Sheffield United 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur. Ange Postecoglou said he “loved every minute” of his first season in charge of Tottenham Hotspur after they ended their inconsistent campaign on a high by thumping the Premier League’s bottom club Sheffield United to clinch a Europa League place.

After a prolonged search for Antonio Conte’s replacement, Postecoglou left Celtic to take over last summer and Spurs were touted as title contenders early in his reign but have fallen away to finish fifth.

“Contrary to my general demeanour, I have loved every minute of it,” said the Australian. “It is a great challenge in the Premier League, and taking over a big club. I have enjoyed it all season and I have some pretty lofty ambitions for the football club.”

The visitors were shaky early on at Bramall Lane as Ben Brereton Diaz fired over for the Blades in the opening two minutes and struck the post with an effort on the stretch.

But Spurs scored the opener with their first attack as Son Heung-min picked out Dejan Kulusevski’s run into the box and the midfielder drilled a cool finish into the far corner.

The Sweden international should have added to his tally shortly after but was denied by Wes Foderingham’s sharp save low down, while centre-back Cristian Romero struck a post.

Pedro Porro smashed in a scorching first-time finish to double Spurs’ lead in the second half, before Kulusevski managed to slide home his second of the game to condemn Sheffield United to their 28th defeat of an abysmal campaign.

In a season that promised so much in the opening few months, Spurs will regard their final position as a disappointment having gone – at the end of October – five points clear at the top of the table.

But a winless November and five defeats in their last seven games meant a return to the Champions League was out of reach by the end.

Postecoglou has delivered an improvement on the eighth-placed finish last term but concerns are starting to develop after calling out the “fragility” around the club and taking aim at supporters celebrating Manchester City’s goals against their own team on Tuesday night.

That result dented north London rivals Arsenal’s title ambitions and City’s victory over West Ham on Sunday meant Pep Guardiola’s side retained the trophy in Manchester.

That was not lost on the Spurs fans in attendance at Bramall Lane, chanting “shame about the Arsenal, ole ole…” as the scorelines filtered through from Etihad Stadium and Emirates Stadium.

Postecoglou said: “It has been good, eventful and a bit of everything. I am obviously not delighted with how we finished the season but we have been in the top five all year. We finished eighth last season and we have been competitive for the most part. I have had maximum effort from everyone.”

Spurs must assess during the close season how they can improve, and now head straight to Australia as they face Newcastle in a post-season friendly in Melbourne on Wednesday.

In between their goals, Spurs should have racked up a sizeable scoreline in south Yorkshire but Rodrigo Bentancur struck the woodwork and home goalkeeper Foderingham – on his last Sheffield United appearance – made impressive full-stretch saves to deny Son and Porro.

The final whistle drew to a close a thoroughly miserable season for Sheffield United, who will go down as one of the worst sides in Premier League history.

A campaign that started terribly with nine defeats and a draw in their opening 10 games left the Blades blunted at the bottom of the pile and staring at an inevitable return to the Championship.

The returning Chris Wilder could not arrest the slide after replacing Paul Heckingbottom in December as the team ended up winning only three of their games and picking up just 16 points – with only Sunderland (15) and Derby faring worse (11).

They have shipped 104 goals, the highest total in Premier League history and their goal difference of -69 is matched only by the dismal Derby side of 2007-08 which also finished rooted to the bottom.

Wilder has pointed to a big summer, and five exiting players including club legends Chris Basham, Ollie Norwood and Chris Baldock, as well as Foderingham and Max Lowe, waved goodbye at full-time as the club bid farewell to the top flight.

Wilder said: “The first half an hour summed our season up and after that there is a familiarity of what happened. We had some great chances and were the better side against a quality team with the magnitude of Spurs.

“We have not got enough personality in the team to put the opposition to bed. Goals change the atmosphere, it was positive before the game, it was a beautiful day when we got up and the sun was shining but hasn’t been a beautiful season.”

source – BBC

Luton Town 2-4 Fulham. Raul Jimenez scored twice as Fulham beat relegated Luton Town at Kenilworth Road on the final day of the Premier League season.

Adama Traore produced an unerring finish into the bottom corner as Fulham took the lead just before the break.

But after Calvin Bassey was adjudged to have fouled Chiedozie Ogbene, Carlton Morris rolled home a penalty to equalise.

Jimenez restored Fulham’s lead deep into first-half added time, slotting in a first-time effort from Harry Wilson’s pass.

The Mexico international then got in front of the Luton defence and headed home his second from a Harrison Reed free-kick minutes after the interval.

