Tottenham 1-0 Everton: Palhinha's winner seals survival for Spurs in final round

Tottenham dragged themselves over the line in the Premier League relegation battle as they beat Everton 1-0 thanks to Joao Palhinha's first-half goal.

Match Report 

West Ham's 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 a shot on target, with Tyrique George forcing Antonin 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.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

0' The second-half is about to start!

0' Match Event for Tottenham vs Everton

3' The free kick is delivered by Porro but it's not one of his best and is easily cleared

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6' Porro's effort from outside the box is blocked by the defender

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6' Gallagher latches onto a rebound in the box and fires a shot a whisker wide of the left post

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11' Romero has come to the scene to support his team

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11' Kevin Danso's effort flies high and wide of the goal

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14' Palhinha reacts superbly to latch on to a rebound, but he blazes the ball high over the crossbar

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20' Merlin Rohl uses excessive force to foul Van de Ven

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22' Djed Spence serves up a nice cross, but Jordan Pickford punches the ball away

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28' Match Event for Tottenham vs Everton

32' Match Event for Tottenham vs Everton

35' Palhinha connects with a pass but sees his shot from the edge of the box blocked

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35' Kevin Danso's header takes a deflection and the rebound is saved by the keeper

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40' Tel controls a fine pass into the box and takes a shot, but an opposing player makes a clearance

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43' GOAL! Palhinha gets to the rebound and rifles the ball into the net! Tottenham 1-0 Everton

48' Spence receives a low pass and unleashes a fine strike, but Pickford blocks his effort

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73' Richarlison and Tel replaced by Randal Kolo Muani and Pape Matar Sarr

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Line-ups

Tottenham XI: Palhinha, Bentancur, Danso, Richarlison, Gallagher, Spence, Porro, Udojie, Van de Ven, Kinsky, Tel

Subs: Maddison, Solanke, Vicario, Bissouma, Muani, Pape Sarr, Dragusin, Gray, Bergvall

Everton XI: Pickford, Tarkowski, Keane, Dewsbury-Hall, Vitaliy Mykolenko, Garner, Iliman Ndiaye, Jake O'Brien, Tim Iroegbunam, Merlin Röhl, Thierno Barry

Subs: Coleman, Travers, McNeil, Beto, Carlos Alcaraz, Tyler Dibling, Tyrique George, Aznou, Harrison Armstrong