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West Brom promoted to the premier League

West Bromwich Albion won promotion back to the Premier League despite failing to beat QPR in their final Championship game of the season.

A point at The Hawthorns was enough for Slaven Bilic’s Baggies to go up in second place behind Leeds United, thanks to Brentford’s home defeat by Barnsley.

Albion’s draw would have been enough anyway, but Barnsley’s winner gave the Baggies a two-point cushion.

Ryan Manning put QPR ahead before Albion turned it round with goals either side of the break from Grady Diangana and Callum Robinson.

Eberechi Eze’s stunning equaliser earned Rangers a point but was not enough to deny Albion a record fifth promotion to the Premier League.

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Chelsea drop to fourth as they lose to liverpool

Liverpool celebrated receiving the league trophy for the first time in 30 years in style as the new champions overcame Chelsea in a thriller at Anfield.

Jordan Henderson – currently out injured – was presented with the trophy by Reds legend Sir Kenny Dalglish on a special podium built on the Kop after Jurgen Klopp’s side made it three full unbeaten Premier League seasons at Anfield.

Chelsea, who now need a point from their final game at home to Wolves on Sunday to confirm a place in the top four – and next season’s Champions League – started well.

But Liverpool moved through the gears after Naby Keita broke the deadlock with a rising 25-yard drive that thundered in off the bar, and they added further first-half goals – a fine Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick and Georginio Wijnaldum’s powerful strike.

Olivier Giroud scrambled in for Chelsea on the stroke of half-time but their hopes of a comeback appeared to be snuffed out 10 minutes after the break, when Roberto Firmino headed in his first league goal of the season at Anfield from Alexander-Arnold’s cross.

Substitute Christian Pulisic then had a dramatic impact as he sparked a Chelsea fightback, creating a goal for Tammy Abraham then scoring another himself on the turn as this entertaining game took an unexpected turn.

To the thunderous sound of fireworks being let off outside Anfield by celebrating fans, the champions pressed forward again and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain slammed home the fifth from Andy Robertson’s cross with six minutes left.

And then it was time for the ceremony Liverpool have waited three decades to enjoy – albeit conducted in the somewhat surreal surroundings of a virtually empty stadium.

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Pioli signs new contract

AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli has had his contract extended for a further two years until June 2022.

The 54-year-old Italian took the role in October and his initial deal expired at the end of this season.

But the former Lazio and Inter Milan manager has taken AC Milan to fifth in the Serie A table, on course to qualify for next season’s Europa League.

“I am happy and proud of the trust I have received from AC Milan,” said Pioli.

“I want to thank everyone, including our fans, who we’re really missing at the stadium, but are always close and supportive.

“Our future is today: we must be focused and determined, be united and play as one.

“We’re at the beginning of an extraordinary path. If we keep working this way, we’ll grow and be more and more competitive.”

Milan’s chief executive Ivan Gazidis added: “Stefano has shown he can deliver the vision of football we have for our club – exciting, progressive and passionate.”

AC Milan have three games of their season left and play second-placed Atalanta at home on Friday.

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Championship set for a tense conclusion

“The prize is not that somebody’s going to clap you or you’re going to get a standing ovation. The prize is the Premier League.”

That was West Bromwich Albion manager Slaven Bilic summing up Wednesday’s crucial final round of Championship matches.

After 45 games and almost 12 months of a season interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, almost everything in English football’s second tier is still to be decided.

Who will finish second and claim the huge financial rewards of a place in the top flight? Who will grab the final couple of play-off places? And who will drop down into League One?

Leeds have already wrapped up the title and a place in the top flight for the first time since 2004.

Beneath them, there is an almighty fight between West Brom, Brentford and Fulham for that second automatic promotion place. Last season, it was estimated that promotion could result in a £170m increase in revenue.

The Baggies have had a rollercoaster ride since league fixtures resumed on 20 June. They were six points clear of third-placed Fulham and 10 ahead of fourth-placed Brentford when the season was put on hold because of the pandemic.

It looked like they had blown their chances of going up after losing at Huddersfield Town on Friday, but Brentford’s amazing run of eight successive wins was halted at Stoke a day later to leave West Brom one point clear with a game to go, and Fulham only two points off second spot.

“The Championship is hard anyway,” said Bilic, who is hoping to take Albion back to the top flight after two seasons in the second tier.

“This season is longer than ever and we should be proud of what we have done so far. Now is the time to finish it off, we’ve got to do it

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Serena Williams to Purchace a New LA-Based Women’s Football Team

A group including Serena Williams will fund a new Los Angeles-based women’s team to launch in time for the 2022 National Women’s Soccer League season.

Tennis great Williams joins several other high-profile women, including Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman, in founding the female-majority group.

The team name and home venue are yet to be decided, but the ownership group has called itself ‘Angel City’.

There is currently no California-based team in the NWSL.

NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird says the league has “long sought” an LA-based team, which already has a “massive” interest in women’s football.

Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of tech company Reddit, is part of the ownership group. The couple’s two-year-old daughter Olympia is also listed as an owner.

Among the group too are 14 former US national team players, actresses Eva Longoria, Jennifer Garner, Uzo Aduba, Jessica Chastain and America Ferrera, plus investors from the technology and media sectors.

“We come together with a collective passion for bringing about change,” added the consortium’s co-founder and president Julie Uhrman, who is a media and gaming entrepreneur.

“Change for our players, change for our fans, and change for our community. Change that begins today.

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Montpellier intrested in Karius

French Ligue 1 club Montpellier have expressed an interest in signing Liverpool keeper Loris Karius.

The 27-year-old German terminated a loan spell at Besiktas in May when he was nearing the end of a two-year loan stint with the Turkish side.

