Tottenham seal Europa League berth after cruising past Sheffield United
With their immediate return to the Championship confirmed last month, United welcomed Spurs to South Yorkshire with nothing but pride to play for. Despite this, it was the Blades who got the first chance of the game, with Ben Brereton Díaz unable to keep his shot down.
Tottenham seemed off their game, as they struggled to get any real foothold in the match, often welcoming the hosts' advances towards Guglielmo Vicario’s goal.
But just as some away fans may have started to feel concerned, Spurs took the lead, as they caught the hosts on the counter, with Heung-Min Son poking the ball through to Dejan Kulusevski, who fired his effort past Wesley Foderingham into the bottom right of the goal.
Spurs seemed to wake up after taking the lead and started to pile the pressure on the hosts, nearly doubling their lead through Pedro Porro’s 25-yard effort which forced a stunning save from Foderingham.
The first half seemed to stall towards the interval, with neither side showing much energy to push for goal, but that changed after the break, as Spurs pushed hard to double their lead.
Eventually United’s defence cracked, with Brennan Johnson collecting the rebound after Foderingham’s block, with the attacker then composed enough to play the ball into the path of Porro, who fired the ball high into the goal to double his side's lead.
Kulusevski soon added his second and Spurs’ third as James Maddison played a perfect ball into the box, before the Swedish forward hit a first-time effort past the helpless Foderingham.
Ultimately, Spurs got the result they needed and claimed fifth place with a convincing victory. Meanwhile, Sheffield United head back to the Championship without much of a fight on another disappointing PL day for the side.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Dejan Kulusevski (Tottenham Hotspur)