John Carver accuses Newcastle’s Mike Williamson of getting sent off deliberately. By @Paul_Doyle http://t.co/mdv74gk16u #nufc
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) May 2, 2015
Celtic confirmed as Scottish champions. @mrewanmurray assesses the Bhoys of 2014-15 http://t.co/k0e2VQ7Jn0 (Pic: PA) pic.twitter.com/BDhJUQITUD
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) May 2, 2015
West Ham United 1-0 Burnley: @James_Riach's match report http://t.co/sqwnwbwCxY (Photo: Action) pic.twitter.com/WL3CH9vlaJ
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) May 2, 2015
Celtic are champions of Scotland
They didn’t play today, but Celtic are crowned champions of Scotland in the wake of Aberdeen’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of Dundee United.
League Two's denouement
Champions: Burton Albion
Promoted in second place: Shrewsbury
Promoted in third place: Bury
Play-offs: Wycombe Wanderers, Southend, Stevenage and Plymouth
Relegated: Cheltenham Town and Tranmere
Premier League result: Swansea City 2-0 Stoke City
Jefferson Montero opened the scoring for Swansea City and Sung-Yeung Ki closed it in added time, to send the Swans eighth in the table. That’s an astonishing achievement for Garry Monk in his maiden season as a manager, not least when you think of all the points they squandered from winning positions - often on the back of dreadful refereeing decisions - earlier in the season.
Premier League result: Sunderland 2-1 Southampton
Sunderland avenge that 8-0 gubbing in October to give themselves a decent chance of staying up going into their final four games of the season. They remain in the relegation zone, just a point behind Leicester City and Hull City, and two points behind Newcastle. The good news for Sunderland is that they have a game in hand over their fellow strugglers. The bad news for Sunderland is that it’s against Arsenal.
Premier League result: Aston Villa 3-2 Everton
Villa hang on to beat Everton despite getting a late scare. They go to 14th in the table, ahead of Newcastle on goal difference.
Premier League result: Liverpool 2-1 QPR
Despite their game effort, QPR lose to Steven Gerrard’s late winner. They’re seven points off safety.
Result: West Ham 1-0 Burnley
Burnley finish the afternoon eight points off safety, having gone down to Mark Noble’s penalty.
Updated
GOAL! Aston Villa 3-2 Everton
Phil Jagielka pulls a goal back for Everton in the second minute of added time.
Back in Spain: It’s Cordoba 0-8 Barcelona in the closing stages of that game - Luis Suarez has scored a hat-trick. Barcelona didn’t score their first goal until the 42nd minute!
Meanwhile in League Two: As things stand, Burton Albion will go up as champions, followed by Shrewsbury and Bury in the automatic promotion places. Behind them, Wycombe, Southend, Stevenage and Plymouth occupy the play-off places. At the bottom end of the table, Cheltenham and Tranmere will go down.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 QPR
Steven Gerrard atones for his penalty miss. At a corner, he leaps to head Liverpool into a 2-1 lead against the 10 men of QPR.
Updated
Red card at the Liberty Stadium!
Stoke’s Marc Wilson gets sent off for his second bookable offence at the Liberty Stadium. Moments later, Stoke keeper Jack Butland saves brilliantly from Jonjo Shelvey. It remains Swansea 1-0 Stoke.
Updated
Red card at Anfield!
Nedum Onuoha appears to have had a complete meltdown. Having picked up a yellow card for his challenge on Martin Skrtel, he gets a second one after flying in with a tackle on Jordon Ibe. He’s off for two incredibly dumb challenges in quick succession and leaves his team a man down.
Steven Gerrard misses from the spot
Oh Stevie. Gerrard’s farewell tour goes from bad to worse, as Rob Green gets down to stop his fairly feeble penalty. It remains all square at Anfield, where QPR continue to fight for their lives.
Updated
Penalty at Anfield!
Nedum Onuoha drags Martin Skrtel to the ground to concede a ridiculous penalty at Anfield. Steven Gerrard steps up ...
Updated
GOAL! Swansea City 1-0 Stoke City
After good work from Jonjo Shelvey, Jefferson Montero dives bravely to score his first goal for Swansea City.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 QPR
Well, well, well ... Leroy Fer bangs home an unlikely equaliser at Anfield to give his team a shout of winning a point or more against Liverpool.
Updated
Spanish update: In the searing afternoon heat of Cordoba’s Estadio Nuevo Arcángel, Barcelona have laughed in the face of their hosts’ earlier resistance and now lead 5-0. Lionel Messi scored shortly after the interval to make it 3-0, then Luis Suarez scored his second to make it 4-0 and Gerard Pique added a fifth.
GOAL! Aston Villa 3-1 Everton
Tom Cleverley extends Aston Villa’s lead against Everton to score his second goal in two games. He latched on to a beautifully weighted through-ball from Leandro Bacuna to blast the ball past Tim Howard.
