Sport: Five things we learned from the weekend
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On a weekend which saw the Premier League season draw to a close, we round up the main talking points from another pulsating weekend of sporting action.
Here are five things you may have missed….
Villa survive, Watford and Bournemouth relegated
Aston Villa completed the great escape to retain their Premier League status with a 1-1 draw at West Ham on Sunday afternoon.
Jack Grealish fired Villa into the lead after 84 minutes, but they were instantly pegged back when Andriy Yarmolenko’s deflected effort looped over Pepe Reina a minute later.
The result at the London Stadium was enough to relegate Bournemouth, despite Eddie Howe’s men beating Everton 3-1 at Goodison Park to end their five-year stay in the Premier League.
Watford will also be playing Championship football next season after they failed to beat Arsenal. The Gunners raced into a three-goal lead before goals from Troy Deeney and Danny Welbeck provided a nervy finish.
United and Chelsea seal top four finish
Champions League football will be at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge next season after both sides secured three points to secure a top four finish.
United needed a draw or better against fellow-top four chasers Leicester City. Bruno Fernandes put United ahead from the spot before Jesse Lingard came off the bench to wrap up the points in stoppage time. The Foxes slipped to fifth as a result, and will be in the Europa League.
Like United, Chelsea needed a point to guarantee a top four spot. Two goals in added time at the end of the first half were enough to see of Wolves, who finished the season in seventh.
Mason Mount curled the Blues into the lead with a sumptuous free kick before Olivier Giroud acrobatically doubled their advantage before the break.
Elsewhere,Tottenham secured Europa League football after their 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace.
Silva bows out in style for Manchester City
Manchester City ensured David Silva’s final Premier League game for the club was one to remember as they thumped relegated Norwich 5-0 at the Etihad Stadium.
In his ten-year stay at the club, the Spaniard won four Premier League titles with City, two FA Cups and five League Cups to become one of the Premier League’s greatest ever players.
Gabriel Jesus put City ahead early on before Kevin De Bruyne added a second before half-time. Raheem Sterling added a third and there was still time for Riyad Mahrez and De Bruyne to score a second to complete the rout.
A City clean sheet meant Ederson claimed the Golden Glove ahead of Nick Pope with sixteen shutouts. De Bruyne also equalled Thierry Henry’s record for most assists in a season (20).
Van den Bergh World Matchplay champion
Debutant Dimitri Van den Bergh beat Gary Anderson to claim the World Matchplay crown with a thrilling 18-10 victory in Milton Keynes.
The Belgian became only the second player to win on debut after Larry Butler in 1994 to claim the title.
2018 champion, Anderson was the favourite to win the final but it was Van den Bergh who pocketed the £150,000 prize to lift the Phil Taylor trophy for the first time.
It was a nervy start for both players but the Belgian took control of the match in the fourth interval to claim four out of five legs to open up a lead on Anderson and claim a first World title for the 26-year-old.
Brilliant Broad puts England on brink
Stuart Broad took six wickets across two innings’ on day three to put England on the verge of a Test series win against the West Indies at Old Trafford.
Broad finished with figures of 6-31 in the first innings to bowl West Indies out for 197. England then set the Windies 399 to win before Broad claimed two more wickets late in the day to leave the tourists 10-2 at the close of play.
Rory Burns and Dom Sibley helped steer England into a dominant position with an opening stand of 114. Sibley scored a patient 56, with Burns falling short of a century with a well-crafted 90 runs from 163 balls.
England may fall foul of the weather on day four in Manchester as they look to take the remaining eight wickets to clinch the series.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication.
