Soccer

Henry ends Highbury duty with a hat-trick

Premiership Round-up: Thierry Henry bade farewell to Highbury in style as Arsenal pipped their rivals Tottenham to fourth place…

Sun May 07 2006 - 01:00

Premiership Round-up: Thierry Henry bade farewell to Highbury in style as Arsenal pipped their rivals Tottenham to fourth place in the Premiership on a dramatic final day of the season.

Spurs' game against West Ham was in doubt as several of their first-team players were suffering from food poisoning - but the match went ahead and the Hammers won 2-1.

Arsenal's 4-2 win against Wigan means they will be playing at least a Champions League qualifier next season at the new stadium in Ashburton Grove, while Spurs have to settle for a place in the UEFA Cup.

Henry scored a hat-trick on his final appearance at Highbury, with Robert Pires stabbing in Arsenal's other goal. Paul Scharner's close-range finish and David Thompson's cheeky free-kick accounted for the visitors' goals.

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Spurs could not find the win they needed at Upton Park to cling onto fourth place. Carl Fletcher pounced on a loose pass by Michael Carrick before skidding a shot past Paul Robinson from 25 yards for the opener.

Jermain Defoe levelled matters after 35 minutes when he found a yard of space in the area, but Yossi Benayoun found the top corner for the hosts, who also missed a penalty through Teddy Sheringham.

Manchester United held on to second place after thrashing Charlton 4-0 at Old Trafford. Louis Saha opened the scoring from a corner before Cristiano Ronaldo doubled the lead after slack marking in the penalty area.

Jason Euell's own goal made it three, then Kieran Richardson's wonderful individual effort added gloss.

Liverpool finished in third place despite their 3-1 victory over Portsmouth. Robbie Fowler struck after 52 minutes at Fratton Park for the visitors, who had midfielder Xabi Alonso carried off on a stretcher.

Peter Crouch doubled the lead and Djibril Cisse wrapped up the scoring after Ognjen Koroman pulled one back.

Champions Chelsea were beaten 1-0 at Newcastle after a spectacular volley from Titus Bramble, which means Glenn Roeder's men finish seventh and qualify for the Intertoto Cup. Stephen Carr was sent off for Newcastle.

Blackburn capped their fine season off with a 2-0 win over Manchester City, although they were helped by a costly error by David James.

The City goalkeeper dropped a corner which allowed Zurab Khizanishvili the open the scoring. Shefki Kuqi doubled the lead early in the second half when he finished from close range after good work on the right flank by Brett Emerton. Tugay was sent off for Rovers.

Sunderland ended their one-year stay in the Premiership campaign with a defeat to Aston Villa at Villa Park.

Gareth Barry's left-footed finish just before the interval but he also missed a penalty in the second half. Liam Ridgewell wrapped up the points before Danny Collins pulled one back.

Bolton striker Ricardo Vaz Te scored the only goal of the game against Birmingham at the Reebok Stadium, while West Brom drew 2-2 at Everton after taking a two-goal lead through Zoltan Gera and Williams Martinez. Victor Anichebe and Duncan Ferguson scored for the hosts.

Fulham defeated Middlesbrough 1-0 at Craven Cottage in Steve McClaren's final Premiership game as Boro boss. Heidar Helguson's penalty was the only goal of the game.