Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton; Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton. Premier League.
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs 1-0 Everton: Joao Palhinha scores winner as Tottenham seal Premier League survival on final day
Report and free match highlights as Spurs avoid relegation to the Championship with final-day victory over Everton; Joao Palhinha's first-half goal enough despite West Ham beating Leeds; Spurs finish two points above West Ham in 17th; Everton end season 13th
Sunday 24 May 2026 18:57, UK
Tottenham secured their Premier League status with a 1-0 final-day win over toothless Everton thanks to Joao Palhinha's first-half goal.
The threat of a first relegation in 49 years loomed on Sunday but Spurs rose to the occasion, seeing off their lacklustre visitors to ensure it is their London rivals West Ham who are instead consigned to the Championship next season.
West Ham beat Leeds but Everton boss David Moyes could not do his old side a favour and Spurs stayed up by two points. Everton, with little to play for themselves, did not even have a shot in the second half until the 93rd minute. They were ideal opponents.
A Spurs crisis averted. There are still many problems for head coach Roberto De Zerbi and the club hierarchy to address this summer after back-to-back 17th-placed finishes but they can at least rebuild in the top tier having avoided the financial shock of relegation.
The celebrations when Palhinha forced in his 43rd-minute opener after heading against a post were wild, fuelled by an outpouring of relief. De Zerbi went tearing off down the touchline in delight.
The Spurs fans, who had welcomed their team to the stadium in huge numbers, a year and a day on from the Europa League trophy parade, rejoiced. They had seen just two other Premier League wins in this stadium this season and none in their last 10 trips here. The arrival of full-time was equally emotional.
Palhinha has been a key figure in Spurs' salvage job under De Zerbi. He scored the late goal at Wolves which clinched Spurs' first win under the Italian and he came up with the crucial moment again. But De Zerbi deserves the credit for the way he has shifted the mood. Thomas Frank was the wrong fit. Igor Tudor was a terrible appointment. But the Spurs board got it right at the third time of asking - and just in time.
The big cheers De Zerbi got as he followed his players on a post-match lap of appreciation showed how he is already loved by the followers of this team.
For Everton, it is a seven-game winless finish to a season when they had looked primed to challenge for European football. They were well off their best level they have shown this season, mustering just a couple of off-target headers deep into stoppage time when Spurs' job was already effectively complete before Antonin Kinsky was called into his first save on 99 minutes by Tyrique George.
Everton fans may have just been thankful not to be involved in a final-day relegation scrap themselves, having experienced that pressure in recent seasons. For Spurs the priority now will be ensuring they do not go through this again.
De Zerbi praises 'big' Spurs personalities after final-day win
Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi to Sky Sports:
"Manic. We worked well. I am lucky because I have a lot of big players and big guys. You can see the game today and you can understand that with big pressure, they played a fantastic game with the ball. Not just to fight but with the ball.
"They played maybe my best game in my time. If they play the best game in my time, you can imagine how big the personalities of my players are."
Palhinha: I've never seen an atmosphere like this
Joao Palhinha to Sky Sports:
"It is an amazing feeling after a really tough season in every single way. A lot of things happened this season.
"I have never seen anything like [the crowd today]. After a bad season, to have this environment and support from our fans, it is amazing. I have never seen anything like it.
"This season will make us strong for the next one. The club will grow up with this season. We know what we have to do for the future."
Story of the match in stats
What's next?
Already thinking about the 2026/27 Premier League season?
There's a World Cup to fit in first - follow live blogs of every game on the Sky Sports App - but the key dates are locked in for next term, when Sky Sports will once again show at least 215 live Premier League games.
Here's your summer diary:
June 11: World Cup starts - day-by-day fixture list
June 14: Scotland's opener vs Haiti (2am)
June 15: Summer transfer window opens
June 17: England's opener vs Croatia (9pm)
June 19: Premier League fixtures released (10am)
July 19: World Cup final
June 25: Championship fixtures released
August 22-23: Premier League opening weekend
August 27: Champions League league phase draw
September 1: Transfer Deadline Day (window closes at 11pm UK time)
September 8-10: Champions League matchday 1
May 30, 2027: Premier League final day
