Tottenham Hotspur secured their place in the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Everton on the final day of the Premier League season, with Joao Parinha scoring the only goal of the game.
Roberto de Zerbi celebrates Spurs’ victory (Image: Will Cooper/Shutterstock)
There should be no reason to celebrate. You can imagine the overwhelming sense of relief at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as the final whistle sounded.
After Roberto De Zerbi did his best David Pleat impression, the stadium began chants of “We’re awake” as the Spurs manager ran onto the pitch with an echo of Luton’s great escape at Manchester City all those years ago. The players then went around the pitch to cheer up the fans and celebrated with their long-suffering fans as if this was a miraculous escape from relegation.
And when they started playing ‘Glory, Glory Tottenham Hotspur’ it showed that this great club had truly forgotten what it meant. They may be able to satisfy their fans this time, but rival supporters will have to wait and see how far this great club will fall.
No one will remember this day as anything other than Tottenham’s lowest and most embarrassing goal in the Premier League era.
It was an utter disaster, both on and off the pitch, and it should serve as a warning to the club’s hierarchy that something like this cannot happen again.
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Tottenham fans deserve a lot of credit. Because before the kick-off they were very loud and created a great atmosphere that uplifted and inspired the players.
Incredibly, this was Tottenham’s first home win in the Premier League this year, a record that stretches back 170 days to December 6, when they beat Brentford 2-0 under Thomas Frank.
They have had two managers since then, and after the disastrous tenure of Igor Tudor, De Zerbi has finally succeeded in elevating this underperforming group of players to safety.
In the end, Joao Parinha scored a goal to seal the victory and ensure Spurs’ safety, but many, many will be hanging their heads in shame.
Joao Parinha celebrates Spurs’ winning goal against Everton (Image: 2026 Shutterstock Editorial.)
This isn’t some one-off weirdo every season. Last season they finished 4th from the bottom and finished 17th again. This whole club needs to be reset.
Six years ago they pretended to be part of the European Super League, but from there they became eternal fighters who have barely survived. Also. They built a magnificent 60,000-capacity stadium and became one of the biggest clubs in Europe, but came very close to dropping out of the Championship. We were lucky that West Ham were worse.
Frankly, they were also very lucky to play against an Everton side who were already on the beach this week and whose two players, Jordan Pickford and James Garner, looked like they were cracking out of a strip club.
Tottenham always lost and West Ham won, and Spurs never followed suit, so there was no sense of crisis in the stadium. The news that West Ham were in the lead filtered into the stadium and the tension and tension was palpable. There was a loud groan when the board went up announcing 9 minutes of added time.
But Tottenham have been so poor this season that one thought a goal from Everton could change everything. That’s how bad the Spurs were. Fans were still worried they might lose.
Spurs keeper Antonin Kinski made a sensational save from Everton substitute Tyrik George late in stoppage time. Kinski, who played as a fall man in the Champions League for Atlético Madrid, made another excellent stop two weeks ago to deny Leeds victory. He did something similar with the Wolves.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Randall Kolo Muani and Roberto De Zerbi (Image: 2026 Shutterstock Editorial)
Tottenham are in first place by a small margin. Tottenham won at least the Europa League last season. But they still hadn’t learned their lesson.
If we don’t improve this summer, we will only have ourselves to blame. De Zerbi seems to have the necessary energy and hunger.
But when the television cameras panned to the directors’ box during the match, you could see the tension etched on the faces of the hierarchy. No wonder.
If the Premier League had collapsed, it would have been a disaster on every level and one of the greatest stories in Premier League history. It can’t happen again.
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