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.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
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Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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