Updated
Interesting fact: Southampton were the only Premier League side not to concede a penalty before today, but they’ve given away two in the first hour at Sunderland. The second one seems to have been extremely dubious.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Everton
Romelu Lukaku steps up with a John Aldridge style shimmy to coolly score past Shay Given from the penalty spot and halve Everton’s deficit. Steven Naismith was fouled in the penalty area and won the penalty for Everton.
GOAL! Sunderland 2-1 Southampton
Sunderland take the lead against 10-man Southampton, courtesy of Jordi Gomez’s second successful spot-kick against Kelvin Davis.
Penalty and a red card at the Stadium of Light
James Ward-Prowse has been sent off for a foul on Jermain Defoe. By some accounts it’s a dreadful decision by the referee Mike Jones, but I’ll take it. Jordi Gomez places the ball on the spot for the second time this afternoon.
Updated
No further goals in the Premier League: Approximately five minutes into the second halves at Villa Park, Anfield, the Stadium of Light, the Liberty Stadium, and Upton Park and it’s as you were at half-time. Southampton and Swansea have both missed excellent chances, while Danny Ings has missed a half-decent chance to equalise for Burnley against Liverpool.
Very timely @DTguardian column on Blackpool http://t.co/Zmfb9HsjyM pic.twitter.com/2B7wM3SqCd
— James Dart (@James_Dart) May 2, 2015
Interesting news from the King Power Stadium: Newcastle interim manager John Carver has told the BBC that he thinks Mike Williamson got himself sent off on purpose and accused him of doing so in a confrontation after the game. On a scale of 1-10 for effort, he’s awarded his team “minus 10”. He said: “I can’t accept it. I wish players had as much determination and fight as I had.” Giggle if you must, but it seems you can’t deny the amount of fight he has when it comes to shouting abuse at fans and players.
Premier League half-times
Aston Villa 2-0 Everton, Liverpool 1-0 QPR, Sunderland 1-1 Southampton, Swansea 0-0 Stoke City, West Ham 1-0 Burnley. Leicester City 3-0 Newcastle is a result.
Barcelona lead 2-0 at Cordoba: It’s half-time at Cordoba’s Estadio Nuevo Arcángel and Barcelona lead 2-0 through goals from Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez in the 42nd and 45th minutes. A win will send Barcelona five points clear of Real Madrid having played a game more. Real play Sevilla in Seville later this evening.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-0 Everton
Christian Benteke doubles Villa’s lead over Everton with his second goal of the afternoon against Everton. As things stand, Villa are now in 14th place in the table, level on points with Newcastle, but ahead of them on goal difference.
Updated
Meanwhile in Scotland: It’s Dundee United 1-0 Aberdeen as we approach half-time. Defeat for Aberdeen today would see Celtic crowned as champions without playing. Elsewhere it’s Kilmarnock 1-1 Hamilton, Motherwell 1-0 Ross County, Partick Thistle 0-0 St Mirren and St Johnstone 0-0 Inverness. St Mirren will be relegated today if they lose and Motherwell win.
Newcastle fans are angry: A small group of them are standing near the team coach at the King Power Stadium in Leicester, shouting “Cowards!” at everyone boarding it in the wake of their side’s latest humiliation.
Liverpool have a goal disallowed against QPR: Raheem Sterling thought he’d doubled Liverpool’s lead after being put through by a Jordan Henderson back-heel, but has his effort correctly chalked off for offside.
John O’Shea leaves the field. Having sustained a bang on the head, Sunderland’s centre-half John O’Shea is forced off the pitch and replaced with Santiago Vergini, the Argentinian who is on loan on from Estudiantes.
Updated
Messi almost scores great goal. Weak finish though
— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) May 2, 2015
Spanish update from Ravi Raman: “Cordoba putting up an excellent fight, choking off space and forcing errors by Barca!” he writes. “Neymar, Dani Alves and even Suarez giving away the ball. Lots of empty seats though.” It’s Cordoba 0-0 Barcelona after 28 minutes.
GOAL! West Ham 1-0 Burnley
Michael Duff gets his marching orders from referee Jon Moss for preventing a clear goalscoring opportunity, despite their being two Burnley defenders in close proximity to him when he fouled Cheikhou Kouyate in the penalty area. Mark Noble sends Tom Heaton the wrong way to put West Ham one up.
Updated
GOAL! Sunderland 1-1 Southampton
Well, that didn’t last long. Sebastian Coates takes out his own goalkeeper in a collision in which John O’Shea was also involved to present Sadio Mane with a tap-in. Gah! Slapstick Sunderland lose their lead.
Updated
GOAL! Sunderland 1-0 Souhampton
Jordi Gomez scores from the penalty spot to put Sunderland a goal up against Southampton.
Updated
Penalty for Sunderland!
A scissors kick on Danny Graham by Jose Fonte results in a spot-kick for Sunderland. Jordi Gomez steps up to face Kelvin Davies, who has saved three penalties in a row.
