Soccer/FA Premiership: Bolton dunked West Ham beneath the relegation waters for the final time with victory over Middlesbrough in the English Premiership yesterday.

The Trotters' 2-1 win made it almost impossible for West Ham to escape the drop into the Football League, although the Londoners went down fighting with a 2-2 draw at Birmingham.

Needing to match the Hammers' result at Birmingham, Bolton took the lead through Per Frandsen 10 minutes into the game at the Reebok.

Jay-Jay Okocha, arguably Bolton's most influential player in the relegation run-in, then curled in a stunning free-kick after 21 minutes to give Sam Allardyce's side a significant cushion.

Former Bolton striker Michael Ricketts caused more than a few palpitations among the home fans when he pulled a goal back in the 61st minute.

But, with Boro's Frank Queudrue sent off late in the game, Bolton held on for the win.

West Ham took the lead against Birmingham with veteran striker Les Ferdinand heading home in the 66th minute.

Geoff Horsfield levelled for the home side and Stern John gave them the lead only for Paolo Di Canio to net the equaliser.

West Ham go down with 42 points despite winning two and drawing one of their three games under caretaker manager Trevor Brooking, who took charge after Glenn Roeder suffered a brain lesion.

Their late rally brought the east London club 22 points from 11 games, but a combination of a poor first half of the season and a 1-0 defeat by Bolton last month sealed their fate.

A disappointing Brooking said: "We looked a premiership side and how we didn't win the game - we had a great spell in the second half when we went ahead and should have been two, or three up.

"It's really frustrating that we didn't get the win but the fact is that, whatever we did today - unless we got about eight, it wouldn't have made any difference."

With a Premiership-size wage bill weighing them down, there are some hard questions for West Ham to answer in the summer months, accentuated by the spectacle of former manager Harry Redknapp docking happily in the top flight with Portsmouth.

Chelsea beat Liverpool 2-1 to claim the final Champions League place.

Sami Hyypia opened the scoring for Liverpool after 11 minutes, but Marcel Desailly's header put the home side - who were ahead of the Merseysiders on goal difference going into the game - back in the box seat.

And winger Jesper Gronkjaer steered home a fine individual effort to give Chelsea the lead in the 27th minute, which proved to be enough for victory.

To complete a miserable day for Liverpool, midfielder Stephen Gerrard was sent off in the closing stages.

Chelsea's Italian playmaker, Gianfranco Zola, said: "We started a bit shaky but then we found our composure and we deserved to win."

Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier said the top-four spot had not been lost at Stamford Bridge but during mid-season, when they suffered their worst run of form for nearly 50 years.

"We probably lost it at home - we lost a lot of points at Anfield this season and should have come here at least five or six points ahead of Chelsea," said the Frenchman, whose team were top of the league in November.

Everton's hopes of securing a UEFA Cup place were ruined when they lost 2-1 at home to champions Manchester United with Ruud van Nistelrooy's penalty - his 44th goal of the season - winning the game.

David Moyes's side, who needed to beat United to be sure of pipping Blackburn to a European berth, took an early lead through Kevin Campbell.

But David Beckham's 43rd-minute equaliser meant they were always going to struggle, with Blackburn, who enjoyed a better goal difference at the start of play, taking Tottenham apart 4-0.

Damien Duff scored three minutes into the second half in what could he his last game for Blackburn.Champions: Manchester United

Champions League qualifiers: Arsenal, Newcastle United and Chelsea (who beat Liverpool 2-1 to secure the last place).

Uefa Cup qualifiers: Liverpool join Blackburn Rovers, whose 4-0 victory over Tottenham deprived Everton, who lost 2-1 to the newly-crowned champions. Southampton qualify through the FA Cup.

Relegated: West Ham's 2-2 draw at Birmingham saw them go down, plunging a young supporter (right) into despair. Bolton's 2-1 win over Middlesbrough kept them up. Sunderland and West Brom already relegated.