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36 Sport maltatoday, SUNDAY, 10 MAY 2015 FOOTBALL MANCHESTER United ended a run of three consecutive defeats and put themselves on the brink of Champi- ons League qualification with a hard- fought 2-1 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday Night Football. Marouane Fellaini capitalised on a mistake from Julian Speroni to score the winner after Jason Puncheon had cancelled out Juan Mata's first-half penalty with a well-executed free- kick. The victory moved United seven points clear of fifth-placed Liverpool in the Premier League table, meaning that if Brendan Rodgers' side lose to Chelsea today, Louis van Gaal's side will be guaranteed a place in the top four. Palace went into the game know- ing they were mathematically safe thanks to results elsewhere earlier in the day but fell to a fourth defeat in a row despite a spirited second-half fightback. Danny Ings ended his goal drought as Burnley won 1-0 at Hull City, but results elsewhere meant the Clarets' stay in the Premier League came to an end after just one season. Ings scored the only goal of the game just after an hour when he forced the ball home following a corner. The result leaves Hull deep in rel- egation trouble, two points adrift of Newcastle with a trip to Spurs and a home game against Manchester United remaining. But while Burnley climbed off the foot of the table and above QPR, they are now sure to be playing Championship football next season. Newcastle United finally brought to an end their run of eight consecu- tive defeats, drawing 1-1 at home to West Bromwich Albion. West Brom took the lead when Vic- tor Anichebe planted a header past Tim Krul from Craig Gardner's cross. It was a goal which put the Magpies in the relegation zone, but they were there for only nine minutes. The equaliser came in the 41st minute, Ayoze Perez converting af- ter a ball was played into the area by Ryan Taylor. And Burnley's winner at the KC Stadium then gave Newcastle extra breathing space from the bot- tom three. Leicester City strolled to a sixth win in seven Premier League games, beating Southampton 2-0 at the King Power Stadium. The Foxes stormed into a two-goal lead inside 19 minutes and Ronald Koeman's side, who have tailed off in the last three months, could not find a way back into the game. The victo- ry moved Nigel Pearson's men three points clear of the relegation zone. Aston Villa's resurgence under Tim Sherwood continued with a 1-0 win at home to West Ham United, which moved them up to 14th, four points clear of danger. Villa scored what proved to be the winner in the 31st minute when Tom Cleverley continued his recent run of good form, firing home following a pass from young Villan Jack Greal- ish. Danny Graham's first goal for Sun- derland may have been a fluke but its significance could not be under- estimated as they took a huge step to- wards Premier League survival with a surprise 2-0 win at Everton. Even the kindest critic would de- scribe the 29-year-old's career at the Stadium of Light as a flop, having spent spells on loan at Hull, Mid- dlesbrough and Wolves since his £5 million move from Swansea in Janu- ary 2013. However, after 28 months and 28 matches he finally found the net to make the crucial breakthrough at Goodison Park. He knew little about the goal as Jordi Gomez's shot de- flected off him and took a freakish bounce over Tim Howard in the 53rd minute. Jermain Defoe's close-range strike five minutes from time was not much cleaner, coming off his thigh, but a first away win in eight matches – since beating Newcastle on Dec. 21 – has seen them take 10 points from the last five matches. It means Sunderland have a two- point cushion over Hull, and have a game in hand. Stoke City cruised to a 3-0 win at home to Tottenham Hotspur. Charlie Adam put the home side in front in the 21st minute, with Steven Nzonzi doubling the advantage just after the half hour. Any hopes Spurs had of getting back into the game were over six minutes after half-time when Vlad Chirches was sent off after being shown a sec- ond yellow card, and Mame Biram Diouf put the icing on the cake. Man United beat Palace; Burnley relegated Marouane Fellaine scored a late winner against Crystal Palace Spain football strike could cost 50 million euros a day – Liga chief SPAIN'S football league launched a lawsuit last Friday to block a strike threatened by players that it warned could cost 50 million euros (US$56 million) per match day in lost rev- enues. Players from top teams, including Barcelona and Real Madrid, have threatened to boycott the last games of the season if the government does not renegotiate a reform of football broadcasting rights. It remained un- clear how likely the stoppage was to go ahead and how the row might be resolved, as players' representatives and the football federation raised various demands, some apparently not directly linked to the broadcast issue. But the professional football league, in charge of the superstar Primera Division, rejected calls to change the terms of the television reform and hurled recriminations at the federa- tion. The federation and players threat- ened an open-ended strike from May 16, which could affect crucial end-of- season league games and the Spanish Cup final this month. The president of the professional football league, Javier Tebas filed a case on Friday at the National Court in Madrid against the AFE players' union over the strike. He has lashed out in recent days at Spain's football federation, the powerful body that governs the lower leagues and the national team. Tebas accuses its president, Angel Maria Villar, who is also a vice-pres- ident of world governing body FIFA, of running the organisation "like his private estate". In an interview with AFP on Friday, Tebas said the strike would breach Spanish labour law and collective bargaining agreements between the league and the union. The Liga in a statement urged the court to process the case "with the greatest possible urgency". Coaches hope to avert strike The law approved by the govern- ment last month obliges broadcast- ers to bid collectively for the lucra- tive rights to screen matches and redistribute the revenues. The federation and the players' union say the law does not give a fair share of the revenue to smaller lower- league clubs. The league has accused them of other motives. Tebas alleged the federation was opposing the television reform as a counter-attack against the govern- ment due to a dispute over public sub- sidies to the federation. He warned sponsors were "very alarmed" at the prospect of a strike. "When a football match day is sus- pended, we calculate that we could easily be talking about 50 million euros of losses per day" in revenue from broadcasting, sponsorship and betting, he told AFP. Dozens of players including Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas and Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta appeared on Thursday at a press con- ference by the players' union in which its leaders threatened the strike. The coaches of Real Madrid and Barcelona, Carlo Ancelotti and Luis Enrique, hoped on Friday for a solu- tion to avert a shutdown of the Liga. "I think there was a little lack of communication between the parties, they are going to meet and in the end take the right decision," Ancelotti said. "I think the league will end nor- mally." Barcelona lead Madrid at the top of the table by two points with three games to go, but their trip to Atletico Madrid next weekend is threatened by the strike. "I hope it won't get to that stage, I hope that the dialogue between the parties prevails and it can be fixed," Enrique said. The Spanish football fans' federa- tion FASFE called in a statement for wider negotiations on the reform. It backed the players' right to strike but called on them "to clarify their inten- tions". "Everyone in football has the right to know the reasons why football- ers are using such a harsh measure, whose consequences will be suffered by thousands of people who love this sport." La Liga could be suspended on May 16 over TV rights argument