A predictably tense and frenetic Survival Sunday proved to be a dark one for Blackpool and Birmingham.
Blackpool and Birmingham down as Wolves, Wigan and Blackburn survive
A predictably tense and frenetic Survival Sunday proved to be a dark one for Blackpool and Birmingham as they drew the curtain on their respective standings as Premier League outfits.
Despite forging into a 2-1 lead at one point at Manchester United the Seasiders waved goodbye to life in the top flight after eventually going down 4-2.
Birmingham joined Blackpool in being relegated as Alex McLeish's side went down 2-1 at Tottenham; a result that secured Spurs fifth place as Liverpool lost 1-0 at Aston Villa.
Wolves lost 3-2 at Molineux to Blackburn but both sides still stayed up, as two second half efforts from the home side breathed fresh life into their effort to retain their Premier League place.
Wigan were the big away day winners as they earned survival with a 1-0 win at Stoke City, a game that saw Hugo Rodallega emerge as a late life-saver for the Latics.
The battle for third place went the way of Manchester City as they signed off their campaign with a comfortable win at Bolton, while Arsenal were showing familiar frailties in claiming only a 2-2 draw on their travels to Fulham.
Newcastle threw away a three goal lead to take only a point in a remarkable clash with West Brom at St James' Park, while Carlo Ancelotti perhaps signed off his Chelsea tenure with a 1-0 defeat at ten-man Everton.
A miserable campaign for West Ham concluded with another defeat as Sunderland left the East End with a 3-0 victory.
Blackpool should have made a dream start to their trip to
Manchester United but Keith Southern was guilty of criminal profligacy when, with the goal gaping, he steered his shot wide from around eight yards.
Ian Holloway's side were made to pay on 21 minutes when Ian Evatt got himself in a horrible mess to allow Dimitar Berbatov's flick from Darren Fletcher's raking pass to find Park Ji-Sung, who, with an expert finish, clipped the ball over Matthew Gilks.
The red onslaught predicted was not forthcoming though and on the cusp of half-time talisman Charlie Adam put the Tangerine dream back on course when he cracked a brilliant low free-kick past Edwin van der Sar, the first goal United have conceded in a first half at Old Trafford in the Premier League since April 2010.
As has so often been the case for Blackpool this season the unthinkable began to look a possibility when they miraculously forged ahead, as Gary Taylor-Fletcher edged ahead of his marker to flick David Vaughan's pull-back beyond Van der Sar.
It was a lead they held for just five minutes when, in the 62nd of a pulsating contest, Anderson produced a remarkably similar finish of his own when converting Park's ball into his feet following a spirited run from Jonny Evans.
With United on the front foot there was a nagging sense of the inevitable when incessant pressure culminated in the unfortunate Evatt converting Chris Smalling's loss cross past Gilks, to hammer the final nail in Blackpool's top flight coffin.
Ahead of Barcelona next weekend United were handed a further fillip when substitute Michael Owen grabbed a fourth with a typically composed finish.
Despite seeming terrified every time
Stoke City had a throw-in,
Wigan survived an onslaught at times at the Britannia Stadium before forging ahead in the 78th minute.
Charles N'Zogbia made inroads down the left before finding the perfect cross for Rodallega to nod past Asmir Begovic to keep Wigan in the top flight and spark jubilant celebrations in the away end.
Birmingham reduced
Tottenham to half chances in a tight and tense first half at White Hart Lane, but after the break they had no answer to a peach of a curling effort from substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko in the 49th minute.
It looked as though they might have done enough when Craig Gardner rattled in from 20 yards but when news filtered through of Wigan's goal at Stoke the writing looked to be on the wall.
None more so than in injury-time when Pavlyuchenko unleashed a magnificent drive, equal to his first, that gave Ben Foster not a prayer between Birmingham's posts.
The proverbial six-pointer at Molineux saw Jason Roberts send the travelling
Blackburn faithful into raptures in the 22nd minute when he instinctively converted Michel Salgado's miscued drive across goal.
