Black Cats and Tigers Stay Up; Magpies and Boro Relegated

The English Premier League season ended Sunday. I'm going to concentrate on games involving relegation-threatened clubs.

At Birmingham:

Damien Duff's own goal (38') condemned Newcastle United into the League Championship as the Magpies fell 1-0 on the road to Aston Villa.

At London:

Goals from Carlton Cole (33') and Junior Stanislas (58') lifted West Ham United to a 2-1 home win over Middlesborough, who were relegated from the Premiership as a result.

At Sunderland:

Despite losing 3-2 at home to Chelsea, Sunderland were assured of another season in the Premier League. Kieran Richardson (53') and Kenwyne Jones (90') provided the scoring for the Black Cats, who are looking for a new manager, as Ricky Sbragia stepped down following the match. It was Guus Hiddink's final Premier League match as boss at Chelsea, who this coming Saturday will play in the FA Cup final against Everton at Wembley Stadium. He will remain the head coach of Russia's national team. The Blues, who finished third in the EPL, got goals from Nicolas Anelka (47'), Salomon Kalou (74'), and Ashley Cole (86').

At Hull:

Darron Gibson scored the only goal of the match (24') as Manchester United, who already locked up the Premiership crown and were resting up for Wednesday's UEFA Champions League final in Rome against Barcelona, defeated Hull City 1-0 on the road. Despite losing the match (and winning only one of their last 22 league contests), the Tigers survived to stay in the Premier League next season.