St Totteringham’s Day: Gunners rub salt in Spurs wounds

Arsenal finish ahead of rivals Tottenham to keep tradition alive; City secure Champions League berth.

An Olivier Giroud hat-trick and a Mark Bunn own goal ensured Arsenal finish above their North London rivals Tottenham and keep the 21-year-old tradition of celebrating St Totteringham’s Day alive with a convincing 4-0 win over relegated Aston Villa yesterday.

Spurs, who enjoyed a two-point lead over their North London rivals ahead of their clash against Newcastle, only needed a draw to finish ahead of Arsene Wenger’s side. However, much to the amazement of many, Rafa Benitez’s men snuck five goals past a side which had conceded only 30 goals this season — the least by any team in the Premier League — prior to this match.

Georginio Wijnaldum (brace), Aleksandar Mitrovic, Rolando Aarons and Daryl Janmaat got on the scoresheet as the Magpies ran riot at St James’ Park to end a dismal season on a high. Erik Lamela equalised in the 60th minute but Spurs could not capitalise on that.

The 5-1 defeat meant that Mauricio Pochettino’s men finish third, while Arsenal finished second for the first time since 2004-5.

Manchester City, who needed a draw to make fourth place out of reach of nearest rivals Manchester United, did exactly that as Kelechi Iheanacho’s fifth minute opener was cancelled by Andre Ayew in first-half stoppage time.

The result secured City’s place in the Champions League next season, however, incoming manager Pep Guardiola would have to see his side contest the qualifying play-offs for a spot in the group stages.

Drinkwater spares Foxes from closing defeat

Danny Drinkwater struck a stunning late equaliser as Leicester City concluded their fairytale Premier League campaign with a 1-1 draw against outgoing champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Cesc Fabregas’s penalty put Chelsea ahead, but Drinkwater crowned his return from suspension by levelling with a dipping 25-yard effort in the 82nd minute to ensure that manager Claudio Ranieri did not taste defeat on his return to his former club.

Beaten only three times over the whole campaign, Leicester finished the season 10 points clear of second-place Arsenal, with long-time pursuers Tottenham Hotspur a point back in third. They also equalled a club record of 12 consecutive league games without defeat.

Chelsea finished 10th, 31 points off the pace.

Ibe makes point for second-string Liverpool

Jordon Ibe’s superb goal gave a much-changed Liverpool side a 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion on the final day of the Premier League season.

Three days before the Reds face Sevilla in the Europa League final in Basel, their manager Jurgen Klopp made 11 changes for their final domestic outing of the campaign.

They fell behind on 13 minutes to a fine West Brom goal that was finished off by Venezuelan international Salomon Rondon.

But Ibe’s solo effort levelled the scores 10 minutes later as most of Klopp’s likely European starters were rested.

Controlled explosion carried out at Old Trafford

A controlled explosion
was carried out on a suspect package in Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground on Sunday, police said.

Earlier the Premier League match between Manchester United and Bournemouth was abandoned and the stadium evacuated before kick-off following the discovery of the package.

“A controlled explosion has just been carried out within the stadium by bomb disposal experts at Old Trafford. More to follow,” Greater Manchester Police said on Twitter. (with additional input from Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2016.

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