchoyi who netted what looked like a consolation when he broke the offside trap from Stephen Reid's long ball to go clear and slot home and then netted from a tight angle after nipping past his marker with Reid again the provider from a cross. He completed a remarkable recovery with time almost up as he headed home Olsson's far post cross.
Attendance : 51,678
Assists : Lovenkrands, Ameobi, n/a, Reid, Olsson (ck)
STOKE 0
WIGAN 1 (Rodallega 78)
Wigan pulled off a sensational escape as a late goal at Stoke confirmed Premier League football for next season. Stoke had the better of things in the first half but the visitors stepped things up after the break and
secured their top flight survival when Hugo Rodallega headed in Figueroa's cross.
Attendance : 27,566
Assist : Figueroa
TOTTENHAM 2 (Pavlyuchenko 49, Pavlyuchenko 93)
BIRMINGHAM 1 (Gardner 79)
Birmingham are relegated after a late Spurs goal saw them slip to defeat at White Hart Lane. After a goalless first half, Roman Pavlyuchenko curled in a beauty from the edge of the area to put Spurs ahead having
been found, slightly luckily by Danny Rose, however when Craig Gardner levelled with eleven minutes to go with a low shot after Spurs only half cleared a corner and Barry Ferguson's shot was blocked, Birmingham
looked to be on their way to safety. A second Wolves goal at home to Blackburn put Birmingham back into the bottom three on goal difference and this was confirmed in stoppage time when Pavlyuchenko broke clear and smashed an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net.
Attendance : 36,119
Assists : Rose, n/a, Rose
WEST HAM 0
SUNDERLAND 3 (Zenden 17, Sessegnon 51, Riveros 93)
West Ham's dismal season ended equally dismally after a last day home defeat against Sunderland. The visitors have been blighted by injury in recent games and will be glad that they had amassed enough points prior to their poor spell to be safe from the drop and after taking the lead when Bolo Zenden headed in Ahmed Elmohamady's cross, they never looked in danger against a deflated bottom club. After the break, Zenden found Stephane Sessegnon who netted a solo effort with a good run and low shot from the edge of the area and late on, the icing on the cake as Cristian Riveros walloped in Jordan Henderson's cross.
Attendance : 32,792
Assists : Elmohamady, Zenden, Henderson
WOLVES 2 (O'Hara 73, Hunt 87)
BLACKBURN 3 (Roberts 22, Emerton 38, Hoilett 46)
Wolves and Blackburn both remain in the top flight after a dramatic game at Molineux. Rovers' place in the Premier League rarely looked in danger as they tore into a three goal lead but Wolves only escaped after an
unsuccessful second half recovery and results elsewhere going their way. The only certainty was that the winner of this match would be guaranteed safety and Rovers tore into a three goal half time lead. They opened the scoring when Michael Mancienne lost the ball and from Michel Salgado's effort, Jason Roberts flicked in. The lead was doubled as Wolves failed to clear a long ball from keeper Paul Robinson and Brett Emerton blasted in from 20 yards and on half time, it was three as David Hoilett capitalised on poor defending jink through the back line to drill in after being found by Roberts. Wolves were in the bottom three at various stages during the second half but with goal difference so close, one goal made all the difference when Jamie O'Hara slotted in after a well worked free kick as he was found by Stephen Hunt just inside the area, however when Birmingham levelled at Spurs, Wolves were in the bottom three again until Hunt curled a beauty from Stephen Fletcher's nod on to put them above the drop zone on goal difference, indeed on goals scored! The late Spurs winner clinched it for Wolves as both they and Blackburn survive, albeit by the narrowest of margins.
What all of the above means is that Man City finish third ahead of Arsenal. Spurs finish fifth above Liverpool and Blackpool and Birmingham are relegated.
Attendance : 29,009
Assists : Salgado, n/a, Roberts, Hunt (fk), Fletcher
Gary Dowden - Joint Admin Yahoo Groups Premier-L list
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/premier-l/
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