Sheffield left seething as Tevez attains goal

Premiership/ Ups and downs: Sheffield United were relegated from the Premiership yesterday due to an inferior goal difference of one, but the controversial circumstances of their fall and West Ham United's Carlos Tevez-inspired survival mean the season is not finished yet.

Representatives from Sheffield United, Wigan, Fulham and Charlton will meet again today to consider their legal challenge to the decision not to dock West Ham points over Tevez' illegal registration and Wigan's chairman Dave Whelan said after his team sealed their survival with a win at Bramall Lane: "We have got legal advice and the legal advice is yes, we have a good, strong case. But it has to be done quickly."

The exact nature of the clubs' next step is uncertain but the Premier League is bracing itself for a fight - that could force its chairman Richard Scudamore to consider his position - over Tevez' eligibility to play and the fact that West Ham were only fined, £5.5m, for the illegality.

"West Ham should have points deducted and should not be able to play next season in the Premier League," said Whelan.

"I am sorry for Sheffield United. There's no justice in this. We are still solidly behind them in the quest for justice. We want justice. We set off down the road for justice and we'll not come off the road until we get it. I've just seen the chairman of Sheffield United (Kevin McCabe) and said, 'You get stuck into them'.

Any legal action will have to be initiated soon. Serie A had a delayed start last season due to legal action but there is no precedent in England. There will be doubts that the "Gang of Four" will succeed, a reaction personified by Neil Warnock who said: "West Ham are a big club with big reputations and obviously good solicitors.

"I'm bound to feel bitter about the circumstances but by Tuesday it's fish-and-chip paper. 'It's Sheffield United, so what?'

"I think it's for the directors and the board, this, but I was disappointed with the timing of it. When you read the 36-page (Premier League inquiry) dossier, it's only human to look and not understand why they haven't had any points deducted. That is why you do get disappointed."

Warnock also expressed "disappointment" in the Manchester United team fielded by Alex Ferguson against West Ham yesterday - "Sir Alex probably sold me a dummy" - and was also displeased with the Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez for the side he put out at Fulham last Saturday.

"A foreign manager like Rafa probably doesn't give two hoots about Sheffield United. At least I recognised the United team, there were one or two of Liverpool's I hadn't even heard of." Warnock tried not to let his "gut-wrenching, horrible" emotions colour his view of the impending European and FA Cup finals though he added: "What goes around comes around. Sir Alex has his own reasons and, obviously, the Cup final was more important to him. But fate's fate. Probably Chelsea will win the FA Cup final and AC Milan will win the Champions League."

Wigan manager Paul Jewell was reluctant to be drawn again into the Tevez debate but he described the timing of the Premier League's judgement as "scandalous". It came the Friday before Wigan lost 3-0 at home to West Ham - 16 days ago - with Tevez having received fresh clearance to play from the Premier League.

Jewell repeated that he did not want Wigan to stay up because of a points deduction to another club but he still had sympathy for United. "I know Stuart McCall (Warnock's assistant) and I know Neil Warnock. We're celebrating down there in someone else's back yard. But football is a ruthless, horrible business."

Meanwhile, whoever devised the seating plan at Old Trafford yesterday certainly has a mischievous sense of humour.

In the front row of the directors' box sat Richard Scudamore, Premier League chief executive. Directly behind him was Kia Joorabchian, the Anglo-Iranian businessman whose influence on the career of Tevez has brought Scudamore so much inconvenience. While Joorabchian was leaping to his feet to celebrate Tevez' goal in added time at the end of the first half, Scudamore was applauding politely. After the interval, however, he had moved elsewhere.

That brilliantly-taken goal by Tevez affirmed his West Ham colleagues' faith in their ability to secure the point that would keep them in the Premiership, while handing Manchester United their second home defeat of the season. But it also pointed up the significance of his role in the London club's relegation fight, and the tainted story of the seven goals with which he inspired their dramatic recovery.

He was magnificent yesterday, his skills and combativeness shaping the match to the extent that Old Trafford sometimes felt like La Bombonera, filled with the fire and brimstone of a Boca Juniors match. It was easy to see why, during his time in Buenos Aires, he was acclaimed as Maradona's natural heir, and the goal underlined the comparison.

There was the wonderfully quick thinking of his pass to Bobby Zamora on the right, and the instant sprint to meet the return. There was an urchin brusqueness in the way he powered through Wes Brown's challenge, and a magical deftness in the way he met the dropping ball with an angled half-volley that was a marvel of precision.

So Joorabchian sat among the great and the good of English football and watched one of the players he introduced to West Ham last summer decide the final match of the season at the new champions' home, knowing the other, Javier Mascherano, will appear in the European Cup final in 10 days' time. A job well done, you might say.

• Guardian Service

Champions: Manchester United Champions League: Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal. UEFA Cup: Tottenham, Everton, Bolton. Relegated: Watford, Charlton, Sheffield United