Premier League: Manchester United abandonment eclipses finale

Fans evacuate Old Trafford in Manchester on Sunday as the English Premier League match between Manchester United and Bournemouth was abandoned after a suspicious package was discovered at the venue. (Photo: AFP)

Manchester United’s final game of the Premier League season against Bournemouth on Sunday was abandoned following a security alert at Old Trafford, as Arsenal snatched second place in the table from rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

What should have been a celebratory last weekend of the league season around the country was overshadowed as bomb disposal experts were called to carry out a controlled explosion on a suspicious package at Old Trafford.

The Stretford End and Sir Alex Ferguson Stand were evacuated as the match was called off 20 minutes before the scheduled 1400 GMT kick-off in Manchester, with United later confirming a security alert caused the abrupt cancellation at the 75,600-capacity stadium.

“Due to the discovery of a suspect package in the North-West Quadrant of the ground, the match with Bournemouth has been abandoned today on police advice,” a United spokesman said in a statement.

By 3.15pm local time the remaining parts of Old Trafford were evacuated and shortly before 4pm an Army bomb disposal unit van was seen arriving at the stadium to carry out a controlled explosion.

The Premier League said the match would be rearranged for “as soon as practically possible”.

Despite the worrying scenes at Old Trafford, the other nine matches went ahead as planned.

Completing a bad day for United, Manchester City drew 1-1 at Swansea City to effectively guarantee fourth place and Champions League qualification at the expense of their local rivals, who are three points behind them with a goal difference of only +12 compared to +30 for Manuel Pellegrini’s men.

Capping a frustrating climax to the season for Tottenham, Mauricio Pochettino’s team came third as their 5-1 humiliation at relegated Newcastle United, combined with Arsenal’s 4-0 win over bottom club Aston Villa, saw the Gunners leapfrog their north London rivals to finish second.

After losing the title to Leicester City, Tottenham have also wasted a chance to finish above Arsenal for the first time since 1994-95.

At Stamford Bridge, Leicester brought the curtain down on their fairytale season with a 1-1 draw against Chelsea.