It was to prove a miserable first half for
Wolves as Blackburn scored twice more before half-time. Brett Emerton struck home a first-time volley from the edge of the box as the home side failed to deal with a mammoth Paul Robinson punt forward, before the irrepressible Junior Hoilett slalomed past a couple of meek Wolves challenges inside the box to finish calmly, from Roberts' knock-down, to have Steve Kean dancing down the touchline in delight.
Wolves could not fare any worse than their first-half showing and thus it was no surprise when, after the interval, Jamie O'Hara fired in Stephen Hunt's cleverly disguised free-kick on the edge of the box.
Hunt then went from provider to goalscorer as he cut inside onto his favoured left foot to bend an absolute beauty past Robinson into the far top corner.
Wolves could not muster a leveller but few inside Molineux cared one iota as news of results from elsewhere began to filter into the ground.
Manchester City took the lead in the most bizarre of circumstances at
Bolton as the ball inadvertently thumped off the back of Joleon Lescott's head from a corner before flying into the top corner of Jussi Jaaskelainen's goal.
Roberto Mancini's men secured third spot in the second half when Edin Dzeko converted Pablo Zabaleta's cross after David Silva's sublime pass had dissected Bolton's backline.
A disappointing day for Daniel Sturridge, looking to impress against his former club, only got worse when he saw red four minutes from time for foul and abusive language.
Arsenal had to settle for fourth place as they could claim only a 2-2 draw against
Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Familiar defensive frailties proved to be Arsenal's downfall yet again as they fell behind to Fulham when Bobby Zamora galloped through a shonky offside trap to lay one on a plate for Steve Sidwell.
It was a lead Fulham held for just three minutes as Arsenal demonstrated that for all their deficiencies they are still capable of playing some sublime football, as Robin van Persie's expert finish from Abou Diaby pass brought him an 18th goal in his last 17 appearances to restore parity.
Zamora was proving a thorn in Arsenal's side and none more so than in the 57th minute when he rose highest in the six-yard box to bullet home Jonathan Greening's clipped cross from the byline.
Zoltan Gera was shown a straight red card for an ill-advised lunging tackle, before pride was partially restored for Arsenal when Theo Walcott rasped in a low drive to earn his side a late point that ultimately proved to be in vain.
A bright enough game considering nothing was riding on it ensued on Merseyside as
Everton claimed an impressive win over
Chelsea.
Phil Jagielka had the best chance of the first half when he struck the top of the bar, before in the second half Seamus Coleman saw red for a second yellow card.
The game was decided via a stunning goal as Jermaine Beckford picked up possession in his own half and bulldozed his way past a host of Chelsea challenges, before keeping his nerve to beat Petr Cech.
Aston Villa concluded their campaign with a 1-0 win over
Liverpool in the Midlands.
When Marc Albrighton's deep first-half cross to the back post found Stewart Downing there seemed little real danger, but with a ferocious drive from the tightest of angles the England winger beat Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina all ends up.
In the second half Villa survived the strongest of penalty claims when Richard Dunne made a full length dive, before seemingly saving a certain goal with a fingertip reaction that Brad Friedel would have been proud of.Beleaguered
West Ham fans let out a collective groan when just past the quarter of an hour mark
Sunderland's Bolo Zenden exposed some rank marking to rise highest to convert Ahmed Elmohamady's cross.
It got no better for the Hammers in the second 45 either, as Stephane Sessegnon punished some more insipid defending with a fizzing drive from 25 yards.
Gloss was put on a polished Sunderland performance when Cristian Riveros bagged a third in stoppage-time.
A thrilling affair at St James' Park saw
Newcastle draw blood first as Steven Taylor was on hand to turn home from close range after a scramble in
West Brom's box from a corner.
Newcastle doubled their advantage before the break when Scott Carson was guilty of a howler as he allowed Peter Lovenkrands' drive to loop over the line after he initially had palmed it into the air.
A delighted Toon faithful were treated to a third just two minutes after the interval when Jonas Olsson contrived to put Jose Enrique's devilish delivery into his own goal.
West Brom are a different proposition these days under Roy Hodgson though and made a fight of it when Somen Tchoyi twice found unerring finishes to pull his side back into contention.
More was to come from the giant midfielder when he remarkably completed a hat-trick with a late diving header to secure a thrilling 3-3 stalemate.
