Bolton Wanderers beat Middlesbrough 2-1 at the Reebok stadium yesterday to remain in the Premiership, but for Hammers fans it was untold despair as they could only manage a 2-2 draw at Birmingham City and were subsequently relegated from the top-flight.

Sam Allardyce's first-half goalscoring heroes were Per Frandsen and Jay-Jay Okocha and despite allowing former Bolton striker Michael Ricketts to pull a goal back for the visitors, left-back Franck Queudrue's subsequent sending off meant that Boro have now own just six times in 48 trips to Bolton and the Trotters were safe regardless of what West Ham achieved at St Andrews.

Trevor Brooking's team travelled to the Midlands on the back of three straight wins, but having won at Birmingham only eight times in their last 37 visits and took the lead just after the break through striker Les Ferdinand, but soon found themselves trailing through goals from strike duo Geoff Horsfield and Stern John.

So, despite substitute Paolo Di Canio's equaliser, West Ham were still relegated with 41 points, the highest-ever total in a 38-game Premiership season. Meanwhile at the top of the table and the fight for the crucial final Champions League spot for next season, Chelsea came from behind to beat Liverpool 2-1 at Stamford Bridge, making it an amazing 14 seasons without a win for the Reds in west London and seven straight defeats in a row at the Bridge.

Skipper Sami Hyypiä headed Liverpool into an eleventh-minute lead from a Danny Murphy free kick, but the home side responded almost straight from the kick-off through captain Marcel Desailly, before winger Jesper Grønkjær won them the match with a goal after 27 minutes.

Gérard Houllier's team also had England midfielder Steven Gerrard sent off late on for his second bookable offence, an ugly lunge at Graeme Le Saux and joining Liverpool in next season's UEFA Cup will be sixth-in-the-table Blackburn Rovers following their comprehensive 4-0 win at White Hart Lane and Everton's 2-1 home defeat against champions Manchester United.


 

In north London, both Spurs's Teddy Sheringham and Blackburn's Henning Berg, who was playing his 250th game for the visitors, were making their final appearances for their respective clubs and it was Graeme Souness's side that ended a poor recent record at the Lane of no wins in their last four trips there thanks to strikes from Dwight Yorke in the first period and Craig Hignett, Damien Duff and Andrew Cole after the break. And not only did Glenn Hoddle's team have Gustavo Poyet sent off on the half-hour mark, but the defeat left them with just nine home wins this season, their fewest for four seasons.

Everton thought they were on the way to Europe next season when Kevin Campbell gave then an early lead but the champions, who collected the Premiership trophy after the game, went an eighth league match unbeaten at Goodison Park courtesy of goals either side of the break from a David Beckham free kick and a Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty, giving the Dutchman the Premiership's golden boot with 25 goals this campaign.

The Toffees have still had a fantastic season though having won more home games than at any time since 1989-90, while the visitors said goodbye to the departing Laurent Blanc, who collected a championship winners medal, as did Quinton Fortune and Roy Carroll due to their starts yesterday.

Runners-up and FA Cup finalists Arsenal put to bed their appalling record of only having scored once in their last six matches at last-placed Sunderland by finding the back of the net four times on Sunday without reply to inflict on the Black Cats a record 15th consecutive top-flight loss. The Gunners had Fredrik Ljungberg back from injury and the Sweden international midfielder grabbed a hat-trick after Thierry Henry had opened the scoring for the visitors.

Mick McCarthy's team, who prior to kick-off had held the record with the United side of 1930, also set two more unwarranted record by finishing the season with only 19 points and four wins from 38 games, another top-flight first.

Third-placed Newcastle United confirmed their best Premiership finish for six years by drawing 2-2 at relegated West Bromwich Albion and so ending a run of four straight defeats at The Hawthorns. Newly-crowned PFA Young Player of the Year Jermaine Jenas gave the visitors the lead just before half-time with a rare header, however Gary Megson's men responded in the second period and led following a brace from Scott Dobie, but in the end were happy to settle for a point after Hugo Viana's equaliser, the Portugal international's second strike in his last two games.

Manchester City's final home game after 80 years of wonderful memories at Maine Road was a huge anticlimax as they went down 1-0 to a Southampton team who subsequently achieved their best Premiership finish, eighth, since they were seventh in 1990.

Defender Michael Svensson brought to an end a poor recent run of one point from 12 with the winner and it was a also a final farewell for the retiring Peter Schmeichel and City captain for the day Shaun Goater, who was making his final appearance for the home team. However, all is not lost for Kevin Keegan's side as they can still qualify for next season's UEFA Cup via the Fair Play League.

Peter Reid celebrated his appointment on Friday as Leeds United's full-time manager by watching his team beat Aston Villa 3-1 at Elland Road, meaning that the visitors have won only once on their travels in the League all season, their worst run for 16 years. And both sides have also finished the campaign in their lowest positions since 1996 and 1995 respectively, with the visitors looking like they were going to leave Yorkshire unbeaten for the seventh match in a row after Joey Gudjonsson had cancelled out Ian Harte's eighth-minute free kick.

But late strikes from Nick Barmby and Mark Viduka, the Australian's 13th in his last nine games, gave the home fans something to cheer about after what has been a hard season for them. And finally Fulham caretaker manager Chris Coleman won probably his final match in charge of the club, 1-0 in the London derby at Charlton Athletic, thanks to Louis Saha's first-half penalty, with the home team also being reduced to ten men when keeper Dean Kiely fouled Saha in the build-up to the penalty decision.

Charlton, who missed a penalty in the second period when Jason Euell saw his spot-kick saved by Maik Taylor, paid a fond farewell to John Robinson after the final whistle.


Player of the Weekend: Ruud van Nistelrooy

Manchester United's top scorer this season with 44 goals in all competitions may not have been recognised by either the PFA or the Football Writers Association as the season's best player, nor did he make it into the Premiership Team of the Season, but on Sunday he became the League's top scorer by netting his 25th of the campaign and so taking over from Thierry Henry, who won it last year, as England's top marksman.

by Richard Morgan