The Baggies Are Back, Burnley & West Ham snatch crucial victories, and Portsmouth are officially relegated
The Baggies Are Back, Burnley & West Ham snatch crucial victories, and Portsmouth are officially relegated
Dominic Vieira
Even though two matches were only played in the Premier League today, a great deal happened at the bottom of the table.
Relegation battles West Ham beat Sunderland 1-0 and picked up 3 crucial points. An early second half strike from Ilan secured the win for the Hammers who now sit on 16th place in the table. However, they can’t open the champagne yet, a place in the 2010/2011 Premier League is not yet guaranteed. The team must continue working hard, performing and fighting to maintain their place in England’s top league.
Unfortunately, West Ham’s victory meant that Portsmouth was officially relegated to the Championship. Tomorrow they take on Tottenham for a spot in the FA Cup final; hopefully the news won’t affect the players.
The other Premier League match played this afternoon was between relegation rivals Hull City and Burnley. The Tigers started the match in the best manner, by scoring an early goal in the 3rd minute by Kilbane. Burnley fought hard and Paterson equalised in the 35th minute. In the second half, Graham Alexander converted two penalties for Burnley and a last minute stoppage goal by Elliott concluded the match. Burnely’s 4 -1 victory has put them on level with Hull with 27 points. However, both teams are currently sitting in relegation zone and need to win matches if they want to stay up.
Portsmouth, Hull City and Burnley are the weakest teams in the league; I can’t see Hull or Burnley avoiding relegation, but anything is still possible. They must play match game like a final and hope that other clubs lose. Unfortunately, their maintenance in the league is no longer in their hands; luck will have to be on their side. However, if they manage to keep their squads together next season, I don’t see them having problems being successful in the Championship and bouncing back to the Premier League.
There was great news today in the Championship, West Brom beat Doncaster 3-2 and the victory automically secures them a place in the Premier League. Let the champagne bottle open! West Brom is managed by former Chelsea midfielder Roberto Di Matteo and his first season in charge of the Baggies has been successful. They may still win the Championship if Newcastle loses some games, but their main objective was accomplished. Newcastle and West Brom immediately return to the Premier League after playing a season in the Championship.
Nottingham Forest is the first club to secure a promotion play-off place as they beat Roy Keane’s Ipswich 3-0 at the City Ground. It has been 11 years since the club which has won two Champions League trophies has been competition in England’s top flight. Cardiff is on the verge of securing the second promotion spot and would have if they beat Reading, but the game ended 0-0. There are two more promotion play-off positions up for grabs with Swansea and Leicester leading the race.
I don’t know if many of you follow the Championship but there are 3 rounds of matches left and will be an exhilarating and intense race to see who qualifies for the play-offs. Four teams qualify for the playoffs with the winner promoting for the Premier League. Let the battle start!
