Everton safe, Leicester, Leeds down
Foxes victorious but one-goal win ensures Toffees preserve status
Seven years after the most improbable Premier League title triumph of all, Leicester City were relegated from English football’s top division yesterday while Everton pulled off another last-day escape to extend their 69-year stay.
Leeds United were also consigned to the drop with Leicester and already-relegated Southampton as the league season finished.
Everton’s 1-0 victory over Bournemouth meant Leicester’s 2-1 win against West Ham United was ultimately meaningless. Leeds’ miserable campaign ended in a 4-1 loss at home against Tottenham Hotspur.
Leicester’s demise stands out because of the dramatic nature of their fall after experiencing the most spectacular period in their history in recent years.
By winning the title as a 5000-1 long shot in 2016, they provided the Premier League with its greatest fairy tale — being crowned champions two years after being promoted from the second tier.
In 2021, they were celebrating victory against Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium, a period that also saw them achieve back-toback fifth-place finishes.
Relegation was not seen as a realistic threat this season — even after an off-season in which Leicester failed to make major moves in the transfer market.
In the Premier League, however, fairytales do not guarantee happilyever-after endings and Leicester now face an uncertain future with interim manager Dean Smith out of contract and a host of star players likely to leave before next season.
“The Premier League is where everybody wants to be playing,” Smith said. “It feels raw now, it hurts and everybody will be devastated. But with the infrastructure they’ve got, they will bounce back.”
While those words were encouraging, there is no guarantee Leicester will be back in the top flight anytime soon.
Top players such as James Maddison, Youri Tielemans and Harvey Barnes could all depart and will have suitors from leading clubs.
Smith could offer no guarantees about his own future, saying his interim deal was now over after completing the final eight games of the season.
“There have been plenty [of clubs] over time where you’ve had knocks and your job is to bounce back and make sure you improve on the things that have let you down and I’ve no doubts the club will.”
Relegation closes a chapter on a remarkable period in Leicester’s history and it remains to be seen how the club’s chairman, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, reacts to the disappointment.
In March, the club announced a pre-tax loss of £92.5 million ($188m) for the previous financial year.
They are likely to have to spend again to rebuild from here.
While it was a day of anguish for Leicester, Everton were celebrating once again as the league’s great survivors.
Having been in the top division since 1954, they pulled off another great escape, having avoided relegation on the final day of the season in 1994 and 1998.
The Merseyside club, which only narrowly avoided the drop last year, took it to the wire yet again this season.
Abdoulaye Doucoure smashed home a 57th-minute goal to earn the win that sparked jubilant scenes at Goodison.
Everton’s fate was always in their own hands, starting the day 17th, two points above Leicester and Leeds.
It is a triumph for manager Sean Dyche, who was hired in January and tasked with the job of rescuing the club’s season.
“I’ve just told the players we can’t be in this state,” Dyche said. “A magic day, but at the end of the day, we shouldn’t be in this shape.
“You are only a big club if you are doing big things. It is one and we need to get it back to being one.”
United finish third
Two cup finals and now a third-place finish in the Premier League — for Erik ten Hag, it has been a strong first season at Manchester United.
United rallied to beat Fulham 2-1 thanks to goals from Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes to finish above Newcastle United in third. Newcastle could only draw 1-1 at Chelsea.
A run of four straight wins to end the league campaign sets up United for their shot at Manchester City in the FA Cup final on Sunday. United have already won the League Cup.
Villa into Europe
Aston Villa will play in Europe next season for the first time in 13 years after beating Brighton and Hove Albion 2-1 to finish seventh.
Villa, who lost in the Europa League preliminary playoffs in 2010, will feature in the Europa Conference League and will fancy their chances with Unai Emery in charge. Emery has won the Europa League with Sevilla and Villarreal.
Villa’s win meant Tottenham finished in eighth and out of the European positions for the first time in 14 years.
Golden Boot
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland finished his first season in English football with the Golden Boot award as the Premier League’s top scorer.
He didn’t get to add to his 36 league goals this season, though, with the Norway international not getting off the bench in City’s 1-0 loss at Brentford, who completed the homeand-away double over the champions.
Harry Kane finished second on 30 goals, the highest total in Premier League history for a player at a club that finished eighth or lower.
Farewells
Roberto Firmino finished his eightyear Liverpool career with two goals in a wild 4-4 draw with Southampton. A slew of other scorers yesterday might yet have played their last games for the clubs, too — like Granit Xhaka, who scored two of secondplace Arsenal’s goals in their 5-0 thrashing of Wolverhampton. Xhaka has been linked with a move back to Germany.
Kane refused to comment on his future at Tottenham after scoring twice against Leeds.