EVERTON have retained their Premier League status on a dramatic final day of the season.
But it is heartbreak for Leicester and Leeds who were relegated to the Championship.
Sean Dyche’s side knew three points at home to Bournemouth would guarantee their survival regardless of results at the King Power or Elland Road.
And the Toffees secured a 1-0 win thanks to an Abdoulaye Doucoure belter just before the hour mark.
So that meant Leicester, who did all they could by beating West Ham 2-1, and Leeds, who lost 4-1 to Tottenham, were down.
Sam Allardyce named a defensive XI for Leeds’ must-win clash with Tottenham – but allowed Spurs to walk through and Harry Kane opened the scoring after just two minutes to plunge the hosts into deeper trouble.
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However, the live table did not change until the 33rd minute when Harvey Barnes fired Leicester in front.
A neat one-two with Kelechi Iheanacho played the winger in behind and he opened his body up to tuck brilliantly past Lukasz Fabianski.
That sent the King Power into ecstasy – and Goodison Park into a nervous wreck as the dreaded news filtered through – with the Foxes jumping up into that all-important 17th place on goal difference.
Leeds started the second half in the exact same fashion as the first, conceding inside two minutes to all but seal their fate.
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With United seemingly out of the picture, that turned the attention on Leicester and Everton – locked on 34 points.
But on 57 minutes, the tide turned thanks to Doucoure’s stunning strike for the Toffees, blasting an emphatic hit into the back of the net to explode Goodison into life – and lift them back out of the drop zone.
Wout Faes headed in for his first Leicester goal moments later to put the Foxes in full command against the Hammers – and the home fans hoping for a Bournemouth equaliser.
Leeds pulled one back through Jack Harrison but all that did was improve the goal difference – and it was cancelled out by Kane seconds later as Jordan Pickford wrestled with Dominic Solanke in the Toffees’ goal mouth.
Pablo Fornals pulled one back for West Ham in the East Midlands, ramping up the pressure on Leicester to hold on for victory.
But Dean Smith was still reliant on a favour from the Cherries on Merseyside, with a win for Leicester academic if Everton could hold on.
A whopping ten minutes of injury time were added on at a nervous Goodison.
And there was a huge sigh of relief when Pickford made a flying save to punch Matias Vina’s volley to safety as the full-time whistle went at a dejected Leicester while Lucas Moura added Tottenham’s fourth against Leeds.
But the roar was a lot louder and jubilant when the welcome sound of Stuart Attwell’s whistle secured Everton’s survival, prompting a pitch invasion by celebrating fans and condemning 2016 champions Leicester back to the Championship after nine years in the Prem.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
