The Southland Times

No fairytale home exit for Gerrard

- JULIAN GUYER FOOTBALL AFP

Liverpool great Steven Gerrard was denied a fairytale finish to his Anfield career when Crystal Palace won 3-1 in his final home game as Leicester completed one of the great escapes to preserve their Premier League status.

Gerrard, 34, will leave Liverpool for the LA Galaxy at the end of the season, with the midfielder having so far spent his entire profession­al career at his hometown club.

Palace wrecked his dream of what would have been a first Premier League title with a 3-3 draw late last season and they upset the script again yesterday.

Adam Lallana put the Reds ahead but Palace were level before the break through Jason Puncheon before Wilfried Zaha made it 2-1 from close range on the hour. Glenn Murray completed the scoring with a late penalty, scoring from the rebound after his spotkick was saved by Simon Mignolet.

Salt was rubbed into Gerrard’s wounds by the fact defeat ended Liverpool’s slim hopes of Champions League football next season.

‘‘I’d like to thank everyone at the club who’s helped me over the last 17 years, from top to bottom,’’ said Gerrard in a post-match presentati­on. ‘‘But most of all, I’d like to thank the fans. These supporters here stand out more than any,’’ the former England skipper added.

Leicester, bottom of the table for 140 days, ensured they would be playing in the Premier League next term after a goalless draw with fellow strugglers Sunderland.

The Foxes have now lost just once, to champions Chelsea, in eight games.

‘‘Success is relative and success for us this season, when you consider where we were a couple of months ago, to achieve safety with a game to go is testament to the work that the players have put in,’’ said manager Nigel Pearson.

With Burnley and QPR already demoted, Hull remained in the last drop spot after second-half goals from Nacer Chadli and Danny Rose secured a 2-0 victory for Tottenham Hotspur.

Defeat left Hull two points from safety and needing to beat Manchester United on the final day of the season, with other results also having to go their way, in order to stay up.

Sunderland, who have two games to play, are three points ahead of Hull but with an inferior goal difference.

Newcastle were left just two points in front of the Tigers after a 2-1 loss to QPR – their ninth defeat in 10 games. Aston Villa were thrashed 6-1 by Southampto­n, with Sadio Mane scoring the quickest hat-trick in Premier League history, but results elsewhere kept the Birmingham club afloat.

Mane took just two minutes and 56 seconds to complete his treble and surpass the previous Premier League hat-trick record of four minutes and 33 seconds set by Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler against Arsenal in 1994.

Elsewhere, Everton beat West Ham 2-1, while Burnley and Stoke played out a goalless draw at Turf Moor.

 ?? Photo: GETTY IMAGES ?? Steven Gerrard applauds the Kop end as his daughter brings him flowers after his Premier League farewell to Anfield, a 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace.
Photo: GETTY IMAGES Steven Gerrard applauds the Kop end as his daughter brings him flowers after his Premier League farewell to Anfield, a 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace.

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