Updated
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 QPR
Philippe Coutinho picks up a pass from Rickie Lambert and curls the ball into the top corner to put Liverpool ahead.
Updated
9 - Since Tim Sherwood took charge of Aston Villa, Christian Benteke has scored two more goals than any other PL player. Rebooted.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 2, 2015
Meanwhile at Anfield: Reports from Liverpool suggest QPR are in the ascendency against a side that is struggling to string any passes together. A plane trailing a “Rodgers out, Rafa in” banner has already been spotted flying over the stadium.
Updated
Burton go ahead against Cambridge United: Stuart Beavon scores with a header and as things stand, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s already-promoted side will go up to League One as champions.
GOAL! Aston Villa 1-0 Everton
Fabian Delph whips the ball into the Everton box, where Christian Benteke gets above Leighton Baines and John Stones to plant an unstoppable header past Tim Howard and give Aston Villa the lead against in-form Everton.
Updated
West Ham go close against Burnley: Aaron Cresswell crosses for Enner Valencia, who somehow manages to miss the ball completely when presented with a gilt-edged chance from six yards out. Michael Duff clears for Burnley and probably can’t believe his luck.
Updated
The Premier League 3pm kick-offs are under way
We also have League Two and Scottish top flight action, one La Liga game between Cordoba and Barcelona and six Bundesliga matches. In League Two, Plymouth have bolstered their chances of securing the final play-off spot in League Two by taking an early lead against Shrewsbury. At Morecambe, Southend have gone behind.
Updated
Rasta hats off to Hartlepool's fans
As is traditional, the League Two side’s fans have opted for fancy dress on the final day of the season and travelled to Carlisle today dressed as an army of Bob Marleys. One love ..
Updated
Liverpool v QPR line-ups
Liverpool: Mignolet, Can, Skrtel, Lovren, Johnson, Gerrard, Henderson, Lallana, Coutinho, Sterling, Lambert.
Subs: Toure, Moreno, Lucas, Allen, Ibe, Markovic, Ward.
QPR: Green, Onuoha, Dunne, Caulker, Hill, Phillips, Barton, Sandro, Henry, Fer, Austin.
Subs: Wright-Phillips, McCarthy, Yun, Kranjcar, Hoilett, Zamora, Grego-Cox.
Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire)
Swansea v Stoke line-ups
Swansea: Fabianski, Rangel, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor, Cork, Shelvey, Dyer, Sigurdsson, Montero, Nelson Oliveira.
Subs: Ki, Britton, Emnes, Grimes, Tremmel, Barrow, Hanley.
Stoke: Butland, Bardsley, Shawcross, Wilson, Pieters, Whelan,
Nzonzi, Walters, Adam, Arnautovic, Diouf.
Subs: Muniesa, Ireland, Odemwingie, Sidwell, Crouch, Wollscheid, Sorensen.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire)
Newcastle are down to nine men at Leicester ...
Daryl Janmaat joins Mike Williamson in the early bath at the King Power Stadium, where Newcastle have been beaten 3-0 by Leicester to lose their eighth successive Premier League match. What a shambles ... they could still go down and probably deserve to at this rate. Their long suffering fans deserve so much better. They were 17 points clear of Leicester a few months ago, now they’re one point clear of Nigel Pearson’s team.
Updated
Aston Villa v Everton line-ups
Aston Villa: Given, Bacuna, Vlaar, Okore, Richardson, Cleverley, Westwood, Grealish, Delph, N’Zogbia, Benteke.
Subs: Guzan, Sinclair, Weimann, Cole, Senderos, Hutton, Sanchez.
Everton: Howard, Coleman, Jagielka, Stones, Baines, Lennon, McCarthy, Barry, Mirallas, Naismith, Lukaku.
Subs: Robles, McGeady, Kone, Besic, Barkley, Osman, Alcaraz.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)
West Ham v Burnley line-ups
West Ham: Adrian, Jenkinson, Collins, Burke, Cresswell, Nolan, Noble, Kouyate, Amalfitano, Valencia, Downing.
Subs: Jarvis, Nene, O’Brien, Jaaskelainen, Cole, Song, Oxford.
Burnley: Heaton, Trippier, Duff, Shackell, Mee, Barnes, Arfield, Jones, Taylor, Boyd, Ings.
Subs: Wallace, Kightly, Sordell, Reid, Jutkiewicz, Gilks, Keane.
Referee: Jonathan Moss (W Yorkshire)
Sunderland v Southampton line-ups
Sunderland: Pantilimon, Jones, Coates, O’Shea, Van Aanholt, Gomez, Cattermole, Larsson, Graham, Defoe, Wickham.
Subs: Bridcutt, Rodwell, Johnson, Reveillere, Mannone, Vergini,
Buckley.
Southampton: Kelvin Davis, Clyne, Fonte, Yoshida, Bertrand, Alderweireld, Wanyama, Ward-Prowse, Mane, Long, Pelle.
Subs: Gardos, Steven Davis, Djuricic, Elia, Gazzaniga, Reed, Targett.
Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire)
Liverpool v QPR goes ahead ....
Despite the terrible, terrible news that Rio Ferdinand’s wife Rebecca Ellison has passed away after a short illness, QPR’s match at Anfield goes ahead. You’d have to question the wisdom of that decision, as QPR’s players are likely to be gobsmacked by the news. Steven Gerrard has presented a bouquet of flowers to QPR’s Joey Barton to give to Rio and the QPR captain could then be seen going into the Liverpool dressing room, presumably to offer his thanks. Players from both teams will wear black armbands in memory of Rebecca this afternoon.
Comedy scenes at Blackpool's Bloomfield Road
Crowd erupt as a man on a mobility scooter joins in the protest. pic.twitter.com/Gk8Gx6VQHJ
— William Watt (@WillWatt) May 2, 2015
Meanwhile in Scotland: In the Championship it’s finished Alloa Athletic 3-0 Cowdenbeath, Dumbarton 2-2 Raith, Flakirk 0-3, Hearts 2-2 Rangers, Livingston 1-0 Queen of the South. Hibs take second place behind Champions Hearts and have the less circuitous route through the play-offs. Rangers finish third and will play off against Queen of the South for the opportunity to play-off against Hibs for the opportunity to play off against somebody from the top flight. It’s all very convoluted. Cowdenbeath finish rock bottom and drop a division, while Alloa will have a play-off to see if they have any sort of Championship future.
Updated
And so the Championship ends ....
After today’s denouement
Champions: Bournemouth
Also promoted: Watford
Play-offs: Norwich City, Middlesbrough, Brentford, Ipswich Town.
Relegated: Millwall, Wigan Athletic, Blackpool
Today’s results
Blackburn Rovers 3-2 Ipswich Town
Blackpool 0-0 Huddersfield Town*
Bolton Wanderers 0-1 Birmingham City
Brentford 3-0 Wigan Athletic
Charlton Athletic 0-3 Bournemouth
Derby County 0-3 Reading
Leeds United 0-0 Rotherham
Middlesbrough 0-0 Brighton
Norwich 4-2 Fulham
Nottingham Forest 1-2 Cardiff City
Watford 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-2 Millwall
*Blackpool fans continue to protest in the centre-circle at Bloomfield Road, where they are surrounded by police and stewards. The game hasn’t been abandoned yet.
Updated
Championship result: Watford 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday
A late equaliser from Sheffield Wednesday means Bournemouth go into the Premier League as Championship title-winners, with the Hornets going up in second place. They lead Charlton 3-0 at the Valley. Norwich City, Middlesbrough, Brentford and Ipswich Town will go into the play-offs, while Derby County and Wolves miss out.
Updated
Bournemouth go top of the Championship: They go 3-0 up against Charlton, moments after Watford concede an equaliser against Sheffield Wednesday at Vicarage Road. Atdhe Nuhiu is the Wednesday player who’s rained all over Watford’s potential Championship-winning parade, but Watford fans are unlikely to be concerned.
Reading get a penalty at Derby: A dreadful day at the office gets a whole lot worse for Derby County as Reading awarded a penalty at the iPro Stadium and score it go 3-0 up. This is great news for Ipswich and Brentford, who now look certainties to hang on to their play-off places. As things stand, Brentford would play Middlesbrough, while Norwich City would take on Ipswich Town in a spicy Old Farm derby.
Updated
Wolves 3-2 Millwall: Jamie Philpott reduces Millwall’s deficit at Molineux, where Wolves seem to have blown a decent chance at getting into the play-offs by failing to go on anything resembling a goal spree. On Sky Sports Soccer Saturday, Charlie Nicholas is mystified by their lack of urgency.
Meanwhile in Scotland: Hibs go 3-0 up against Falkirk, to increase their stranglehold on second place in the Championship ahead of Rangers, who lead Hearts 2-0. At the bottom, Cowdenbeath look certainties to go down as they trail Alloa 3-0. Alloa are in the relegation play-off place and need Queen of the South to do them a favour against Livingstone.
Leicester City 3-0 Newcastle: How much gas is left in this explosion at Newcastle? They go 3-0 down to Leicester, with Ulloa putting the Foxes even further ahead from the penalty spot. Newcastle are about to lose their eighth match on the trot!
It’s gone even more Pete Tong for Derby County: Comically shambolic defending by Steve McClaren’s side allows Michael Hector to put Reading 2-0 ahead, prompting quite a few Derby fans to leave the iPro Stadium and abandon their team, who need two goals to get back into the play-off reckoning.
