That’s it, the final whistle has blown on the 2008/2009 Premier League season, and on the involvement of Newcastle United and Middlesbrough in the League next year. Neither could manage that vital result, and even victories for Manchester United at Hull and Chelsea at Sunderland weren’t enough to keep the perennial Premier Leaguers in the division.
Newcastle’s fans will look back on today and think ‘if only’. Gareth Barry’s deflected strike 5 minutes before half-time condemned them to their first season outside the top-flight for 16 years, but after 20 minutes, it was the Toon that looked like they would come away from Villa Park with the spoils. Steven Taylor had shot cleared off the line, and Obafemi Martins fired a right-foot volley over from close range. Barry’s goal seemed to kill off Newcastle, and a lacklustre display in the second half provided their fans little in the way of hope that the deficit would be overturned. Michael Owen came on, but seemingly failed to touch the ball – the half-chances that were available fell Ameobi’s way. The limp display and miserable day were compounded late on when David Edgar saw red for his second booking.
Fellow North-Eastern strugglers Middlesbrough knew that they had a tough job to stay up, and their miracle looked a long way off when Carlton Cole put West Ham ahead from close range. Boro battled for parity, and managed to achieve it through a fine Gary o’Neil finish, but Brad Jones couldn’t hold Junior Stanislas’ 58th minute strike, and relegation was confirmed.
Hull and Sunderland live to fight another day despite failing to win, thanks to two stunning goals. One from young United midfielder Gibson, who arrowed a the game’s sole strike past Myhill from 25 yards, and one to seal the golden boot for 19-goal hitman Nic Anelka, who’s side won 3-2 at the Stadium of Light.
Elsewhere, despite their 2-0 defeat at Everton, Fulham have joined their opponents and Aston Villa in next year’s Europa League, rounding off a terrific season for Roy Hodgson and the Cottagers faithful. The reason for this was Tottenham’s 3-1 loss at Anfield, which saw Sami Hyypia’s final appearance, Fernando Torres’ 50th Red’s strike, and a point-proving goal for Robbie Keane as he scored against his old club for, well, his old club.
Arsenal once again made their fans dream of the much-vaunted ‘evolution’ as they produced a scintillating display to beat Stoke 4-1. Van Persie added a couple of goals to his tally to make his season seem more respectable.
Man City’s fans will similarly be looking forward to next season, having all the money in the world, but the players preparing to be replaced beat Bolton 1-0. Wigan managed to beat Portsmouth by the same score, and Blackburn and West Brom played out a stalemate at the Hawthorns, in the Baggies last Premier League match for at least a year.
So, here’s how it finished:
Champions League: Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal Europa League: Aston Villa, Everton, Fulham Relegated: West Brom, Middlesbrough, NewcastlePOS NAME P W D L F A W D L F A GD PTS 
38 16 2 1 43 13 12 4 3 25 11 +44 90 
38 12 7 0 41 13 13 4 2 36 14 +50 86 
38 11 6 2 33 12 14 2 3 35 12 +44 83 
38 11 5 3 31 16 9 7 3 37 21 +31 72 
38 8 6 5 31 20 9 6 4 24 17 +18 63 
38 7 9 3 27 21 10 2 7 27 27 +6 62 
38 11 3 5 28 16 3 8 8 11 18 +5 53 
38 10 5 4 21 10 4 4 11 24 35 0 51 
38 9 2 8 23 22 5 7 7 19 23 -3 51 
38 13 0 6 40 18 2 5 12 18 32 +8 50 
38 8 5 6 17 18 4 4 11 17 27 -11 45 
38 10 5 4 22 15 2 4 13 16 40 -17 45 
38 7 5 7 21 21 4 3 12 20 32 -12 41 
38 8 3 8 26 29 2 8 9 12 28 -19 41 
38 6 7 6 22 23 4 4 11 18 37 -20 41 
38 6 3 10 21 25 3 6 10 13 29 -20 36 
38 3 5 11 18 36 5 6 8 21 28 -25 35 
38 5 7 7 24 29 2 6 11 16 30 -19 34 
38 5 9 5 17 20 2 2 15 11 37 -29 32 
38 7 3 9 26 33 1 5 13 10 34 -31
32
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