A nervous day ended in wild relief for Tottenham as João Palhinha’s goal gave them a rare home win, and ensured they avoided relegation on the final day of the Premier League season.
Tottenham dragged themselves over the line in the Premier League relegation battle as they beat Everton 1-0 thanks to João Palhinha‘s first-half goal.
West Ham’s 3-0 victory over Leeds United elsewhere on Sunday meant Spurs would have been relegated with a defeat, but a lacklustre Everton never looked likely to inflict such a result on Roberto De Zerbi’s team.
Spurs started brightly, buoyed by their noisy home fans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Conor Gallagher and Kevin Danso slashing wide early on.
Yet their performance had grown rather subdued by the time the decisive moment arrived in the 43rd minute.
Mathys Tel swung in a corner, and Palhinha capitalised on slack marking to meet it. He could only direct a header against the post, but the midfielder reacted swiftly to nudge in on the rebound, with Thierno Barry unable to stop it from going over the line.
Jordan Pickford‘s error almost gifted Djed Spence a goal after the break, but Spurs soon fell back and surrendered territory to Everton, as news of West Ham taking the lead began to go around the crowd.
Everton, though, were woefully short in attack, and it was not until second-half stoppage time that they had their first shot on target, with Tyrique George forcing Antonín Kinsky into action as Spurs’ first home league win since December ensured their place in the top flight for next term.
Data Debrief: Spurs Get the Job Done
Only Arsenal – who set the single-season record in 2025-26 with 19 – have netted more goals from corners in a Premier League campaign than Tottenham did this term (18), so it is fitting that their winner came from such a scenario.
While Spurs can at least celebrate survival, they know things must be much better next season. This was just their third home win of the season in the top tier, the joint-fewest home wins by a team to survive relegation in a Premier League campaign, along with Hull City in 2008-09.
Everton, on the other hand, will finish what seemed set to be a season of progress in exactly the same place as last year, with just one more point to show for their efforts.
They have not won any of their last seven games in the Premier League (D3 L4), with this equalling their joint-longest winless run under David Moyes in the competition.
There were just three shots on target throughout the match, with Spurs having two and Everton one. The Toffees registered 0.38 expected goals, while the hosts finished with 0.99 xG.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Tottenham vs Everton stats from their Premier League final-day meeting at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 24 May 2026.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Tottenham vs Everton Post-Match Facts
- Tottenham earned their first Premier League home win since December (2-0 v Brentford), and just their third overall in 2025-26. This is the joint-fewest home wins by a team to survive relegation in a Premier League campaign, along with Hull in 2008-09 (3).
- Everton haven’t won any of their last seven games in the Premier League (D3 L4), with this equalling their joint-longest winless run under David Moyes in the competition.
- Tottenham have scored 19 goals from set pieces in the Premier League this season (excl. penalties), their most since the 1999-2000 campaign (20 – their record in the competition).
Enjoy this? Add Opta Analyst as a preferred source by clicking here.
Enjoy this? Subscribe to our football newsletter to receive exclusive weekly content. You should also follow our social accounts over on X, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