It’s all going Pete Tong for Derby County, who continue to trail 1-0 at home to Reading: : “Nothing’s going right,” says Sky Sports analyst Phil Thompson. “There’s no urgency. They want it, they’re trying ... there’s no creativity. The quality has not been there from Derby County.”
Wolves 3-1 Millwall: Wolves score again courtesy of Ethan Ebanks-Landell and need three more goals to reel in Ipswich Town, who currently occupy the final play-off place.
Blackpool v Huddersfield: It’s 0-0 at Bloomfield Road, where a large group of Blackpool fans have invaded the pitch, occupied the centre-circle and are protesting against the club’s owners, the Oysten family.
— David Goldblatt (@Davidsgoldblatt) May 2, 2015
Pitch invasion pic.twitter.com/g9Uapt2IGU
— David Goldblatt (@Davidsgoldblatt) May 2, 2015
Updated
Blackburn 3-1 Ipswich Town: Ipswich go further behind at Ewood Park, with Rudy Gestede doing the honours for the home side. Ipswich continue to occupy the final play-off place, but a single Derby goal at Reading would knock them out of it.
Updated
Wolves 2-1 Millwall: Wolves shoot themselves in the foot and some sloppy defending allows Aiden O’Brien to pull a goal back for Millwall. A win isn’t good enough for Wolves today, they have some significant goal difference to overturn.
Wolves 2-0 Millwall: Desperate for more goals to boost their chances of getting into the play-offs, Wolves get a second against Millwall and it’s a screamer from Nouha Dicko, who threatens to burst the net from about 18 yards following a fine solo run.
Protest at Blackpool: Over 2,000 Blackpool fans staged a demonstration before their relegated side’s game in a bid to rid the club of its owner Karl Oyston and now they’ve invaded the pitch at Bloomfield Road, prompting the referee to remove the players. Oysten told disgruntled Blackpool fans to judge him at the end of the season and they’re doing exactly that - they want him gone, but he’s sitting in his seat at Bloomfield Road looking anything but perturbed.
Updated
Brentford 2-0 Wigan: Jota Peleteiro doubles the Bees’ lead to put them ahead of Ipswich Town in the play-offs places on goals scored. They have 78 points apiece and an identical goal difference.
Second halves are go in the Championship: There’s 45 minutes left in the Championship season and there’s still everything to play for as far as Ipswich Town, Brentford, Wolves and Derby County are concerned. Ipswich and Brentford occupy the final play-off places at the moment, but can still be ousted by Wolves and/or Derby.
From our Scottish correspondent: “Controversy at Tynecastle as the Hearts forward races through and is cleaned out by the keeper,” writes Simon McMahon. “Penalty and red card all day long, not given, Rangers go up the park and make it 2-0. But hey ho, Hibs are leading by the same score so it’s as you were.”
It’s worth noting that Ewan Murray, our actual Scottish correspondent, is also at this match but he’s there in his paid-for leisure time and hasn’t volunteered any snippets of news, so we’ll have to rely on Simon instead.
One final time in a hugely enjoyable season... pic.twitter.com/XtU3iKOPCf
— Ewan Murray (@mrewanmurray) May 2, 2015
Meanwhile in Scotland: Alloa Athletic 1-0 Cowdenbeath, Dumbarton 1-0 Raith Rovers, Falkirk 0-2 Hibs, Hearts 0-2 Rangers, Livingston 0-0 Queen of the South. As things stand, Hibs would take second place and the easier route through the play-offs, while Rangers would end up in a two-legged play-off against Queen of the South for the final play-off spot in what seems to be a rather convoluted competition. Cowdenbeath are currently bottom on 25 points and facing automatic relegation, while Livingston would go into a relegation play-off with teams from the division below. Alloa are safe as things stand.
Bolton Wanderers 0-1 Birmingham City. In a Championship match of little consequence, Robert Tesche has put Birmingham ahead against the Trotters. The half-time whistles are being blown around the Championship grounds as I type. As things stand: Watford will go as champions ahead of Bournemouth, while Norwich City, Middlesbrough, Ipswich Town and Brentford will take the play-off places. Wolves would miss out, but only on goal difference.
Leicester City 2-0 Newcastle
Oh Newcastle. Their shocking run of form under John Carver continues, with Wes Morgan doubling Leicester City’s lead after 17 minutes. Find out how bad they are from Gregg Bakowski.
PENALTY FOR DERBY COUNTY!
Derby County win a penalty against Reading. Darren Bent steps up in a bid to put his team back in the play-off places ... and MISSES! A fine save from Adam Federici, who dives low to his right to save from Bent.
Updated
Blackburn 2-1 Ipswich Town: A side-footed volley from Craig Conway puts Blackburn Rovers ahead against Ipswich Town. As things stand Ipswich and Brentford occupy the final two play-off places. They’re both on 78 points and are pipping Wolves on goal difference. Derby are in eighth place in the table on 77 points.
