Fulham and Cardiff were relegated from the Premier League on Saturday after Sunderland’s surprising 1-0 win at Manchester United.
Fulham lost 4-1 at Stoke and Cardiff was defeated 3-0 at Newcastle, leaving both teams unable to climb out of the bottom three with one match remaining.
“I have to apologize for not managing the situation. The club asked me to come - I tried,” said Fulham manager Felix Magath, who was hired in February in an attempt to keep the club in the top division for a 14th straight season. “The thing is you can never say any player would like to see relegation, but they didn’t fight enough, especially today.”
Cardiff goes down after spending just one year in the Premier League.
Sebastian Larsson’s 30th-minute winner at Old Trafford means resurgent Sunderland has picked up seven points from recent away matches at Manchester City, Chelsea and United to move three points ahead of third from the bottom Norwich with two matches left.
After opening with a 4-0 win over Norwich last weekend, interim manager Ryan Giggs saw United turn in a performance reminiscent of David Moyes’ woeful 10-month tenure that was ended last month.
“I feel flat,” said Giggs. “The players were flat and I don’t know why. We were putting 5- or 10-yard passes astray, and if you do that in the Premier League you get punished. We’ve had a problem at home all season - it’s not been good enough.”
Already out of contention to qualify for the Champions League, United is also struggling to make the Europa League, six points behind sixth-place Tottenham, which lost 2-0 at West Ham.
Spurs went down to 10 men in the 25th minute when Younes Kaboul was given a straight red card for a foul. Then came an own goal by Harry Kane, and Stewart Downing’s free kick secured a victory that preserved West Ham’s Premier League status for another season.
Aston Villa is almost certain of staying up, too, after beating Hull 3-1 thanks to Ashley Westwood’s goal after 58 seconds and a pair of headers from Andreas Weimann just before halftime. Villa is six points clear of Norwich, which likely needs at least four points to survive, but ends the season against Chelsea on Sunday and Arsenal next weekend.
Hull, a point behind Villa, is also unlikely to be got by Norwich, but its three-game winless run doesn’t bode well ahead of the FA Cup final against Arsenal on May 17.
Southampton won 1-0 at Swansea 1-0 on Rickie Lambert’s injury-time goal in Saturday’s other match.
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SPAIN
Barcelona conceded a second goal to Getafe forward Angel Lafita in injury time for a 2-2 draw at home, dealing a major blow to its hopes of defending its Spanish league title.
Lionel Messi volleyed in Dani Alves’ pass, only for Lafita to tie it after a rare attack for Getafe. Substitute Cesc Fabregas put Barcelona back on track when he initiated a move that ended with Alexis Sanchez scoring.
But Barcelona’s brittle defense again failed when Lafita charged in to head home a cross.
Already out of the Champions League and Copa del Rey, Barcelona’s chances of repeating as Spanish champion are fading fast: three points behind Atletico Madrid before the leader visits Levante on Sunday.
Barring slipups by Atletico and Madrid, Barcelona won’t win a major title for the first time since the 2007-08 season.
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ITALY
Palermo earned a return to Serie A after a one-year absence following a 1-0 win at Novara that secured the Serie B title. Argentine midfielder Franco Vazquez scored in the 41st minute for the Sicilian club.
The top two finishers in Serie B earn direct promotion to the top division, while the third-to-eighth-place squads go into a playoff to determine the third team that goes up.
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