Dejan Kulusevski scored twice as Tottenham claimed fifth place in the Premier League with a 3-0 win over Sheffield United on Sunday.
The Swede clinically picked out the back of the net in both halves to put Spurs in control and seal a UEFA Europa League place for next season.
Pedro Porro's rifled effort was sandwiched between Kulusevski’s goals, while the Blades 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 Sheffield United go back down to the Championship having finished bottom of the table.
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 then 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 effort away before smothering James Maddison’s low strike on the stroke of half-time.
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 Sheffield United corner, but the referee overturned his original decision after a VAR review.
Down and out
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.
The Blades conceded 104 goals this season - already a league-high before the match - while they finished with a goal difference of -69. That’s the joint-worst goal difference in Premier League history alongside Derby County in 2007-08.
Leading from the front
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 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.
St. Louis City v LA Galaxy: Reus sets sights on silverware after dream start
Marco Reus is desperate to bring silverware to the LA Galaxy after making a flying start to his time in MLS, with St. Louis City the destination for his first road game on Sunday.
Reus registered a goal and an assist on debut last week as the Galaxy beat Atlanta United 2-0, maintaining their grip on top spot in the Western Conference.
The Galaxy are five points clear of local rivals Los Angeles FC at the top of the standings ahead of Sunday's trip to St. Louis, who are 13th and 10 points adrift of the playoff picture.
Reus' arrival in Los Angeles has caused plenty of fanfare, but he is focused solely on the team's collective aims.
"It's not about me, it's about the team," he said. "We want to be champions. So we take it game by game.
"Besides the traffic, it's really amazing. The people are so friendly. The weather, it's really nice. When you wake up in the morning and the sun is shining, you start the day differently.
"So I'm really, really happy every morning I come into the dressing room. I'm just happy and excited."
St. Louis played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with the Portland Timbers last week, twice throwing away a two-goal lead to leave interim coach John Hackworth bewildered.
"Really don't know what to say," Hackworth said. "It's hard to imagine coming to a place like this and scoring four goals, being up, and then just losing one-versus-one defensive battles.
"Sometimes, the number of goals you give up, or the number of goals you score, can hide a lot of the transition moments.
"An easy way to prevent some of these defensive miscues from happening is to just be better with the ball."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Eduard Lowen
Lowen scored his fourth goal of the MLS season last time out, converting from the penalty spot as St. Louis drew 4-4 with the Timbers.
Only Joao Klauss, with five goals, has outscored him for St. Louis this term.
LA Galaxy – Marco Reus
Reus is one of 20 players in MLS history to record a goal and an assist on his regular-season debut.
He is also the fifth Galaxy player to do so, after Steven Gerrard, Andreas Herzog, Giovani dos Santos and Sasha Victorine. No other team have had more than two players achieve the feat.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
The Galaxy have won 10 of their last 13 regular-season matches, the first time they have done so in a single season since 2011. LA have not recorded 11 wins in a span of 14 matches within a single regular season in the post-shootout era (since 2000).
It would be no surprise to see the points shared in this one, though. All three meetings between St. Louis and the Galaxy have ended level, all with different scorelines (1-1, 2-2, 3-3).
St. Louis have only won one of the last six matches in which they have held the lead in regular-season play dating back to the beginning of June (four draws, one defeat).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 35.8%
LA Galaxy – 38.1%
Draw – 26.1%
Raphinha hails Barcelona after statement win over Valladolid
Barcelona forward Raphinha believes the team have laid down a statement of their intent by starting the season with four straight wins in LaLiga.
Raphinha scored the first hat-trick of his career and also delivered two assists on Saturday, as Barca crushed Real Valladolid 7-0 at Camp Nou.
Hansi Flick's side already possess a four-point cushion at the top of the table after also recording victories over Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano.
Raphinha believes their results have demonstrated the club got things right in the transfer market, telling Movistar: "Today's game has shown that there is no need for anyone else to come. We are very happy because of that.
"We are in very good shape. The team is working hard. Today's result shows what we are working for.
"We saw that the coach was on the sidelines asking for more goals and that's our mentality.
"We are hungry and want to score as many goals as we can. When we are dominant like we have been, the best way to respect our rivals is not taking the foot off the gas."
Raphinha was one of the players who faced criticism during Barca's trophyless 2023-24 campaign and was rumoured to be on his way out ahead of the new season.
The Blaugrana again battled financial restrictions throughout the window, allowing Ilkay Gundogan to leave in order to secure the registration of new arrival Dani Olmo.
With his future now certain, Raphinha is keen to nail down a starting spot and contribute on a regular basis.
"I don't know if today's was my best game, but it's certainly among my best. I will try to play even better and as much as I can," the Brazilian said.
"I'm very happy to be able to help the team. I feel good. I knew that this season would be very important for me. I'm looking for my best version to help my team-mates and be more confident."
Lazio 2-2 Milan: Leao salvages draw but Rossoneri still winless
Rafael Leao came off the bench to earn Milan a 2-2 draw with Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, but Paulo Fonseca's side are still without a Serie A win this season.
Milan were in front at the break through Strahinja Pavlovic's eighth-minute goal, the Serbian rising highest to power home a header from Christian Pulisic's corner.
However, Lazio hit back in the second half with Valentin Castellanos and Boulaye Dia scoring in quick succession.
Nuno Tavares' first-time ball into the centre was met by the unmarked Castellanos to level in the 62nd minute, then Dia tapped another Tavares cutback home to put the Biancocelesti ahead four minutes later.
Fonseca reacted by sending on four substitutes, and those changes had a swift impact as three of them combined for the leveller.
Theo Hernandez – who joined Leao in being dropped from the start – picked out Tammy Abraham, and his lay-off allowed Leao to escape Tavares to fire past Ivan Provedel.
The game was preceded by an emotional tribute to the man who led Lazio to their last league title, Sven-Goran Eriksson, who died at the age of 76 on Monday.
A Lazio shirt bearing the Swede's name was displayed on the home bench, while a banner held up by the home fans read: "You brought us to the top of the world... Have a good trip Mr. Sven."
Data Debrief: Milan's slow start continues
New Milan boss Fonseca is already under pressure after overseeing a return of two points from his first three league games at the helm.
It is the first time the Rossoneri have drawn two of their opening three matches in a Serie A season since 2011-12, when they also drew two and lost one,
They went on to finish second that season, just four points adrift of champions Juventus. If a title challenge is to take place this term, rapid improvements are needed.
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