Updated
Norwich City 2-0 Fulham: Bradley Johnson gives Norwich the lead after 36 minutes and his team-mate Nathan Redmond doubles it three minutes later with a fine finish at the far post. Norwich, already guaranteed their place in the play-offs, look set fair to finish third in the table ahead of Middlesbrough.
Updated
Blackburn 1-1 Ipswich Town: Blackburn equalise against Ipswich Town, who remain in the play-off places. Jordan Rhodes did the honours with his 21st goal of the season on a day when David Dunn ends his long association with Blackburn, his boyhood club, after making over 350 appearances for them.
Leicester City 1-0 Newcastle: Newcastle are on course to lose their eighth consecutive match and remain an outside shout to go down. Leonardo Ulloa has taken less than a minute to put the Foxes ahead at the King Power Stadium and move his side closer to safety. As for Newcastle? Well, the one consolation their thoroughly fed-up fans can take from this turn of events is that it edges Sunderland closer to the drop. You can follow that match here with Gregg Bakowski.
Updated
Brentford 1-0 Wigan: Alex Pritchard scores from distance after 26 minutes to fire his side into the play-off places. It’s all going spectacularly pear-shaped for Derby County, who continue to trail at home to Reading and are, by all accounts, playing like men who are paralysed with fear. They were top of the table not so long ago, as things stand they’re eighth.
Updated
Watford 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday. After a fine run through the centre with the ball at his feet, Troy Deeney should have scored in a one-on-one with Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Kirkland, who saved splendidly, only for the ball to loop up in the air for Matej Vydra, who headed into the empty goal. Watford lead and will be crowned champions of the second tier if they can hang on.
Nottingham Forest 0-2 Cardiff City: Eoin Doyle doubles Cardiff’s lead at the City Ground.
Wolves 1-0 Millwall: Oof! Wolves pile the pressure on Derby County by going ahead against already relegated Millwall. A fine run into the Millwall penalty area enabled Bakary Sakho to draw several defenders before laying the ball off to Nouha Dicko, who side-footed home from close range to put Wolves one up after 20 minutes.
Updated
Nottingham Forest 0-1 Cardiff City: Joe Ralls takes 14 minutes to give Cardiff the lead against Nottingham Forest in a match of little consequence. Forest’s Midlands rivals Derby County continue to trail at home to Reading but cling to the final play-off place by dint of the fact that neither Brentford nor Wolves are winning.
Bournemouth extend their lead at Charlton: Harry Arter doubles Bournemouth’s lead at The Valley. With Watford drawing at Sheffield Wednesday, Bournemouth will be crowned champions as things stand.
Bournemouth go ahead at Charlton: Charlton’s chances of securing the 19-goal winning margin that could put the kibosh on Bournemouth’s promotion celebrations have taken a dent. The Cherries have taken an early lead courtesy of a Matt Ritchie purler from the edge of the penalty area that went in off the foot of the upright.
Hibs go ahead in the Scottish Championship: Hibs need to match whatever result Rangers can achieve to secure second spot and the two fewer play-off games that go with it. They’ve already gone a goal up at the Falkirk Stadium through Martin Boyle.
Leicester City v Newcastle United line-ups
Leicester: Schmeichel, Albrighton, Wasilewski, Huth, Morgan, Schlupp, James, Cambiasso, Mahrez, Vardy, Ulloa.
Subs: De Laet, Konchesky, Drinkwater, Hammond, Schwarzer, Wood, Kramaric.
Newcastle: Krul, Janmaat, Williamson, Coloccini, Dummett, Ryan Taylor, Colback, Perez, Sissoko, Gutierrez, Riviere.
Subs: Anita, De Jong, Cabella, Ameobi, Abeid, Armstrong, Woodman.
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)
Derby go behind at the iPro stadium: It’s a dreadful start for the Rams, who need to avoid defeat to secure their play-off place. After some faffing from various Derby players on the halfway line, Reading break up the pitch and score through Kwesi Appiah, who bests goalkeeper Lee Grant in a one-on-one.
Updated
Ipswich go ahead at Blackburn: After just a minute at Ewood Park, Ipswich Town have gone a goal ahead already, through a wonderful volley from Daryl Murphy. That’s his 26th of the season.
Meanwhile in Scotland: “Afternoon Barry,” writes Simon McMahon. “Exciting day in the Scotland too, as Hibs and Rangers battle for second place in the Championship. Rangers are at champions Hearts and need a win, but if Hibs take all three points at Falkirk they are guaranteed second place and an easier route to the big league via the play-offs. Interest at the bottom too as Cowdenbeath, Alloa and Livingston all look to avoid automatic relegation. Later, Celtic will be confirmed as SPFL champions if Aberdeen fail to beat Dundee United at Tannadice.”
Championship team news
Brentford v Wigan Athletic
Brentford: Button, Odubajo, Tarkowski, Dean, Bidwell, Diagouraga, Douglas, Jota, Pritchard, Judge, Gray.
