End of season a mixed bag for English clubs

By Vic Mills

LONDON (JP): The final Sunday of the Premiership season was bitter-sweet for the North East of England as Newcastle United's joy in claiming the runners-up spot was offset by misery as Sunderland and Middlebrough were relegated.

With Manchester United having won the title earlier in the week, the final game at Old Trafford against West Ham United held little more than exhibition value.

Goals from Ole Solskjaer and Jordi Cruyff settled the outcome but was very much secondary to the celebrations that followed with the Championship trophy presented before an adoring crowd of 55,249.

There was an air of exhibition too at St James' Park where Newcastle United, facing an already relegated Nottingham Forest, scored four times in sixteen first-half minutes through Faustino Asprilla, Alan Shearer and two from Les Ferdinand.

A Robbie Elliot strike added to a fourth consecutive clean- sheet left Newcastle fans waiting on the result from Hillsborough where Sheffield Wednesday and Liverpool battled for both points and European places.

In a match that encapsulated the desperate season, Liverpool somehow managed to contrive an almost surreal 1-1 draw to finish fourth and hand the runners-up place, and with it entry into next season's Champions' League, to Newcastle United.

The substitution of John Barnes for Stan Collymore, the passing game preferred to the more direct approach, was indicative of the Merseyside malaise. Confusion turned farce in the second-half as Wednesday lost both goalkeepers, Kevin Pressman to injury, his replacement Matt Clarke sent off for handling outside the area. Jamie Redknapp brought the curtain down with a late equalizer.

An earlier O'Neill Donaldson goal was not enough to give Wednesday a UEFA Cup place, but was enough to consign Liverpool to a season of frustration and embarrassment. One that will ensure changes at Anfield over the summer.

Arsenal ended its roller-coaster campaign in third place with a 3-1 victory at Derby County. As if to mirror the season, Paul Merson limped off, Tony Adams was sent off and two opportunist goals from Ian Wright and a sublime angled chip from Dennis Bergkamp was enough to finish off a disappointing Derby side.

The final UEFA Cup place went to Aston Villa which finished fifth after an uninspiring 1-0 home win over Southampton thanks to a 12th minute Richard Dryden own goal.

Elite

But the real drama of the day belonged not to the Premiership elite, but down in the relegation zone where nerves were shredded long before the final whistle.

With Nottingham Forest already relegated, the calculation at kick-off time was any two of Southampton, Sunderland, Coventry City and Middlesbrough.

If four games in nine days were not bad enough, Middlesbrough took the field at Elland Road without the injured Fabrizio Ravanelli and against a Leeds team that had not conceded a goal at home since Christmas.

Undaunted, Juninho took the attack to Leeds, driving his colleagues on, at times leading the line almost single-handed. The same could not be said of Emerson who, sluggish in thought and deed, had all the appearance of a transfer waiting to happen.

Low on entertainment value, the game turned in the 77th minute when a cross from substitute Rod Wallace was headed home by Brian Deane. Juninho equalized with a deflected shot two minutes later, but it was too little too late.

Sunderland took 15,000 fans with it on the long journey south to the capital for its game against Wimbldeon. On a blustery, rain-swept afternoon, the fanatical support on the terraces was not matched by the necessary finesse on the pitch.

Lacking a scorer all season, Sunderland rarely looked like breaking the deadlock. And so it proved as four minutes from time Wimbledon's Jason Euell fired home the goal that condemned Sunderland to a quick return to Division One.

For the 10th time in 30 years, Coventry City's fate was decided on the last day of the season. Dion Dublin and Paul Williams put them two up before halftime against an under- achieving Tottenham side at White Hart Lane.

Paul McVeigh pulled one back just before the interval after Teddy Sheringham's free-kick hit an upright, it was then left to goalkeeper Steve Ogrizovic to keep Coventry in the game and the Premiership with a string of fine saves.

Rock bottom a month ago, Southampton owes its survival to a sequence of four wins and two draws before its loss at Villa Park.

In the match of the day on the continent, 115,000 fans saw Barcelona close the gap on Real Madrid to five points with five games remaining in the Spanish first division after a 1-0 victory at the Nou Camp Stadium.

Luis Figo was adjudged to have been brought down late into first-half injury time by Roberto Carlos. Ronaldo's weak penalty was saved by Illgner, but the ball landed at Figo's feet who crossed for the Brazilian to stroke into an empty net.

There was no change at the top of Italy's Series A. Juventus remains four points clear of Parma after a 2-0 victory at lowly Verona thanks to a goal in the last minute of each half from Ciro Ferrara and Vladimir Jugovic.

A Hernan Crespo hattrick kept Parma's challenge on course in its 3-0 home win over Vicenza. Elsewhere, Inter Milan displayed great spirit to come from behind to beat Sampdoria 2-1. Maurizio Ganz struck twice to keep it in touch and erase the memory of its first-leg UEFA Cup final defeat at Schalke.

At the top of the Dutch first division, PSV Eindhoven opened up what could be a significant four point gap after its 1-0 win over Groningen on the weekend. The tussle between second and third ended in stalemate as Feyenoord drew 1-1 at home to Twente Enschede.

Finally, to Germany where Bayern Munich opened the door to its rivals at the top of the Bundesliga after being held to a goalless draw at home to bottom club Freiburg.