Battling Newcastle earn point at Anfield

NEWCASTLE remain 19th in the Premier League but they have been eased for relegation and are now only one point from safety after fighting back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Liverpool at Anfield.

It looked like being a very unhappy return to Merseyside for former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez when Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana put the Reds on cruise control inside 30 minutes before second-half goals from Papiss Cisse and Jack Colback earned the Magpies a potentially precious point.

Newcastle are 1-3 to be relegated with Sunderland at 5-6, while 17th-placed Norwich are 2-5 to go down.

Liverpool were dealt a blow before the game when it was revealed defender Mamadou Sakho is being investigated by Uefa after failing a drugs test. He won’t play for the club during the investigation.

Manchester City moved a step closer to sealing Champions League football for next season following a comfortable 4-0 home success against Stoke.

Fernando opened the scoring before Sergio Aguero notched from the penalty spot and Kelechi Iheanacho made sure of victory with a second-half double.

Yaya Toure picked up a late thigh injury which makes him doubtful for Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Real Madrid according to City boss Manuel Pellegrini.

Meanwhile, Madrid striker Karim Benzema was substituted in the first half of their 3-2 La Liga triumph at Rayo Vallecano because of a knee complaint.

Gareth Bale scored twice in the win for Madrid, who trailed 2-0 before a storming comeback.

Chelsea recorded a 4-1 win at Bournemouth with Eden Hazard notching a brace for the Blues. Pedro and Willian were also on target with Tommy Elphick scoring for Bournemouth.

There is no sign of improvement for relegated Aston Villa with the Premier League’s bottom club going down 4-2 at home to Southampton.

Shane Long, Dusan Tadic (two) and Sadio Mane hit the net for Southampton, while Ashley Westwood scored twice for Villa.

The Sky Bet Championship is set for a thrilling finale after Middlesbrough drew 0-0 with Ipswich and Brighton beat Charlton 3-1 to leave the two promotion chasers level on 87 points with leaders Burnley.

Even the goal difference is tight with Burnley plus 33, Boro plus 32 and Brighton plus 31 with Albion heading to the Riverside on the final day of the campaign.

Burnley have the easiest run-in on paper, particularly with a road trip to relegated Charlton on the horizon where the potential to boost the goal difference may be pivotal in the title hunt.

The Clarets are 4-7 with bet365 and Sky Bet to win the Championship, while Boro are out to 9-4 with both firms. Brighton are 6-1 with bet365.

MK Dons, Colchester and York were relegated from the Championship, League One and League Two respectively following defeats on Saturday.