Heartbreak for Blackpool and Birmingham

Fans and players experienced the full gamut of emotions on Surivival Sunday as Blackpool and Birmingham City were relegated from the Premier League.

The Seasiders were backed at [8.0] for the drop after a strong first half of the season but a dramatic 4-2 defeat to Manchester United consigned them to the second tier of English football.

Birmingham, who began the day outside the drop zone, go down following a last ditch 2-1 defeat to Tottenham at White Hart Lane. They were backed at [29.0] for relegation.

Four fo the five clubs who began the day in danger spent time in the bottom three during the course of this afternoon's matches. Wolves looked dead and buried when they were 3-0 down to Blackburn at half-time with Blackpool level at Old Trafford; however, two second -half goals as well as events elsewhere meant that they survived by single point.

Wigan traded as low as [1.05] for the drop as they toiled against Stoke at the Britannia and goals flew in at other grounds. However, Hugo Rodallega's late strike, as well as Birmingham's defeat, meant that the Latics pulled off a shock to beat the drop.

There were, of course, six matches in the Premier League where relegation was not an issue:

Liverpool conceded a second consecutive defeat as Aston Villa traded at [3.9] on their way to a 1-0 win. Everton beat Chelsea by the same scoreline and Manchester City were 2-0 winners away to Bolton.

Long odds were landed on two dramatic draws. The stalemate was backed at [6.6] before Theo Walcott's late equaliser made it 2-2 between Fulham and Arsenal and some lucky punters backed the draw at [75.0] before Newcastle v West Brom ended 3-3.

There was further ignimony for West Ham as they were beaten 3-0 at home to Sunderland.

Published: 22 May 2011

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