Stoke relegated but Baggies fight on

Stoke City were relegated from the English Premier League after a 10-year stay while West Bromwich Albion earned a stay of execution yesterday.

Jake Livemore’s dramatic injury-time goal helped West Brom stun Tottenham 1-0, and Everton’s equally late equaliser against Southampton ensured West Brom still has a glimmer of hope of avoiding the drop.

West Ham took a giant step toward securing its own survival by beating Leicester 2-0, while Swansea remained fearful of relegation after losing 1-0 at Bournemouth, which secured Premier League safety.

West Brom needed to beat fourth-placed Tottenham to stand any chance of staying up and left it late when Livermore turned the ball past Hugo Lloris.

West Brom have dropped 26 points from winning positions this season – the most in the league – and there were few hints the Baggies would take the lead at The Hawthorns.

Spurs carried the greater threat and Ben Foster needed to be alert when Erik Lamela threatened before he palmed away Christian Eriksen’s free kick after 62 minutes.

Harry Kane almost scored a spectacular own goal until Lloris turned his sliced clearance over with 17 minutes left.

But the hosts kept pressing and grabbed the winner in stoppage time when Danny Rose and Livermore went for the ball during a goalmouth scramble and Livermore poked it in.

Southampton’s hopes of avoiding relegation took a blow as Everton midfielder Tom Davies scored an equaliser in the sixth minute of added time to rescue a 1-1 draw.

Substitute Nathan Redmond’s first goal in almost a year appeared to put the fight very much back in Saints’ hands as it would have left them needing a win at fellow strugglers Swansea on Wednesday to guarantee safety.

However, Davies’ deflected shot off defender Wesley Hoedt moved Mark Hughes’ side above

18th-placed Swansea on goal difference only.

It was a cruel end for the visitors, who finished the match with 10 men after Maya Yoshida’s

85th-minute red card.

Stoke became the first team relegated this season when they lost to Crystal Palace 2-1.

Stoke took the lead through Xherdan Shaqiri’s 43rd-minute freekick, but James McArthur equalised for Palace in the 68th minute and Patrick van Aanholt netted the winner in the 86th.

Palace lost their first seven games but are now mathematically safe, completing the considerable upturn in their fortunes after Roy Hodgson succeeded Frank De Boer as manager early in the campaign.