Alfie Doughty’s free-kick reduced the deficit but Marco Silva’s side restored their two-goal advantage when Wilson curled into the top corner from the edge of the box.

Luton can be proud of their general performances across the season, but their defending on the final day showed exactly why they will be returning to the Championship.

To underline the point, there were just 67 seconds between their equaliser and Fulham’s second goal.

The Hatters conceded 85 league goals this season – with only Sheffield United (104) and Darmstadt (86) letting in more across Europe’s top five leagues.

But while Luton failed to win any of their final six games, they did score in each of their last seven – highlighting the fact they did not go down without a fight.

Morris’ penalty meant he finished the season with 11 league goals – more than any other Luton player. Doughty, another of their top performers, signed off with his second goal of the season.

Their fans stayed behind long after the final whistle to ensure the players returned to the pitch to rapturous applause.

Rob Edwards’ side may have had a brief stay in the division but there is no doubt it has been a memorable one.

Speaking after the match, the Luton boss said: “We are a special club. We have got unique support – we have had that all season long. Everyone that has travelled has shown their best.

“We have given our best this year and ultimately we have just come up short. If one game could almost tell a season’s story, that would be today.

“We showed really good moments, created chances, didn’t take them, conceded from a mistake, then were punished with a brilliant finish, equalised and then conceded straight after.

“Full of endeavour, some really good quality at times as well, but just a little bit too fragile.”

Wilson was sublime against a Luton side who were unable to cope with him.

The Welsh winger scored once and provided two assists – becoming the first Fulham player to have three ‘direct goal contributions’ in a Premier League match since Dimitar Berbatov against Arsenal in November 2012.

He cut inside and passed to Traore for Fulham’s opener and found Jimenez in space for his first goal.

After the break, he struck the crossbar after Reed’s clever backheel from a free-kick.

But eight minutes later he scored the goal his performance deserved, curling home as Fulham finished the season with a flourish.

Fulham boss Silva said: “Some very good goals from ourselves.

“The fourth goal is another good example, a great open-play moment from us and a great goal from ourselves.

“There were some very good individual performances and the collective performance was good as well. We deserved [the result], we were the best team on the pitch.

“Unfortunately, we conceded two goals that we should avoid as well, but three points to end the season, away from home, it was important.”

source – BBC

Crystal Palace 5-0 Aston Villa. Jean-Philippe Mateta struck a hat-trick while Eberechi Eze scored twice as Crystal Palace thrashed a sorry Aston Villa to finish tenth and equal their best finish in the Premier League.

The French striker scored twice before the break and secured his hat-trick through an Eze assist.

Mateta then set up Eze for his second goal, his first having come early in the second half.

Palace end the season with an unbeaten run of seven games, while Villa, having already secured fourth place, could only claim two points from a possible 12 in the final stretch.

It was a subdued end to an otherwise excellent campaign for Unai Emery’s side, who qualify for the Champions League 41 years after their last outing in the European Cup.

Showing four changes to the side that started the 3-3 draw with Liverpool on the previous Monday, Villa’s bench featured two goalkeepers including Emery’s 21-year-old son Lander.

The Eagles finished the season strongly under manager Oliver Glasner, who replaced Roy Hodgson at Selhurst Park in mid-February.

Palace were in a relegation fight when Glasner succeeded Roy Hodgson in February, but such was their turnaround under the Austrian that they finished the campaign as one of the Premier League’s in-form sides.

Confidence oozed out of them from the start, with Mateta sweeping Michael Olise’s pass past Robin Olsen for the opener after nine minutes.

He diverted a low Daniel Munoz cross past Olsen for his second, and Palace could have been further ahead by the break had the keeper not saved from Olise twice inside stoppage time.

Eze latched onto a rebound to lash the ball in from the edge of the box to make it 3-0 and then set up Mateta for his third goal.

Mateta found the net for the fourth time shortly after, only for it to be chalked off for offside, but he set up Eze for his second to complete an excellent end to the season for the Eagles.

It was a harsh ending to the season for Villa, who ran out of steam after a gruelling spell that saw them play six times inside 17 days.

That included a two-legged semi-final defeat to Olympiakos and a stirring comeback against Liverpool, with fourth place in the table secured 24 hours later when Tottenham Hotspur lost to Manchester City.

The pass from Olise that sliced open the defence for Mateta’s first set the template for the rest of the afternoon, while Moussa Diaby’s shot that was saved by Dean Henderson soon afterwards was Villa’s best chance of getting close to Palace.

Villa were playing their 55th game of the season and how they cope with battles on several fronts, with the demands of the Champions League as well as domestic challenges, will be a real test of Emery and his squad next season.

source – BBC