Subs: Craig, McCormack, Dallas, Bonham, Toral, Smith, Udumaga.
Wigan: Nicholls, Boyce, Maguire, Pearce, Bong, Cowie, Perch, Chow, Kim, McKay, Fortune.
Subs: Carson, Taylor, McCann, Pennant, Barnett, Flores, Robles.
Referee: Andy Woolmer (Northamptonshire)
Derby v Reading
Derby: Grant, Shotton, Keogh, Albentosa, Warnock, Forsyth,
Hendrick, Hughes, Russell, Ince, Bent.
Subs: Christie, Martin, Ward, Lingard, Sammon, Roos, Rawson.
Reading: Federici, Gunter, Obita, Pearce, Hector, Norwood, Karacan, Chalobah, McCleary, Stacey, Appiah.
Subs: Stephen Kelly, Cox, Blackman, Williams, Andersen, Cooper, Fosu.
Referee: James Linington (Isle of Wight)
Blackpool v Huddersfield
Blackpool: Parish, Clarke, O’Dea, Addison, Maher, Perkins,
Cubero, O’Hara, Dunne, Telford, Delfouneso.
Subs: Oliver, Ferguson, Cameron, Higham, Boney, Samuel.
Huddersfield: Smithies, Smith, Hudson, Lynch, Lolley, Coady,
Gobern, Butterfield, James, Vaughan, Miller.
Subs: Edgar, Scannell, Murphy, Wallace, Billing, Bunn, Boyle.
Referee: Mick Russell (Hertfordshire)
Middlesbrough v Brighton
Middlesbrough: Konstantopoulos, Tiendalli, Ayala, Gibson, Amorebieta, Leadbitter, Clayton, Forshaw, Tomlin, Adomah, Garcia.
Subs: Ripley, Whitehead, Reach, Vossen, Omeruo, Nsue, Carayol.
Brighton: Walton, Halford, Greer, Dunk, Bennett, Stephens, Ince, Kayal, Forster-Caskey, O’Grady, LuaLua.
Subs: Tilley, Saltor, Mackail-Smith, Calderon, Best, Stockdale, Holla.
Referee: Andrew Madley (West Yorkshire)
Leeds v Rotherham
Leeds: Stuart Taylor, Wootton, Bamba, Cooper, Berardi, Austin, Murphy, Byram, Mowatt, Charlie Taylor, Morison.
Subs: Ngoyi, Sharp, White, Montenegro, Cairns, Sloth, Phillips.
Rotherham: Martinez, Wilson, Morgan, Wood, Lafferty, Frecklington, Smallwood, Arnason, Pringle, Ward, Derbyshire.
Subs: Bowery, Milsom, Hammill, Newton, Collin, Clarke-Harris,
Green.
Referee: Andy D’Urso (Essex)
Blackburn v Ipswich Town
Blackburn: Raya, Henley, Lenihan, Spurr, Olsson, Evans, Williamson, Dunn, Rhodes, Gestede, Conway.
Subs: King, Brown, Cairney, Marshall, Eastwood, O’Sullivan, Nyambe.
Ipswich: Bialkowski, Chambers, Smith, Berra, Mings, Parr, Bishop, Skuse, Tabb, Sears, Murphy.
Subs: Gerken, Anderson, Stephen Hunt, Fryers, Chaplow, Noel Hunt, Bru.
Referee: Graham Scott (Oxfordshire)
Charlton v Bournemouth
Charlton: Henderson, Solly, Ben Haim, Johnson, Fox, Gudmundsson, Diarra, Buyens, Bulot, Vetokele, Watt.
Subs: Gomez, Bikey, Eagles, Wiggins, Church, Lennon, Etheridge.
Bournemouth: Boruc, Francis, Elphick, Cook, Daniels, Ritchie, Arter, Surman, Pugh, Kermorgant, Wilson.
Subs: Gosling, Pitman, Smith, Fraser, Ward, Allsop, Jones.
Referee: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire)
Norwich City v Fulham
Norwich: Ruddy, Elliott Bennett, Martin, Bassong, Olsson, O’Neil, Howson, Redmond, Hoolahan, Johnson, Hooper.
Subs: Cuellar, Andreu, Loza, Ryan Bennett, Rudd, Odjidja-Ofoe,
Dorrans.
Fulham: Bettinelli, Hoogland, Hutchinson, Burn, Richards, Guthrie, Tunnicliffe, Kavanagh, Ruiz, Rodallega, McCormack.
Subs: Kiraly, Bodurov, Smith, Fofana, Roberts, Woodrow, Dembele.
Referee: David Coote (Nottinghamshire)
Watford v Sheffield Wednesday
Watford: Gomes, Cathcart, Angella, Connolly, Motta, Layun, Watson, Abdi, Anya, Deeney, Vydra.
Subs: Munari, Tozser, Forestieri, Paredes, Ighalo, Bond, Hoban.
