LONDON: Hull City were relegated and Newcastle United survived the drop on a dramatic final day of the Premier League season marked by high scores and high-profile departures on Sunday.

Newcastle’s 2-0 win over West Ham United at a raucous St James’ Park, where Moussa Sissoko scored after 54 minutes and Jonas Gutierrez added a second in the dying minutes, meant they finished with 39 points while Hull ended on 35 and in the bottom three after drawing 0-0 at home with Manchester United.

Minutes after Newcastle beat the Hammers, the London club put out a statement saying they were searching for a replacement for manager Sam Allardyce whose contract is not being renewed at Upton Park.

“The club have begun the search for a new manager after deciding not to renew Sam Allardyce’s contract,” West Ham said on their Twitter page after the defeat.

Hull, beaten FA Cup finalists last season, needed to defeat United to stand any chance of staying up, but their failure to do so left them three points adrift of safety and they will join Queens Park Rangers and Burnley in the second tier in August

“It is one of those awful experiences,” said Hull manager Steve Bruce, the former United captain, whose club had spent two seasons in the top flight. “It is not a time for excuses. You have to take your medicine and come back as strongly as you can.”

Tottenham Hotspur clinched fifth place and a spot in the Europa League group stage by beating Everton 1-0 as the season ended in embarrassment for Liverpool.

LONDON: Chelsea’s Didier Drogba gestures to his team-mates during the presentation of the Premier League trophy after their match against Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.—AFP

A year after finishing runners-up, Liverpool were thrashed 6-1 by Stoke City, dropped to sixth and now have to go through a playoff to reach the Europa League group stage. It was a disappointing end to captain Steven Gerrard’s Liverpool career in his last game for the club.

The Premier League trophy was handed to Chelsea for the first time in five years. The title was wrapped up earlier three weeks ago and Jose Mourinho’s side ended the season by beating Sunderland 3-1.

Deposed champions Manchester City had to settle for second place, with former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard scoring in a 2-0 victory over Southampton.

Arsenal prepared for the FA Cup final by routing West Bromwich Albion 4-1, with Theo Walcott scoring a hat trick as his team finished third ahead of Manchester United.

Fellow cup finalists Aston Villa lost 1-0 to relegated Burnley and finished only a place above the drop zone, Leicester City celebrated their survival by compounding the misery of QPR with a 5-1 victory over the London club and Crystal Palace beat Swansea City 1-0.

MANCHESTER: Manchester City’s Frank Lampard celebrates after scoring against Southampton during the English Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.—AP

Hull made an enterprising start as Paul McShane and Dame N’Doye saw goals ruled out for offside, while United’s stand-in goalkeeper Victor Valdes saved brilliantly from Ahmed Elmohamady.

The visitors, missing injured goalkeeper David de Gea and on-loan striker Radamel Falcao, lost Angel di Maria to injury and saw substitute Marouane Fellaini sent off for an ugly foul on McShane in the second half.

But Bruce was unable to engineer a first managerial win over his old employers as Hull sank into the Championship and Louis van Gaal’s United finished the campaign in fourth place.

Newcastle’s 10-match winless run ended at the perfect time with Gutierrez, who returned to action last month after a 17-month battle with testicular cancer, being their saviour, teeing up Sissoko for a 54th-minute header and scoring with a deflected effort.

“Every player deserves credit,” said Newcastle manager John Carver. “We have not had a good season, but I am going to enjoy this moment.”

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley, criticised by fans for a perceived lack of investment, had vowed prior to the game not to leave until the club win a trophy or qualify for the Champions League.

STOKE-ON-TRENT: Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard applauds fans after the English Premier League match against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on Sunday.—AP

Liverpool captain Gerrard scored in vain on a wretched 710th and final appearance for the club as Brendan Rodgers’s side capitulated at Stoke.

With Raheem Sterling benched over his contract stand-off, Liverpool conceded five first-half goals, with Mame Biram Diouf scoring twice and Jonathan Walters, Charlie Adam and Steven Nzonzi also on target.

Gerrard replied in the second half, to give the visiting fans one last goal before his departure for the Los Angeles Galaxy, but ex-Liverpool striker Peter Crouch restored Stoke’s five-goal cushion late on.

Liverpool’s sixth-place finish nevertheless takes them into the Europa League, alongside Tottenham, who won at Everton with Harry Kane scoring his 31st goal of the season in all competitions.

But Rodgers conceded that his position was now under scrutiny, saying: “I have always said if the owners want me to go, I will go. But I still feel I have a lot to offer here.”

Gerrard’s former England team-mate Lampard also found the net in his final game before leaving England for the United States, but he scored in a winning cause as runners-up Manchester City beat Southampton.

The 36-year-old midfielder, who is due to join New York City, converted a cross from James Milner in the first half at the Etihad Stadium, with Golden Boot-winner Sergio Aguero scoring his 26th goal of the campaign late on.

City’s win condemned Southa­mpton to seventh place, which will yield a Europa League spot only if Arsenal beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup final.

Another departing Premier League stalwart, Didier Drogba, was carried off the pitch by his team-mates after injuring himself in the early stages of Chelsea’s 3-1 win at home to Sunderland.

At that point, the champions trailed to a 26th-minute Steven Fletcher header, but after Diego Costa, Drogba’s replacement, equalised with a penalty, Loic Remy scored twice in the second half.

The match was played in something of party atmosphere at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea were presented with the Premier League trophy at the end of the game.

Final standings

(Tabulated under played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points)

Chelsea 38 26 9 3 73 32 87 Manchester City 38 24 7 7 83 38 79 Arsenal 38 22 9 7 71 36 75 Manchester United 38 20 10 8 62 37 70 Tottenham Hotspur 38 19 7 12 58 53 64 Liverpool 38 18 8 12 52 48 62 Southampton 38 18 6 14 54 33 60 Swansea City 38 16 8 14 46 49 56 Stoke City 38 15 9 14 48 45 54 Crystal Palace 38 13 9 16 47 51 48 Everton 38 12 11 15 48 50 47 West Ham United 38 12 11 15 44 47 47 West Bromwich Albion 38 11 11 16 38 51 44 Leicester City 38 11 8 19 46 55 41 Newcastle United 38 10 9 19 40 63 39 Sunderland 38 7 17 14 31 53 38 Aston Villa 38 10 8 20 31 57 38 Hull City 38 8 11 19 33 51 35 Burnley 38 7 12 19 28 53 33 Queens Park Rangers 38 8 6 24 42 73 30

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2015

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