Luton’s Premier League survival hopes were dealt an enormous blow after they suffered a 5-1 home defeat to Brentford, which virtually guaranteed the visitors of a fourth consecutive season in the top flight.
The 18th-placed Hatters could have moved out of the relegation zone with a win, but were undone by a slick attacking display from the Bees led by Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo.
With Ivan Toney not involved due to his ongoing hip issue, Thomas Frank watched his fluid front four run riot at Kenilworth Road with Wissa on target twice in the first half to reach 10 goals for the campaign.
Ethan Pinnock made the points safe with a third in the 62nd minute before Keane Lewis-Potter claimed a deserved goal two minutes later.
The brilliant Mbeumo had a hand in Brentford’s fifth when Kevin Schade fired home after 86 minutes and despite a stoppage-time consolation for Luke Berry, the afternoon belonged to Brentford after they moved on to 35 points – 10 above Rob Edwards’ strugglers with four matches left.
Luton were boosted before kick-off with Gabriel Osho and Albert Sambi Lokonga surprisingly declared fit and a raucous atmosphere greeted the players, but it was the visitors who started the strongest.
The fit-again Pinnock headed wide before Lewis-Potter squandered a golden opportunity when he fired into the side-netting after being played through by Mikkel Damsgaard.
While the Hatters responded with Alfie Doughty able to test Mark Flekken, Brentford continued to create chances and Thomas Kaminski produced a fine save to thwart Lewis-Potter’s 19th-minute header after an excellent Sergio Reguilon cross.
It felt only a matter of time before the Bees’ attacking quartet punished the home team and it duly arrived with 24 minutes played.
A crucial interception by Kristoffer Ajer found Mbeumo in space and he touched on for Wissa, who rifled beyond Kaminski from 20 yards for a superb opener.
Luton almost equalised immediately when Jordan Clark played through to Tahith Chong, but he smashed over before they suffered another setback when Issa Kabore went off with an ankle injury.
Brentford continued to threaten and only a block by Teden Mengi denied Lewis-Potter after a dangerous run before a sumptuous curled effort by Mbeumo smashed against the crossbar.
Yet Luton’s luck did run out in first-half stoppage-time as Mbeumo dribbled into the area and his cross rolled into the path of Wissa, who scuffed home.
Edwards reacted by bringing on Berry, but Brentford’s attacking prowess remained the difference and Kaminski had to be alert to save Damsgaard’s low strike before the hour mark.
A third goal came soon after when Pinnock powered in a header from Reguilon’s corner, which sparked ‘we are staying up’ chants by the away fans.
Two minutes later they had a fourth to celebrate after Damsgaard’s lofted pass found Mbeumo, who knocked on for Lewis-Potter to head home at the back post.
Mbeumo had been superb and he was again involved in Brentford’s fifth after his defence-splitting pass found Vitaly Janelt, who set up Schade for a simple tap-in.
Luton did have the final say as Berry latched onto a mistake to round Flekken and make it 5-1 in the second minute of added time, but their hopes of beating the drop look even slimmer now despite being applauded off by the home fans at full-time.
Ipswich Town promoted to Premier League after 22-year absence
Ipswich Town secured their return to the Premier League after a 22-year absence by seeing off Huddersfield Town 2-0 at Portman Road on Saturday.
Kieran McKenna's side, who only earned promotion from League One last year, required a point on the final day of regular-season fixtures.
Wes Burns put Ipswich on their way with a 27th-minute strike, before Omar Hutchinson sealed the deal early in the second period.
As it turned out, even a loss would have seen Town go up as Leeds failed to pick up the three points they needed in a 2-1 loss to Southampton.
Joel Piroe cancelled out Adam Armstrong's goal, but Will Smallbone restored the visitors' lead before half-time at Elland Road and at it remained that way.
Leeds will now face Norwich City in the play-offs after the Canaries dropped from fifth to sixth with a 1-0 loss to Birmingham City.
West Brom's 3-0 win over Preston North End ensured they finished the season in fifth, meaning a play-off semi-final date with Southampton.
Despite their home win over Norwich, Birmingham joined Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town in being relegated to the third tier.
That is due to Plymouth Argyle defeating top-six chasers Hull City 1-0, while Sheffield Wednesday eased to a 2-0 victory at Sunderland.
Rotherham's relegation was confirmed last month, while Huddersfield were effectively already down barring a miraculous set of results on the final day.
Arsenal 3-0 Bournemouth: Gunners put pressure back on Man City in title race
Arsenal put the pressure back onto Manchester City in the Premier League title race after their comprehensive 3-0 triumph over Bournemouth at Emirates Stadium.
Mikel Arteta's side moved four points clear at the league summit with this victory but Man City have two games in hand, the first of which comes at home to Wolves later on Saturday.
Bukayo Saka opened the scoring from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time, with Arsenal securing a deserved reward for their first-half dominance.
Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice made sure of three points with late finishes as defeat left Bournemouth – who had an Antoine Semenyo strike ruled out in the closing stages – 10th in the table.
