Tottenham avoid relegation from Premier League with tense win over Everton
Tottenham avoided relegation from the Premier League on the final day of the 2025-26 season after their 1-0 win over Everton condemned rivals West Ham to the Championship.
João Palhinha‘s scrappy first-half goal Sunday proved the decisive moment in a competitive relegation battle that has raged for months and that now sees West Ham, which defeated Leeds 3-0, fall to the second tier with the joint-highest points tally amassed by a relegated club since 2010-11 (39). It marks West Ham’s first season in the Championship since 2012.
Heading into what promised to be a tense final day, Spurs knew they could be relegated only if they lost at home and West Ham beat Leeds 27 miles away in east London.
Palhinha’s goal, which just barely crossed the line, settled the nerves at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but when their rivals went ahead across the capital with a little over 20 minutes remaining, the reverberations made for a tense finish in north London.
But Roberto De Zerbi’s team held on thanks to some dogged defending and a crucial late save from Antonín Kinsky deep into the nine minutes of second-half stoppage time.
“I’m very happy and elated for the performance of my players,” De Zerbi told the BBC. “They showed they are good people and top players. We played maybe the best game in my time here.
“We played against an Everton side who had a coach that maybe wanted to help keep West Ham up, but I’m sorry he couldn’t do that.”
Sunday marked Spurs’ third win at home in the league this season, and their first since the beginning of December.
Spurs have been at risk of a high-profile relegation from the top flight for much of their dreadful campaign.
Thomas Frank began the season in charge before he was sacked and replaced by Igor Tudor, whose ill-fated stint did not deliver a turnaround in results.
Frank’s tenure unraveled after lackluster displays against Chelsea and Arsenal saw fans and players lose faith in his football, while Tudor’s reign lasted just 44 days in charge with Spurs deep in the mire.
But De Zerbi’s arrival at the end of March brought a sharp turnaround in performance and results as Spurs finished with 11 points from their last six matches, proving enough to see them beat the drop by the skin of their teeth.
“It is unacceptable that the last game we played this season we play for relegation,” Spurs center back Micky van de Ven told the BBC.
“This club has some unbelievable players. It was embarrassing to let it come to the final day but we did it and that is what is important.”
