Weekend roundup
Monday, 20 April 2009
Despite Chelsea and Everton reaching the FA Cup Final in England, it was a pretty dire weekend for the rest of us. A dull Saturday in the Premier League saw just five goals scored, a feat more than matched in just one match on Sunday. Here's your weekly English football roundup from twofootedtackle - and yes, it is going to be a regular thing.
Premier League
With Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal out of action due to the FA Cup, the focus in the Premier League shifted to the bottom and the fight for fifth. At Villa Park, West Ham nicked a late equaliser after falling behind against Aston Villa early on. That puts the Hammers firmly in a fight for Europe and Villa now look like losing fifth spot to Everton.
Wins for Sunderland, Stoke City and Portsmouth helped their battles for safety, while West Bromwich Albion are all but down after losing 4-2 to Manchester City. Newcastle United are in big relegation trouble following their defeat by Tottenham Hotspur.
FA Cup
The FA Cup Final at Wembley will be played between Chelsea and Everton. On Saturday, Didier Drogba's late goal for Chelsea saw off Arsenal in the first semi-final. Yesterday, Manchester United and Everton played out a goalless draw and Everton won on penalties thanks to two saves by Tim Howard.
Football League
Wolverhampton Wanderers confirmed their promotion to the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Queens Park Rangers in the Championship. They'll be joined by Birmingham City if they win their final two matches, thanks to victory at Watford. Charlton Athletic threw away a 2-0 lead against Blackpool and are relegated to League One.
Nottingham Forest's survival hopes were given a huge boost by their home win over Coventry City and Ipswich Town's derby win against struggling Norwich City.
Leicester City are back in the Championship, promoted as League One champions after winning at Southend United. Hereford United's home defeat by Colchester United sends them down to League Two.
League Two remains undecided aside from Luton's relegation. Victory at Chester City gave AFC Bournemouth a fantastic chance of survival and leaves City in a very sticky situation. The top three - Brentford, Exeter City and Wycombe Wanderers - all won to put themselves in position for promotion. Grimsby Town's win moves them four points clear of the drop zone.
Non-League
The Blue Square Premier title race will go right down to the wire. Burton Albion are just three points ahead of Cambridge United with one to play. Cambridge won 2-1 at Salisbury, and Burton missed an opportunity to clinch promotion on Friday night, losing 1-0 at home to Oxford United.
At the bottom, Northwich beat already relegated Lewes, Woking drew with Mansfield Town and Weymouth lost at home to Ebbsfleet United. York took a step closer to safety by beating Eastbourne Borough, but Grays Athletic slipped back into trouble thanks to Altrincham.
Wimbledon took a huge leap nearer Blue Square South promotion, drawing 1-1 in their top of the table derby at Hampton & Richmond. The gap stays at three points, and Hampton are joined on 82 by Eastleigh, who beat Worcester . Maidenhead United won to give themselves a shot at the play-off spots after Chelmsford lost to Bath City.





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