Sheff Wed: Kirkland, Vermijl, Lees, Buxton, Helan, Lee, Semedo, Filipe Melo, Maguire, Keane, Lavery.
Subs: May, De Havilland, Bus, Wildsmith, Maghoma, Nuhiu, Isgrove.
Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire)
Nottingham Forest v Cardiff City
Nottm Forest: Darlow, Kane, Hobbs, Lascelles, Mancienne, Lansbury, Gardner, Vaughan, Christopher Burke, Blackstock, Antonio.
Subs: Fox, Paterson, De Vries, Akpom, Walker, Osborn, Riera.
Cardiff: Marshall, Peltier, Morrison, Turner, Da Silva, Kennedy, Gunnarsson, O’Keefe, Ralls, Mason, Doyle.
Subs: Ajayi, Noone, Adeyemi, Pilkington, Revell, Moore, Harris.
Referee: Peter Bankes (Merseyside)
Bolton v Birmingham
Bolton: Bogdan, Threlkeld, Taylor, Ream, Moxey, Bannan, Danns, Mark Davies, Gudjohnsen, Le Fondre, Heskey.
Subs: Feeney, Rochinha, Lonergan, Twardzik, Janko, Coke, Walker.
Birmingham: Randolph, Caddis, Morrison, Spector, Grounds, Gleeson, Tesche, Gray, Fabbrini, Dyer, Donaldson.
Subs: Robinson, Thomas, Cotterill, Doyle, Shinnie, Arthur, Davis.
Referee: Mark Brown (East Yorkshire)
Wolves v Millwall
Wolverhampton: Kuszczak, Iorfa, Ebanks-Landell, Stearman, Golbourne, van La Parra, McDonald, Edwards, Sako, Afobe, Dicko.
Subs: Doherty, Henry, Doyle, Price, Jacobs, Hause, Flatt.
Millwall: Forde, Dunne, Nelson, Beevers, Harding, Martin, Powell, Abdou, Upson, Gregory, O’Brien.
Subs: Cummings, Cowan-Hall, Gueye, Archer, Thompson, Pavey, Philpot.
Referee: Mark Haywood (West Yorkshire)
Updated
Meanwhile in the Premier League
While neither QPR nor Burnley can be relegated today, their chances of survival will look increasingly bleak if they get beaten and Leicester City and Aston Villa can both manage home wins against Newcastle United and Everton respectively. Currently positioned just the wrong side of the thick black line, trailing Leicester by a point and and an inferior goal difference of five (but with a game against Arsenal in hand), Sunderland face Southampton this afternoon, hoping to avenge the 8-0 shellacking they suffered at Saint Mary’s earlier this season.
Further up the table, Liverpool will be hoping to keep their supermodel slim hopes of getting a Champions League qualification place alive with a win over QPR and they’ll be hoping West Brom do them a favour by beating Manchester United at Old Trafford in today’s late kick-off.
Today’s Premier League fixtures
Leicester City v Newcastle (12.45pm BST)
Aston Villa v Everton
Liverpool v Queens Park Rangers
Sunderland v Southampton
Swansea City v Stoke City
West Ham v Burnley
Manchester United v West Brom (5.30 BST)
Kick-offs at 3pm (BST) unless stated otherwise
The Championship concludes today
After a long, entertaining and often thrilling season, The Championship draws to a close this season with a full round of lunchtime fixtures in which most teams have little or nothing to play for. Already assured of their automatic promotion places (barring a freak result at The Valley), one of Watford and Bournemouth will be crowned champions. Watford need to equal or better Bournemouth’s result to win the title at Vicarage Road.
Lower down the table in the play-off places, the players of Norwich City and Middlesbrough have already had to put their summer holidays on hold, while Ipswich Town and Derby County currently occupy fifth and sixth spots, while Brentford and and Wolves are snapping at their heels. Draws for Ipswich and Derby will almost certainly be enough to book their play-off spots, but defeat for either would leave them extremely vulnerable. With Brentford having a superior goal difference to Wolves and playing already relegated Wigan at home, they look most likely to benefit from any slip-ups from either of the two teams above them.
With all three relegation spots already decided, Millwall, Wigan and Blackpool bid farewell to the Championship today and with Rotherham safe, their always charming manager Steve Evans has lived up to his promise to pitch up at Elland Road for this afternoon’s fixture wearing shorts, a t-shirt, flip-flops and a sombrero.
Today’s Championship fixtures
Blackburn Rovers v Ipswich Town
Blackpool v Huddersfield Town
Bolton Wanderers v Birmingham City
Brentford v Wigan Athletic
Charlton Athletic v Bournemouth
Derby County v Reading
Leeds United v Rotherham
Middlesbrough v Brighton
Norwich v Fulham
Nottingham Forest v Cardiff City
Watford v Sheffield Wednesday
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Millwall
All kick-offs at 12.15 BST
Updated
