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Arsenal seal third place

Published:Monday | May 14, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Manchester United's Wayne Rooney stands dejected after losing the English Premier League title at the end of their match against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland, England, yesterday. - AP

LONDON (AP):

Arsenal sealed third place in the Premier League and a guaranteed spot in next season's Champions League as a pair of blunders by goalkeeper Marton Fulop sealed a 3-2 victory at West Bromwich Albion yesterday.

A mistake from Fulop, only in the side because of an injury to Ben Foster, allowed Yossi Benayoun to hand the Gunners an early lead, but the Baggies responded with goals from Shane Long and Graham Dorrans.

Two fulop errors

Andre Santos' strike shortly before half-time pulled Arsene Wenger's side level and Laurent Koscielny capitalised on another Fulop error to earn the most slender of victories in a pulsating final-day encounter.

The win ensured Arsenal held on to third, a place and a point above north London rivals Tottenham, who now face a tense wait to see if Chelsea win next weekend's Champions League final against Bayern Munich - which would rob Spurs of a spot in Europe's elite club competition.

It was a disappointing end to a superb 16-month spell with the Baggies for boss Roy Hodgson, who expressed his gratitude to fans in his programme notes as he now turns his attention to leading England into Euro 2012.

Bolton relegated after draw at Stoke

AP:

Bolton Wanderers were relegated from the English Premier League after a 2-2 draw against Stoke ended their 11-year stay in the top-flight.

Owen Coyle's side needed a victory at the Britannia Stadium and a QPR defeat against Manchester City to climb out of the bottom three on the final day of the season.

But they were unable to complete their half of the job and a painful campaign, marred by Fabrice Muamba's cardiac arrest and serious injuries to key players, ended with the cruellest blow of all.

With QPR beaten by two late City goals, Wanderers would have survived if they had held on to a 2-1 half-time lead secured by goals from Mark Davies and Kevin Davies after Jonathan Walters put the hosts ahead.

But Walters equalised from the penalty spot 13 minutes from time and Bolton couldn't find a winner as they sunk into the Championship, finishing third from bottom and one point behind QPR.

FINAL POINTS STANDINGS

Clubs P W D L GF GA GD PTS
Man City 38 28 5 5 93 29 64 89
Man United 38 28 5 5 89 33 56 89
Arsenal 38 21 7 10 74 49 25 70
Tottenham 38 20 9 9 66 41 25 69
Newcastle 38 19 8 11 56 51 5 65
Chelsea 38 18 10 10 65 46 19 64
Everton 38 15 11 12 50 40 10 56
Liverpool 38 14 10 14 47 40 7 52
Fulham 38 14 10 14 48 51 -3 52
West Brom 38 13 8 17 45 52 -7 47
Swansea 38 12 11 15 44 51 -7 47
Norwich 38 12 11 15 52 66 -14 47
Sunderland 38 11 12 15 45 46 -1 45
Stoke City 38 11 12 15 36 53 -17 45
Wigan 38 11 10 17 42 62 -20 43
Aston Villa 38 7 17 14 37 53 -16 38
Queens Park 38 10 7 21 43 66 -23 37
Bolton 38 10 6 22 46 77 -31 36
Blackburn 38 8 7 23 48 78 -30 31
Wolves 38 5 10 23 40 82 -42 25