WALDRON GRAIN & FUEL

05/17 13:34 CDT West Ham on brink of relegation from the Premier League as Bruno Fernandes ties assist record West Ham on brink of relegation from the Premier League as Bruno Fernandes ties assist record By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer West Ham's 14-year stay in the Premier League is almost over. The London club lost 3-1 at Newcastle on Sunday to stay in the relegation zone and two points from safety with one match left, against Leeds at its Olympic Stadium home in the final round next Sunday. The Hammers will be relegated before then if Tottenham --- the only other team that can mathematically go down --- beats Chelsea on Tuesday in the first of its two remaining games. Tottenham's second chance is at home to Everton in the final round. West Ham has been in the top flight since 2012, coming through a number of relegation battles in that time. This one looks beyond the team --- three years after it won the Conference League title for its first major trophy since 1980 in a sign of brighter things to come. Newcastle scored twice in the first 19 minutes, through Nick Woltemade and William Osula. Osula added a third in the 65th before a brilliant long-range consolation by Taty Castellanos, who also hit the crossbar for West Ham.

Fernandes ties assist record after VAR controversy Bruno Fernandes grabbed his record-tying 20th assist of the Premier League season to help Manchester United beat Nottingham Forest 3-2 in an end-to-end match featuring the latest VAR controversy. Bryan Mbeumo's 76th-minute goal proved to be decisive and was set up by Fernandes, who moved level with Arsenal great Thierry Henry (2002-03) and former Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne (2019-20) for most assists in a single Premier League campaign. The Portugal midfielder has one game left to set the outright record --- at Brighton next weekend. United had earlier gone in front for the second time in the game when Matheus Cunha stroked home a finish in the 55th minute after Mbeumo controlled the ball using his outstretched arm before having a shot blocked. The goal was awarded by the on-field referee and he stuck to his decision --- judging the contact accidental --- after the VAR recommended he look at the incident again on the pitchside monitor. The win guaranteed third place --- and one of the Premier League's five Champions League qualification spots --- for United and it was another step in the right direction under Michael Carrick, who is widely expected to be hired as permanent manager in the coming days after a successful four-month spell in charge. This was Carrick's 11th win in 16 games at the helm, with only two losses in that period. Luke Shaw gave United the lead in the fifth minute and Morato equalized in the 53rd. Cunha's contentious goal regained the lead for the hosts and Mbeumo made it 3-1, before Morgan Gibbs-White pulled another goal back for Forest, whose safety was assured last week. It was Brazil midfielder Casemiro's final home match for United after four years with the team, and he received a standing ovation when he was walked off the field after being substituted in the 81st minute.

Brighton loses in tight race for European positions In the race to qualify for European competitions, seventh-place Brighton missed the chance to jump to sixth after losing 1-0 at Leeds, whose winner came from England striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin --- a World Cup hopeful --- in stoppage time. Eighth-place Brentford equalized late --- through Dango Ouattara for his second of the match --- in a 2-2 home draw with Crystal Palace and moved one point behind Brighton. Sunderland is a further point back in ninth after winning 3-1 at Everton courtesy of three second-half goals. The teams finishing in sixth and seventh place are set to qualify for the Europa League, with eighth place seemingly going into the Conference League. Fulham drew 1-1 at already-relegated Wolverhampton thanks to a penalty converted by U.S. left back Antonee Robinson for his first Premier League goal. ___ Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80 ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer