Dejan Kulusevski scored twice as Tottenham Hotspur claimed fifth place in the Premier League with a 3-0 win over Sheffield United and sealed a UEFA Europa League place for next season.
The Swede clinically picked out the back of the net in both halves, either side of Pedro Porro's rifled effort, while Sheff Utd avoided some late drama as Andre Brooks had a red card overturned after a VAR review.
Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham side finished three points clear of Chelsea, while Sheff Utd go back down to the Championship having finished bottom of the table.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 |
Spurs
TOT
|
38 | +13 | 66 |
| 6 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
38 | +14 | 63 |
| 7 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
38 | +23 | 60 |
| 8 |
Man Utd
MUN
|
38 | -1 | 60 |
How the match unfolded
Spurs were put under early pressure as Ben Brereton Diaz blazed a volley over the bar after just three minutes before scuffing a second shot against the far post shortly after.
Kulusevski punished the Blades for their lack of clinical edge as he scored with Spurs’ first shot of the game, hitting his low strike in off the post as Son Heung-min claimed his 10th Premier League assist of the season.
Rodrigo Bentancur almost recreated the Swede’s goal just before the half-hour mark, but his shot bounced off the inside of the post to Son, who forced a good save out of Wes Foderingham.
United were further indebted to their goalkeeper as he stretched to tip Porro’s shot away before smothering James Maddison’s low strike on the stroke of half-time.
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Cameron Archer could have dragged the Blades back into the tie just after the break, as he brilliantly held off Cristian Romero before seeing his shot smothered by Guglielmo Vicario, but the offside flag spared his blushes.
Despite a slow start to the second half, the visitors soon found their footing when Porro rifled a powerful effort over Foderingham after the goalkeeper had reflexively kept out Micky van de Ven.
Six minutes later, Kulusevski got the better of the home side’s defence again, latching onto Maddison’s low cross to slot in his eighth Premier League goal of the season.
There was late drama as substitute Brooks was shown a red card for a push on Son during a Sheff Utd corner, but the referee overturned his original decision after a VAR review.
The hosts were playing for pride in their final Premier League game of the season, but as is the story of their season, they just could not build on a promising start.
Though they created some excellent chances to put Spurs on the back foot, they lacked a cutting edge before their defensive woes once again came to the fore.
Tottenham simply needed a point to assure themselves of fifth place, and with their captain's help, they managed to book a place in the UEFA Europa League next season.
Son set up Kulusevski for the opener to reach double figures in assists this season - it is the third time in his career that he has both scored and assisted 10+ goals in a single campaign. The South Korean is one of only six players to reach the milestone in three separate Premier League seasons.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
38 | -18 | 32 |
| 18 |
Luton
LUT
|
38 | -33 | 26 |
| 19 |
Burnley
BUR
|
38 | -37 | 24 |
| 20 |
Sheffield Utd
SHU
|
38 | -69 | 16 |
Club reports
Sheff Utd report | Spurs report
Key facts
Sheffield United won just three games and 16 points in the Premier League this term (D7 L28) with only Derby County in 2007-08 (1) winning fewer matches in a single campaign and only the Rams in that same season (11) and Sunderland in 2005-06 (15) recording fewer points in a single season in the competition’s history.
Tottenham Hotspur recorded their 20th league win of the season under Ange Postecoglou with André Villas-Boas the only manager to pick up more Premier League victories in their first season in charge of Spurs (21 in 2012-13).
Sheffield United conceded 57 Premier League goals at Bramall Lane this season, the most ever home goals conceded by a team in a single top-flight campaign; meanwhile the Blades’ final goal difference of -69 is the joint-worst by a side in a Premier League campaign (level with Derby County in 2007-08) with only Darwen in 1891-92 (-74) ever posting a worse goal difference overall in the top-flight.
Sheffield United suffered their sixth home defeat by a 3+ goal margin of this Premier League season, the joint-most such losses by a team in a single campaign. They also become just the third team to lose their final seven matches of a Premier League season after Sunderland in 2002-03 (lost last 15) and Norwich in 2019-20 (lost last 10).
