LONDON -- Thierry Henry scored a hat trick in Arsenal's
final game at Highbury, powering his team to a 4-2 victory over
Wigan on Sunday for fourth place in the English Premier League.
Arsenal moved ahead Tottenham, ending the hopes of its north
London neighbor for a Champions League berth next season. Tottenham
lost 2-1 at West Ham on the final day of the season.
In the final game at Highbury after 93 years at the famous
stadium, Wigan went ahead 2-1 on goals by Paul Scharner and David
Thompson. Henry then scored three in a row. After his penalty kick
with 14 minutes left, he got down on his hands and knees and kissed
the turf.
"Yes, I kissed goodbye to the stadium," said Henry, who has
114 goals in 125 appearances at Highbury. "People were writing us
off. We are fourth and we're going to play in the Champions League,
so that is clear."
Tottenham will instead play in the UEFA Cup next year, along
with Blackburn, which is led by former U.S. goalkeeper Brad
Friedel. Blackburn, which beat Manchester City 2-0, finished in
sixth place.
West Ham, which plays Liverpool in the FA Cup final Saturday,
also will play in the UEFA Cup next season because Liverpool will
play in the Champions League.
Manchester United finished second in the league behind Chelsea
after outplaying Charlton 4-0 despite the absence of Ruud van
Nistelrooy, who left the stadium before kickoff. United manager
Alex Ferguson said he felt Van Nistelrooy should be left off the
starting roster.
"That's all we need to say at the moment," Ferguson said. "We
will be discussing it with club directors tomorrow and Tuesday."
Liverpool, which beat Portsmouth 3-1, finished in third place
after winning its 11th in a row to tie a club record.
Chelsea ended its season with a 1-0 loss at Newcastle and was
beaten for the second straight game. The Blues finished with 91
points, followed by Manchester United with 83 and Liverpool with
82. Arsenal finished with 67 points, two more than Tottenham.
Also, Fulham edged UEFA Cup finalist Middlesbrough 1-0. Carlos
Bocanegra started for Fulham in his first game since March 11 after
recovering from a thigh injury.
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ROME -- The Italian league title will be decided in next
week's final round after Juventus and AC Milan both won.
Juventus defeated Palermo 2-1 to remain three points ahead of
second-place Milan, which won 3-2 at Parma. Juventus ends the
season at Reggina, while Milan will host AS Roma.
If the teams are even at the end of the season, Milan will win
the title because it has a better head-to-head record. Milan beat
Juve 3-1 in October and the teams drew 0-0 in March.
Pavel Nedved put Juve ahead in the 31st minute, and Zlatan
Ibrahimovic scored his first goal since February 20 minutes later.
Denis Godeas pulled a goal back for Palermo in the 62nd.
Milan had goals from Kaka, Cafu and Clarence Seedorf, while
Bernardo Corradi scored twice for Parma.
Also, Siena defender Daniele Gastaldello tied the score three
minutes into injury time in his team's 1-1 tie at third-place Inter
Milan. Julio Ricardo Cruz scored for Inter.
Luca Toni scored twice to take his league-leading total to 30 as
Fiorentina beat Reggina 5-2.
Francesco Totti's return from leg surgery was delayed. He did
not play in AS Roma's 1-0 victory over Treviso because of fever.
Totti broke his left leg and strained ligaments in his ankle during
Roma's game at Empoli on Feb. 19.
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MADRID, Spain -- Zinedine Zidane scored in his final home
appearance for Real Madrid, heading in a cross from David Beckham
in a 3-3 tie with Villarreal in the Spanish league.
Madrid's players wore a commemorative shirt inscribed with
"Zidane 2001-2006" under the team badge.
The world player of the year in 1998, 2000 and '03 will make his
final appearance for Madrid at Sevilla next week. He left the field
after being replaced in the 90th minute, but he reappeared after
the final whistle to chants of his nickname, "Zizou."
The tie lifted Madrid into second place, one point above
Valencia with one game remaining. Both teams are aiming to finish
second and earn a direct place in the Champions League.
Julio Baptista scored twice for Madrid while Diego Forlan scored
two for the visitors. Villarreal got its first when Madrid defender
Alvaro Mejia scored an own-goal.
Earlier, fourth-place Osasuna's hopes of securing a spot in next
season's Champions League took a hit after losing to Racing
Santander 2-1. Pablo Alfaro and Antonito Ramiro scored late goals
for Racing after Savo Milosevic gave Osasuna the lead in the 56th
minute.
Also, Cadiz was relegated after a 3-1 defeat at Getafe, joining
Malaga, which was relegated two weeks ago.
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ROTTERDAM, Netherlands -- Ajax won the Dutch Cup for the
16th time, beating league champion PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in the final.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored two goals for Ajax, and Michael Lamey
scored PSV's lone goal.
The game was Guus Hiddink's last as PSV coach. Hiddink, who also
coaches Australia, signed a two-year contract with Russia's
national soccer team in April.
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GLASGOW, Scotland -- Rangers beat Hearts 2-0 on Krys Boyd's
two goals in manager Alex McLeish's farewell to the Scottish
Premier League team.
McLeish, who led Rangers to the league title last season, is
being replaced by former Lyon coach Paul Le Guen.
Scottish champion Celtic tied 2-2 with Aberdeen, which rallied
behind two goals from substitute John Stewart. John Hartson and
Shaun Maloney put Celtic ahead 2-0.