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Final day farewells, tears, gifts and goals

Gareth Bale was booked for diving for a fourth time this season © Getty Images

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And it's goodnight from him, him and him

There were plenty of faces who would be seen for one final time on Sunday. Sir Alex Ferguson in a Manchester United dugout, Jamie Carragher on the pitch for Liverpool, likewise Phil Neville at Everton.

Paul Scholes and Michael Owen were part of that list as well, but they were given the joys of starting on the bench for United and Stoke. Ferguson and Stoke boss Tony Pulis were not that cruel as both players did come on in the second half and received warm welcomes.

Bale booked for a dive yet again

If an award was handed out to the player who was booked the most times for simulation during the campaign, then Gareth Bale would have another trophy to add to his Player of the Year collection.

The Tottenham winger was shown a yellow card by Andre Marriner at White Hart Lane after he felt he was pulled to the ground by Sunderland's Sebastian Larsson. Looking at the incident closely, the decision could have gone either way, but given the number of times Bale has found himself in a situation like this (four times to be precise), Marriner chose to follow his fellow referees and not award the penalty. How did Bale react? With plenty of rolls along the turf.

Baggies hand out early gifts to Fergie

West Brom wanted to give Ferguson a farewell present, so they decided to generously hand United two goals in the first nine minutes at The Hawthorns with some dreadful defending.

So to possibly return the favour, Ferguson would probably have handed out a glass of red to Baggies boss Steve Clarke when his 1,500th and final game as manager for United came to an end. That plan may have been ditched though when West Brom equalised at 5-5 from 5-2 down.

Benitez has done a decent job at Chelsea. Fact

Remember those banners from the Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge when Rafael Benitez took charge in November?

Well, if the Spaniard was looking carefully in the crowd he may have spotted a banner from a fan who appreciated the job he has done under difficult circumstances, a banner which read: "CL 2013/14, Europa Cup 2013. Fact, thanks Rafa".

A Europa League triumph, Champions League football next season and a third-place finish in the league. Not bad for an interim manager.

Not the time and place to cry

Steve Harper can be forgiven for being emotional in his last outing for Newcastle after 20 years, but bursting into tears during the match may be stretching it a bit.

In the 37th minute a round of applause erupted around St James' Park (because Harper wears the No. 37 shirt) in honour of Harper, and the goalkeeper could not hold the tears back. Moments later, he was almost in tears again when he denied Lukas Podolski an opportunity and was on the end of a coming together with the German.

False alarm in fight for fourth

With the final Champions League spot heading to Arsenal, someone at White Hart Lane thought Newcastle had equalised against the Gunners midway through the second half.

So when that person delivered the good news (which turned out to be wrong), Tottenham fans believed it and began to celebrate, only to be told there was no Newcastle equaliser and that they were still set to miss out on a top-four finish.

A bonus for Lambert through Bent

Paul Lambert would have had pound signs glowing in his eyes when Darren Bent inked his name onto the score sheet for Aston Villa five minutes in against Wigan. With the striker likely to depart in the summer, the goal certainly increased his price, so a pat on the shoulder for Lambert for handing him a rare start.

Goals galore to end the campaign

When the final round of fixtures conclude, fans think about what they are going to do in the absence of supporting their teams for three months.

The 36 goals netted on the last day of the Premier League season did not help to banish those thoughts, so now begins the painful countdown to August for the start of the new campaign.

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