If Karius had joined Besiktas on a permanent basis, then the deal would have been worth about £6m to the Reds.

Montpellier have yet to make a bid for the player, who joined Liverpool for £4.7m from Mainz in 2016.

Karius last played for Liverpool in the 2018 Champions League final loss to Real Madrid.

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Defeat to Man city leaves watford in relegation zone

Watford were plunged into the relegation zone in the wake of Nigel Pearson’s surprise sacking as they were hammered by a Raheem Sterling-inspired Manchester City.

The defeat, coupled with Aston Villa’s win over Arsenal on Tuesday, means the Hornets’ battle to stay up will go to the final day of the season on Sunday, when they visit Arsenal.

Pearson became the Hornets’ third managerial casualty of the campaign on Monday, leaving Under-23 coach Hayden Mullins and his assistant Graham Stack in charge for their final two games.

And they could hardly have had a tougher first assignment than against City, who completed the double over them with this win, at an aggregate score of 12-0 – a joint top-flight record for one team against another in a single season.

Sterling took the game away from the home side before half-time, firing in a rising shot to open the scoring before doubling the advantage by following up his own saved penalty – awarded for a foul on him by Will Hughes.

Phil Foden added a third after Ben Foster had parried a Sterling shot before Aymeric Laporte nodded in from Kevin de Bruyne’s free-kick.

City’s fourth straight league win could have been even more emphatic but Gabriel Jesus had an injury-time header ruled out for offside.

This could well be important to Watford, with goal difference potentially a crucial deciding factor going into the weekend.

The defeat leaves the Hornets 18th, level on points but a goal worse off than Villa, with both three points ahead of 19th-placed Bournemouth.

Villa’s last-day opponents West Ham, on 37 points, are not yet safe from the drop, although a point from their game in hand at Manchester United on Wednesday will secure survival.

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Arsenal lose to Aston villa as they sit fifth

Aston Villa’s players must prepare for a “cup final” after showing “courage” to secure a priceless win over Arsenal and move out of the Premier League relegation zone with one game to go, says boss Dean Smith.

Trezeguet beat Emiliano Martinez with a powerful first-time finish after Tyrone Mings had diverted a corner into the Egypt international’s path to lift Villa out of the bottom three for the first time since 28 February.

Villa moved above managerless Watford, who had started the day 17th before a heavy 4-0 home defeat by Manchester City, on goal difference.

The Midlanders’ second win in three games sets up a dramatic final day at the bottom of the table on Sunday, which Villa will begin level on points with Watford and three points ahead of Bournemouth – with two of those three teams likely to go down.

Meanwhile, 16th-placed West Ham, who also play on Wednesday, still require one point to secure safety, although their goal difference ought to keep them up.

Villa’s last game is away to West Ham and if they win – providing Watford do not win by a margin two or more goals greater than they do – Smith’s men will secure another season in the top flight, having spent much of it in the bottom three.

“We had seen Watford play earlier and get beat. We knew we had to get a win to even catch them up,” Smith told BBC Sport. “By getting the win it puts our fate in our own hands.

“There was a lot of character and a lot of courage from the players. It was a massive performance and I am proud of the players for that but now we have to recover and get ready for our cup final.

“We’re working hard to maintain our status and the last three results have shown that.”

A 10th league defeat means Arsenal, playing in their first match since reaching the FA Cup final, will finish outside the top six for the first time in 25 years.

They can come no higher than eighth after a disappointing performance by Mikel Arteta’s side, Eddie Nketiah going closest to equalising with a header which hit the post.

However, the Gunners will still have a big say in the relegation battle when they host Villa’s rivals Watford on Sunday.

During the match, a banner reading “Back Arteta Kroenke Out’ was towed by an aeroplane over Villa Park in reference to Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke.

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Deeny denies dressing room fight

Troy Deeney has denied reports a fight broke out in the Watford dressing room during half-time in Friday’s 3-1 defeat at West Ham.

The Hornets sacked head coach Nigel Pearson on Sunday and are one place and three points above the relegation zone ahead of Tuesday’s match against Manchester City, live on Sky Sports.

“I just want to put out there, there was no fight at half-time,” the 32-year-old Watford captain said.

“It’s 2020. We don’t do that anymore. You know, certainly with all the cameras and everything, you’d certainly see a lot more if that was the case.

“The gaffer didn’t put his hands on anybody. He was just frustrated and had a firm talking to, so no one was fighting, no one was punched, no one was even tickled. I don’t know, whatever way there was: no hands thrown, let’s just put it that way.”

3:25 Watford interim head coach Hayden Mullins tells Sky Sports News he did not see Nigel Pearson’s sacking coming and only found out he was taking temporary charge on Sunday afternoon

Deeney said the timing of Pearson’s dismissal caught him off guard with interim boss Hayden Mullins due to take charge of the side for their final two games, against City and Arsenal.

“It’s strange obviously, we didn’t see it coming. I think you get to a point in football where you’re not surprised anymore but I would say that this one certainly, you know, took me back a bit,” Deeney said.

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Dier signs new Tottenham deal

Eric Dier has signed a new contract at Tottenham until 2024.

Spurs head coach Jose Mourinho had been hopeful of extending the player’s deal earlier this month and the club have now confirmed the negotiations have been completed.

Dier, 26, had featured prominently for Spurs since the Premier League resumed last month, but saw his run ended by a four-match suspension for confronting a fan after a match in March.

“I am really happy to continue here and commit to this new journey we’re on,” he told Spurs TV. “It’s crazy to think that I have been here for six years now. I have enjoyed it a lot. It’s a fantastic place to be.

“The club gave me my opportunity in England and it has given me so much since then,” he said.

“We’ve had some great times together but I want to have even better times and I still feel there are a lot of things I need to achieve here before it’s over.”