A flowing Arsenal move almost ended in Trossard converting Ben White's 10th-minute cross, only for a last-gasp Marcos Senesi block to thwart the Belgium forward.
Bournemouth had Mark Travers to thank soon after as the goalkeeper denied fizzing efforts from Kai Havertz and Saka, as well as a one-on-one with William Saliba.
Travers' one-man resistance continued when pushing away Thomas Partey's low left-footed curling attempt before Rice fired narrowly wide following Havertz's delicate header.
Yet Arsenal finally got their breakthrough as Travers felled the marauding Havertz – with the VAR confirming the spot-kick decision – before Saka coolly swept into the bottom-left corner from 12 yards.
Saka should have doubled his tally after the interval but arrowed a glorious opportunity straight at Travers following a smart offload from Havertz, who went close minutes later.
The otherwise unneeded David Raya was forced into action at the other end to deny Dominic Solanke after 53 minutes, while Justin Kluivert whipped a free-kick just over.
That spell of Bournemouth pressure came to an abrupt end with 20 minutes to go when Rice twisted to play through for Trossard, who slotted a smart right-footed finish into the bottom-right corner.
The Cherries thought they had snatched a goal back just three minutes later but Semenyo's rebounded strike after Ryan Christie hit the crossbar was ruled out for a Solanke foul on Raya, with the VAR confirming the on-field decision.
Arsenal then suffered a similar fate with the officials as Gabriel Magalhaes' rocketed volley was disallowed for offside, but Rice was not to be denied in stoppage-time as he fired Gabriel Jesus' throughball under the helpless Travers.
Advantage Arsenal thanks to super Saka
Arsenal have won 14 of their 16 Premier League games so far in 2024, dropping points only against Man City (0-0) and Aston Villa (0-2) this year.
That incredible run of form ensures a tantalising title race will continue towards the final two games of the season, when Arsenal travel to Manchester United and then host Everton on the last day.
Their success this term can be somewhat apportioned to star winger Saka, who became the first player to score 20 goals for Arsenal in a season across all competitions since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2019-20 (29 goals).
Saka is also the first Englishman to do so for the club since Theo Walcott in 2012-13 (21 goals) as the England international continues to deliver in key moments for the Gunners.
Cherries blunted by dominant Gunners
Bournemouth had won 1-0 at Wolves and 3-0 against Brighton in their last two Premier League games before this – but they have never triumphed in three consecutive top-flight games without conceding.
A wait for three straight such victories will go on into next season, though Andoni Iraola will look back on this campaign with fond memories.
They have never won more matches in a top-flight season than their 13 in 2023-24 (also 13 in 2018-19) and – despite this underwhelming performance – will have another chance to set an outright club record when they host Brentford before visiting Chelsea on the final day, with a top-half finish still possible.
Slot focused on Feyenoord task as Liverpool speculation swirls
Arne Slot insists his focus remains on Feyenoord but acknowledged his confidence that an expected move to Liverpool will come to fruition.
Jurgen Klopp will depart the Reds at the end of this season, with widespread reports in the Dutch media suggesting Liverpool have already agreed a compensation deal to bring Slot to Anfield.
As speculation swirls over the Dutchman's future, Slot was keen to reiterate his commitment to Feyenoord, who are second in the league and face Zwolle in Sunday's Eredivisie fixture.
"For the 25th time, I really can't answer it," Slot said as questions continue to flow over the Liverpool links.
"There is nothing official yet and I am sitting here with a Feyenoord emblem on my chest, so the intention is for this press conference to be about Feyenoord, but I think you will try [and ask about Liverpool] anyway."
Slot led Feyenoord to their second Eredivisie title last season after taking over the club in 2021.
It is believed that he topped the list of Liverpool’s favoured candidates due to his attacking playing style and ability to develop players.
"I still have the confidence that things will turn out well, but I really can't give any further answers," Slot admitted, in his only concession over a move to the Premier League.
"If this continues, this will be an unpleasant press conference.
"I just think it's appropriate to give all the answers to these questions at the end of the season, because I'm still busy with Feyenoord here and Liverpool are also still busy with their season."
Feyenoord finished seven points ahead of second-placed PSV to secure only their second title since the turn of the millennium in the 2022-23 season.
In doing so, Slot became the third-youngest manager to guide Feyenoord to an Eredivisie title, after Giovanni van Bronckhorst (42) and Thijs Libregts (43).
Feyenoord won 42 points away from home during that season, the Dutch club’s highest such tally in their history, while they also scored in 31 consecutive Eredivisie games, their longest such streak since 1961 (37).
Therefore, Liverpool's interest comes as no surprise – but Slot was not keen for praise over the links to the Reds just yet.
"You can always congratulate me, but it is most appropriate to do so at the end of the season when it is really official," he added.
"We have made incredible progress. When I started here, we received 5.5 million euros for our striker and we were able to invest just about that amount.
"Now we are going into the Champions League for the second season in a row and the money is a lot more."
Slot also rubbished reports he visited England this week.
"I was in Italy with my daughter, otherwise I wouldn't have such a nice tan," he concluded.
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