LONDON — Robin van Persie returned to frustrate Arsenal as the Manchester United striker rescued a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium, while Reading and QPR were relegated from the Premier League Sunday after playing out a 0-0 draw. Van Persie was making his first appearance in north London since last year's $37 million transfer to United and he was given a hostile reception from Arsenal's supporters. But, after Theo Walcott gave Arsenal a second minute lead, the Dutch forward silenced the boo-boys when he fired home from the penalty spot after being fouled by Bacary Sagna in the 44th minute. With the title already wrapped up, champion United was happy to settle for a draw, but the result was a setback for Arsenal, which dropped down to fourth place following Chelsea's 2-0 win over Swansea. A win for either Reading or QPR at the Madejski Stadium would have kept alive its slender chances of staying up at least until Aston Villa's clash with Sunderland Monday. But both looked wracked with nerves during a goalless stalemate which condemned Nigel Adkins' Reading and Harry Redknapp's QPR to starting next season in the Championship. Bottom club Reading and second bottom QPR are both nine points behind fourth bottom Aston Villa with three games remaining, but a complicated equation means there is no chance of either avoiding the drop. If Wigan and Villa lose their next three games they will go into the final day on 32 and 34 points respectively, while back to back wins for QPR and Reading win would give them 31 points ahead of the last match. However, with Wigan and Villa playing each other on the last weekend, only one of them could be overtaken by QPR and Reading, meaning QPR and Reading are guaranteed to be in the bottom three at the end of the season. QPR has been backed heavily by Malaysian owner Tony Fernandes over the last 12 months, but Redknapp concedes its expensively assembled squad won't find it easy to win an immediate return to the Premier League. “Next year it will be very difficult to get promoted, there are some good teams,” Redknapp said. Reading returns to the Championship just 12 months after being promoted as second-tier champion and Adkins wants it to learn the lessons of its top-flight failure. “I have told the players to bottle up the feeling as it is never nice to get relegated and make sure they never feel that way again,” he said. “For any new promoted team it is a challenge to stay up. The Premier League is a ruthless division.” At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea cruised to a comfortable victory over Swansea which lifted it into third place and one point ahead of Arsenal. Rafael Benitez's side showed no signs of tiredness despite its recent grueling schedule and Oscar gave it the lead with a fine finish from Frank Lampard's pass in the 43rd minute. Lampard, who had come on as a substitute for the injured Ramires, netted the second goal in first half stoppage-time. The England midfielder took his Chelsea career goal tally to 201 — within one of Bobby Tambling's record — when he drove home a penalty after Leon Britton had fouled Juan Mata. That was enough to move Chelsea three points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham in the race to qualify for the Champions League. — Agencies
