Sunday, 12 May 2013

Fergie & Scholes' OT Farewell, Moyes and Neville's Goodison Farewell, Norwich & Newcastle Safe, Super Frank Makes History

Manchester United 2-1 Swansea: This match was never about the result. 26 and a half years, 13 Premier League trophies and, what will be, 1500 games, Sir Alex Ferguson bode farewell to the Old Trafford faithful. There was a goodbye also to Paul Scholes who also played his final match at The Theatre of Dreams. A dream final home victory almost started in the opening when Javier Hernandez's effort smashed the bar and stayed out. United did take the lead six minutes before half time when a poorly defended free-kick saw Hernandez pounce and slot the ball past Gerhard Tremmel. Swansea hadn't arrived as party guests and Michu was ready to spoil the party four minutes in to the second half when the Spaniard beat Phil Jones to the ball to volley past David De Gea from a Nathan Dyer cross. Perhaps in United fashion, the winner had to come late and although it wasn't quite in Fergie time, it was Rio Ferdinand who smashed a half volley from a corner in to the next from seven yards with just three minutes remaining.

Scholes' final match ended with 25-minutes left to play and the maestro left the pitch to a more than deserved standing ovation. Wayne Rooney's notable absence from the squad raised a lot of eyebrows but those debates will come in the future headlines. Today, it's all about one man and one team. Manchester United lifted the trophy and everyone around the world was witness to Ferguson's final ever addressing of the Old Trafford crowd. He isn't leaving the football club entirely as he will still be there as a director but the bombshell that he knew he was going retire way back at Christmas, it's a shock as to how it was kept a secret for so long. Football has lost the best domestic manager the world has ever seen and the longevity is something that will never be surpassed again. Thank you Sir Alex Ferguson.

Everton 2-0 West Ham: This was another match where the result wasn't important. It was about another Scot leaving another top team. David Moyes sat in the dug out of Goodison Park for the last time after a brilliant 11-years at the club. Alongside Moyes, Phil Neville, was in attendance for his final Everton match but injury meant he couldn't take part. Everton got off to the best start when Kevin Mirallas finished off a fantastic team move after just six minutes. It was 2-0 on the hour mark when Mirallas' shot took a huge deflection off James Collins to beat Jaaskelainen for a second time.

With Bill Kenwright visibly and unsurprisingly upset, Moyes came to a guard of honour at the end of the game and another momentous standing ovation. Moyes leaves to try and fill the biggest void in English football. As Everton's search for a new manager now begins and luck must be given to both Moyes and Everton for their futures.

Stoke 1-2 Tottenham: With Arsenal playing the FA Cup winners on Tuesday, Spurs managed to move in to fourth place by two points after this close fought victory. Stoke actually took the lead after just three minutes when Steven N'Zonzi was unmarked at the front post to head home a free-kick. Tottenham managed to level on 20-minutes when Clint Dempsey hit the loose ball from 35-yards in to an unguarded net after the initial ball over the top had been cut out by a defender as Asmir Begovic also came out, leaving his goal open. Stoke were reduced to ten men just two minutes in to the second half when Charlie Adam received a second yellow card for an unnecessary foul from behind when he was never going to get the ball. But it took Spurs until the last seven minutes before they finally took advantage; Dempsey's pull back being tapped home by Emmanuel Adebayor from all of four yards. All eyes are now on Arsenal as they play their penultimate card in the race for Champions League, a card that could see Wigan get relegated.

Norwich 4-0 West Brom: Norwich have guaranteed their survival after this rout over West Brom. There was a return to the side for John Ruddy and he'll be extremely happy to come away with a clean sheet. The deadlock was broken on 25-minutes when Robert Snodgrass fired in to the roof of the net after Wes Hoolahan's first attempt was closed down by Ben Foster. Norwich were given their second goal on 62-minutes when Ben Foster managed to slice a clearance and allow Grant Holt to take the ball and roll it home.  It was 3-0 three minutes later when a free-kick was diverted in to his own net by Gareth McAuley. The game was rounded up in injury time Jonny Howson linked up with Luciano Becchio before curling a magnificent shot in to the corner from outside the box.

QPR 1-2 Newcastle: Newcastle have also confirmed their place in next season's Premier League. It didn't start very well for the visitors as QPR were awarded a penalty after just 11-minutes when Junior Hoilett was brought down by the returning Mathieu Debuchy. Loic Remy stepped up and sent Rob Elliott the wrong way to give the relegated hosts the lead. The roles were reversed just seven minutes later though when Hatem Ben Arfa earned a penalty after Jose Bosingwa was pulling at the Frenchman's shirt. Ben Arfa ended up taking the penalty and smashed in to the top corner just off the underneath of the crossbar. Yoan Gouffran made it 2-1 ten minutes before half time when a poor back pass from Bosingwa saw Rob Green's clearance charged down before the ball fell to Gouffran who rolled the ball in to the empty net. Elliott will miss Newcastle's final game of the season against Arsenal after being sent off nine minutes before half time when he received a second yellow card for handling the ball outside the area. It's a pretty stupid sending off as the first yellow card was brandished for kicking the ball away.

Sunderland 1-1 Southampton: If Wigan fail to win on Tuesday, Sunderland will stay up based on the fact Wigan will be down. For now though, the point means that Sunderland are now four points ahead of the bottom three. Sunderland took the lead on 68-minutes when Phil Bardsley scored a fantastic deflected goal, his first in over a year, which beat Artur Boruc in to the corner. But Sunderland's safety celebrations were cut short with 14-minutes remaining when substitute Jason Puncheon stabbed the ball home at the second attempt whilst on the floor from three yards after Simon Mignolet parried his initial shot. Whilst not entirely mathematically safe, Southampton have assured their place in next season's league due to Wigan's woeful goal difference.

Fulham 1-3 Liverpool: Daniel Sturridge will grab the headlines in this game after a great hat-trick. Dimitar Berbatov actually got the first goal on 33-minutes with a good header from a Sascha Riether cross to give Fulham the lead. Parity was restored three minutes later when Sturridge used magnificent footwork to fire home after Andre Wisdom cleared the ball from his own box. Fulham should have had a penalty in the second half when Lucas handled in the box but nothing was given on the hour mark. The visitors then took the lead two minutes past the hour when Philippe Coutinho's slipped shot ended up feeding Sturridge fantastically to give the striker his second goal. The hat-trick was completed five minutes before half-time when Sturridge lofted the ball over the oncoming Mark Schwarzer after Coutinho had once again picked out the striker with another delightful ball.

Aston Villa 1-2 Chelsea: Aston Villa will have also escaped if Wigan don't win on Tuesday, they remain five points clear of The Latics after Frank Lampard broke the all time scoring record. Safety was looking assured on 14-minutes when Christian Benteke linked up with Yacouba Sylla before firing in yet another goal for the Midlands side. Chelsea's job looked to have been made even harder when Ramires was sent off just before half time for a high challenge on Gabriel Agbonlahor. But Villa would also be reduced to ten 13-minutes in to the second half when Benteke was shown a second yellow for a high challenge on John Terry, his first came in the first half for elbowing Cesar Azpilicueta and that could have been a red all on its own. Chelsea levelled just after the hour mark when Eden Hazard played the ball to Lampard to fire home on the edge of the box to level Bobby Tambling's goalscoring record. The record was then finally broken with two minutes remaining after Lampard linked up with Ashley Cole before finishing off the defender's low cross.  



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