Birmingham and Blackpool were relegated on a nerve-shredding final day of the Premier League season in which five teams separated by one point battled to avoid going down.
Birmingham, who began the day one place above the drop-zone, were defeated 2-1 at Tottenham and Blackpool surrendered a 2-1 lead to lose 4-2 at Manchester United, who afterwards celebrated their 19th top-flight title.
Wolves lost 3-2 at home to Blackburn but, like their opponents, stayed up and Wigan’s 1-0 win at Stoke ensured their safety.
Second-placed Chelsea lost 1-0 at Everton and later sacked manager Carlo Ancelotti. Manchester City finished level on points with Chelsea thanks to a 2-0 win at Bolton.
Fourth-placed Arsenal, who drew 2-2 at Fulham, will have to pre-qualify for next season’s Champions League. Tottenham’s win clinched fifth and ensured they will play in the Europa League.
Liverpool finished sixth despite losing 1-0 at Aston Villa, West Brom came from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 at Newcastle and West Ham, who finished bottom, lost 3-0 at home to Sunderland.
In Rugby Union, Leinster came from 22-6 down at half-time to beat Northampton 33-22 and win their second European Cup in three years. Harlequins won the Challenge Cup thanks to a last-gasp converted try, which sealed a 19-18 win over Stade Francais.
In Rugby League’s Challenge Cup, Wigan beat Bradford, Huddersfield saw off Catalan Dragons, Castleford pipped Wakefield after extra time, Leeds defeated Harlequins and Hull KR were too good for Salford in the all-Super League ties. St Helens, Hull FC and Warrington also reached the last eight.
In Cricket, Eoin Morgan will take the retired Paul Collingwood’s place in England’s team for the first Test against Sri Lanka in Cardiff, starting on Thursday, after being preferred to Ravi Bopara. Morgan made 193 in England Lions’ 38-run defeat to the tourists.
Lancashire went top of Division One of the County Championship with victory over Roses Rivals Yorkshire. Northamptonshire still lead Division Two despite not playing this week.
Surrey and Northants made it five 40-over wins from five by beating Hampshire and Scotland respectively. Also in Group B Warwickshire saw off Durham. Sussex are top of Group A after beating Kent and Yorkshire were too good for Worcestershire. In Group C Essex thrashed the Unicorns and Lancashire scraped past Nottinghamshire.
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel took his fourth Formula One win in five races despite the close attention from second-placed Lewis Hamilton in the Spanish Grand Prix.
In Golf, Ian Poulter beat fellow Englishman Luke Donald 2&1 to win the World Matchplay tournament in Spain.
