Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/820803
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 7 MAY 2017 53 Sport SPORTTODAY FOOTBALL RELEGATED Sunderland threatened to drag Hull City with them through the trap door after a surprise 2-0 victory on Saturday put a huge dent in their opponents' survival hopes. Four consecutive home wins had put Hull 's fate firmly in their own hands but, given the chance to pull five points clear of third-from-bottom Swansea City, they suffered an attack of the jitters that could prove fatal. Second-half goals by Billy Jones and Jermain Defoe earned bottom club Sunderland a first win in 11 games and con- demned Hull to a first home de- feat under Marco Silva. Should Swansea beat Everton later on Saturday, Hull would slide back into the bottom three with two games remaining. Champions Leicester City fi- nally assured their safety with a 3-0 victory at home to Watford, while Stoke City and Bourne- mouth will be playing top-f light football next season after a 2-2 draw on the south coast. Stoke ended a 10-hour away goal drought in the 33rd minute when Bournemouth striker Lys Mousset headed the ball into his own goal but another own goal, from Ryan Shawcross late on, denied Stoke victory. Burnley are not mathemati- cally safe after they also drew 2-2 at home to West Bromwich Albion. Sam Vokes scored both Burnley goals. Manchester City were the only top-six club in ac- tion on Saturday and took ad- vantage with a 5-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace who themselves are not safe from the drop after a third consecutive defeat left them in 16th spot. After two consecutive draws, City needed a win to bolster their top-four prospects and de- livered a dazzling display of at- tacking football to move above Liverpool into third spot. City never looked back af- ter David Silva's 50th goal for the club in the second minute although it was not until the second half that the f loodgates opened with Vincent Kompany, Kevin de Bruyne, Raheem Ster- ling and Nicolas Otamendi all on target. Victory moved City to 69 points, above Liverpool on goal difference. Fifth-placed Man- chester United, who play sixth- placed Arsenal on Sunday, have 65. Leaders Chelsea host Middles- brough on Monday needing just six points from their last four games after second-placed Tot- tenham Hotspur went down 1-0 at West Ham United on Friday. Manchester City thrash Palace to tighten grip on top-four place BOV Premier League Tarxien Rainbows - Hibernians ......... 1-6 England - Premier League Manchester City - Crystal Palace ....... 5-0 AFC Bournemouth - Stoke City .......... 2-2 Burnley - West Bromwich Albion ...... 2-2 Hull City - Sunderland ..................... 0-2 Leicester City - Watford .................... 3-0 Swansea City - Everton .................... 1-0 Today 14:30 Liverpool - Southampton 17:00 Arsenal - Manchester United Tomorrow 21:00 Chelsea - Middlesbrough Italy - Serie A SSC Napoli - Cagliari ........................ 3-1 Juventus - Torino ............................ Late Today 12:30 Udinese - Atalanta 15:00 ChievoVerona - Palermo 15:00 Empoli - Bologna 15:00 Genoa - Inter 15:00 Lazio - Sampdoria 15:00 Pescara - Crotone 15:00 Sassuolo - Fiorentina 20:45 AC Milan - Roma Spain - Liga Satander Sporting Gijon - Las Palmas ............. 1-0 Atletico Madrid - Eibar ..................... 1-0 Barcelona - Villarreal ....................... 4-1 Granada - Real Madrid ..................... Late Today 12:00 Alaves - Athletic Bilbao 16:15 Valencia - Osasuna 18:30 Deportivo La Coruna - Espanyol 20:45 Malaga - Celta Vigo Tomorrow 20:45 Leganes - Real Betis Germany - Bundesliga Bayern Munich - Darmstadt ............. 1-0 Borussia Dortmund - Hoffenheim ..... 2-1 Borussia M. - Augsburg ................... 1-1 Eintracht Frankfurt - Wolfsburg ........ 0-2 Ingolstadt - Bayer Leverkusen .......... 1-1 Hertha B. - RasenBallsport Leipzig ... 1-4 Today 15:30 Hamburger SV - Mainz 05 17:30 Freiburg - Schalke 04 Football Results & Fixtures