Thierry Henry scored a hat trick for Arsenal in the team's final match at Highbury, beating Wigan 4-2 Sunday to capture fourth place in the English Premier League.
The victory meant that the Gunners moved ahead of north London neighbor Tottenham, ending the team's hopes of debut spot in the Champions League next season. Tottenham lost 2-1 at West Ham on the final day of the season.
In the final game at Highbury after 93 years at the famous stadium, Wigan threatened to spoil the party by going up 2-1 thanks to strikes by Paul Scharner and David Thompson.
But Henry then scored three in a row and, after his penalty 14 minutes from the end to make it 4-2, got down on his hands and knees and kissed the Highbury turf.
"Yes, I kissed goodbye to the stadium," said the France striker, who has scored 114 goals in 125 appearances at Highbury. "People were writing us off. We are fourth and we're going to play in the Champions League so that is clear."
Arsenal moves to the new 60,000-capacity Emirates Stadium next season and Sunday's victory and performance are an ideal buildup as it prepares for a Champions League final against FC Barcelona on May 17.
Manchester United finished second in the league behind Chelsea after outplaying Charlton 4-0 at Old Trafford despite the absence of Ruud van Nistelrooy, who left the stadium before kickoff reportedly after hearing he had been left off the starting lineup again.
Louis Saha, Cristiano Ronaldo and Jason Euell's own-goal meant the game was virtually all over by the 35th minute. Kieron Richardson then added a fourth in the 58th minute against a Charlton team which had Alan Curbishley in charge for the last of 729 games. The Addicks manager has decided to step down after 14 seasons at the club.
Van Nistelrooy's absence cast a cloud over the Manchester United performance, however.
"There have been a couple of issues during the week that concerned us in terms of the spirit of the club," Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said. "On such an important day, I just felt that Ruud should be left out. That's all we need to say at the moment. We will be discussing it with club directors tomorrow and Tuesday."
Liverpool, which beat Portsmouth 3-1, finished in third place after winning its 11th in a row to tie a club record. Robbie Fowler, who has signed a new contract to stay with the club next season, hit the target along with Peter Crouch and Djibril Cisse.
Chelsea ended its season with a 1-0 loss at Newcastle and was beaten for the second game in a row. Magpies defender Titus Bramble scored the only goal of the game at St. James' Park as Newcastle, still looking for a new manager since firing Graeme Souness on Feb. 2, finished seventh.
Chelsea finished with 91 points, followed by Manchester United with 83 and Liverpool with 82. Arsenal finished with 67 points, two more than Tottenham.
Also Sunday, Aston Villa edged relegated Sunderland 2-1, sixth-place Blackburn beat Manchester City 2-0, Bolton downed Birmingham 1-0, Everton drew 2-2 with relegated West Bromwich Albion and Fulham edged UEFA Cup finalist Middlesbrough 1-0.
Krys Boyd scored both goals and Rangers beat second-place Hearts 2-0 on Sunday to farewell manager Alex McLeish.
Signed from Kilmarnock during the midseason transfer window, Boyd took his tally for the season to a league-high 32. But Rangers couldn't pass Hearts and take second place.
Having led Rangers to the league title last season, McLeish is being replaced by former Lyon coach Paul Le Guen.
Champion Celtic drew 2-2 with Aberdeen, which had two goals by substitute John Stewart at Pittodrie. John Hartson and Shaun Maloney had given Celtic a 2-0 lead.
In Sunday's other game, Kilmarnock beat Hibernian 3-1.
Celtic, with 28 victories from its 38 games, finished with 91 points. Hearts had 74 and Rangers 73.
Last-place Livingston was relegated with 18.
Zinedine Zidane scored in the 67th minute of his final home appearance for Real Madrid in his team's 3-3 draw with Villarreal in the Spanish league.
Zidane, who is to retire after the World Cup, sent in a looping header from David Beckham's cross for Madrid's second goal at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Madrid's draw lifted it into second place, one point above Valencia with one match remaining. Both teams are aiming to finish second and claim an automatic berth in the European Champions League.
Zidane's goal delighted Madrid's supporters, who had given him a standing ovation as he walked onto the field. Each had held aloft a card bearing an image of Zidane's No. 5 shirt accompanied by the words "Thank you Zidane."
The world player of 1998, 2000 and 2003, who will make his final Madrid appearance in the team's visit to Sevilla next week, received another rousing reception when he was replaced in the 90th minute.
A tearful Zidane, lacking the shirt he had just swapped with
The draw extended Villarreal's league winless streak against Madrid to 14 matches.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two