Football: Barnsley down, Everton sweat
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Your support makes all the difference.THE Barnsley adventure is over. Favourites for relegation all season, the Tykes had to get something from their penultimate Premiership game, against Leicester City at Filbert Street, but lost 1-0 when Theo Zagorakis, the captain of Greece, scored his first ever goal for Leicester 12 minutes into the second half. To add a final insult, Barnsley also had Jovo Bosancic sent off five minutes from time.
But Bolton Wanderers kept their Premiership survival hopes alive when they beat doomed Crystal Palace 5-2 at the Reebok Stadium. Palace were a goal behind after seven minutes when Nathan Blake scored his 14th goal of the season, but were ahead within nine minutes when Dean Gordon and then Marcus Bent fired in spectacular shots.
Wanderers, however, responded with two goals of their own, through Mark Fish and Jimmy Phillips to go 3-2 up on the half hour. In the second half, goals by Alan Thompson and Dean Holdsworth made it 5-2 and secured the points - Palace also had defender Valerien Ismael sent off - as Wanderers moved above Everton.
The Merseysiders' plight now looks desperate. This afternoon they play their game in hand which features the arduous task of delaying Arsenal's championship celebrations at Highbury.
Tottenham Hotspur are not mathematically safe from relegation yet but an important win for them at Wimbledon yesterday all but made certain of another Premiership season as they scored six goals.
The Dons were a goal down in 18 minutes when Les Ferdinand forced the ball in but Peter Fear's first goals of the season for Wimbledon started the alarm bells ringing. Enter Jurgen Klinsmann. He scored the next four goals, the final three coming in a six-minute burst in the second half. The Dons also had Ben Thatcher sent off.
Klinsmann, Christian Gross, the Spurs manager, said, "was outstanding today, world class. His finishing today was excellent. But he will not be with us after the end of the season," Gross added. "That was always the agreement."
In the final scramble for the sixth Uefa Cup place, Blackburn Rovers remain in pole position despite their 2-0 defeat at Coventry City while West Ham United lost 5-0 at Liverpool and slipped to 10th place. Aston Villa to moved up to seventh position after a 3-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday and Derby County's 2-0 win at Southampton put them back into the frame.
In Scotland, Rangers seem to have handed the Premier title to Celtic. Walter Smith's side missed the chance to go the top when the Kilmarnock 1-0 substitute, Ally Mitchell, scored the only goal of the game at Ibrox in the 90th minute. So Celtic will be champions if they beat Dunfermline this afternoon. At the opposite end, Hibernian lost 2-1 at home to Dundee United and are relegated.
Reports, pages 19 and 20
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