Blackpool and Birmingham were relegated from the Premier League yesterday as Wigan and Wolves scrambled to safety in a thrilling finale to the English season.
Blackpool’s fairytale debut season in the top-flight came to an end at Old Trafford where they were beaten 4-2 by champions Manchester United while Birmingham were sent down after losing 2-1 at Tottenham Hotspur.
Chelsea sacked coach Carlo Ancelotti later in the day but the epicentre of the drama came at Molineux, where Wolves looked to be heading for humiliation against Blackburn after Jason Roberts, Brett Emerton and Junior Hoilett put Rovers 3-0 up at half-time.
But Mick McCarthy’s men were thrown a lifeline when Jamie O’Hara scored on 73 minutes to make it 3-1 before Stephen Hunt pulled another goal back for Wolves three minutes from time.
At that stage Hunt’s goal would have been enough to send Birmingham down on goals scored as the Blues held Spurs 1-1 at White Hart Lane after Craig Gardner cancelled out Roman Pavlyuchenko’s opener for Tottenham.
Pavlyuchenko’s second goal of the afternoon in the 90th minute was the final nail in the coffin as Birmingham’s two-year stay in the Premier League came to a heart-breaking end in stark contrast to their joy earlier this season when they won the League Cup.
At Old Trafford, Blackpool had dared to dream when goals from Charlie Adam and Gary T. Fletcher fired them into a 2-1 lead following Park Ji-Sung’s early opener.
But an equaliser from Brazilian midfielder Anderson was followed by an Ian Evatt own goal before Michael Owen wrapped up a 4-2 victory that sent Ian Holloway’s popular minnows back to the Championship next season.
Wigan, who had started the day second from bottom, meanwhile, completed their Houdini act when a Hugo Rodallega goal on 78 minutes gave them a priceless 1-0 win at Stoke.
The victory gave Wigan back-to-back wins for the first time and followed last week’s remarkable es-cape act when they came from 2-0 down to beat West Ham 3-2.
In other results yesterday, Manchester City made sure of automatic qualification to the Champions League after goals from Joleon Lescott and Edin Dzeko handed them a 2-0 win at Bolton.
But a dismal season for Arsenal finished with a 2-2 draw at Fulham, where goals from Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott cancelled out strikes from Steve Sidwell and Bobby Zamora.
The result left Arsenal in fourth place and means Arsene Wenger’s men must go through qualifying to reach next season’s Champions League group stage.
Blues’ expectations
Chelsea fired Ancelotti after a 1-0 loss at Everton completed a season which had “fallen short of expectations”, the club said in a statement.
Former Milan manager Ancelotti had been a popular figure at Stamford Bridge and guided the club to the double in his first season.
However, he paid the ultimate price for a mid-season slump which witnessed Chelsea’s worst run of league form in nearly 15 years that ultimately wrecked their chances of defending the title.
Ancelotti was the sixth manager of Chelsea owner Roman Abra-movich’s eight-year reign.
Aston Villa 1
Downing 33;
Liverpool 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 42,785.
Bolton 0
Man. City 2
Lescott 43; Dzeko 62;
HT: 0-1. Att: 26,285.
Red card: Sturridge (B) 86.
Everton 1
Beckford 74;
Chelsea 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 38,712.
Red card: Coleman (E) 52.
Fulham 2
Sidwell 26; Zamora 57;
Arsenal 2
Van Persie 29; Walcott 89;
HT: 1-1. Att: 25,674.
Red card: Gera (F) 75.
Man. United 4
Park 21; Anderson 62; Evatt 74 og; Owen 81;
Blackpool 2
Adam 40; Taylor-Fletcher 57;
HT: 1-1. Att: 75,400.
Newcastle 3
Taylor 16; Lovenkrands 39; Olsson 47 og;
West Brom 3
Tchoyi 62, 71, 90;
HT: 2-0. Att: 51,678.
Stoke City 0
Wigan 1
Rodallega 78;
HT: 0-0. Att: 27,566.
Tottenham 2
Pavlyuchenko 49, 90;
Birmingham 1
Gardner 79;
HT: 0-0. Att: 36,119.
West Ham 0
Sunderland 3
Zenden 17; Sessegnon 51; Riveros 90;
HT: 0-1. Att: 32,792.
Wolves 2
O’Hara 73; Hunt 87;
Blackburn 3
Roberts 22; Emerton 38; Hoilett 45;
HT: 0-3. Att: 29,009.
Leading scorers
21 goals: Berbatov (Man. United), Tevez (Man. City).
18 goals: Van Persie (Arsenal).
17 goals: Bent (Aston Villa).
15 goals: Odemwingie (WBA).
13 goals: Carroll (Liverpool), Malouda (Chelsea), Van der Vaart (Tottenham), Kuyt (Liverpool), Campbell (Blackpool), Hernandez (Man. United).