All’s Well That Ends Well in North London

Next season, Premier League champions Arsenal will play their traditional derby games with Tottenham. The Gunners have won the title, and Spurs have survived to fight another day in the top flight, neither of which looked nailed on in recent weeks. All’s well that ends well in north London.

Going into the final day of the campaign, we already knew that Mikel Arteta’s men would be champions. Manchester City’s draw at Bournemouth on the 19th of May had meant that Gunners everywhere started the party in midweek. That result meant that Arsenal had a four-point lead at the top with just one game left to play.

Much as they celebrated on Tuesday (and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday), their early win also gave them the great gift of a stress-free final day of the season. All the stress, tension and unbearable anxiety would take place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Spurs Fight Goes to the Wire

Tottenham’s revival under Roberto De Zerbi took a little while to get going, but ultimately he did a superb job. It seemed he might even secure safety for Spurs with room to spare. However, a 2-1 defeat in their penultimate game, away at Chelsea, meant that despite West Ham’s poor form (prior to the final fixture they lost three in a row), Tottenham went into the last fixture of the season with the spectre of relegation hanging over them.

They had the upper hand, knowing that a win would see them safe no matter what, and a draw would be enough barring a somewhat improbable 12-goal swing in goal difference. And all of that even only mattered if West Ham were able to get a rare win. But even so, it was drama all Spurs fans would have gladly avoided.

West Ham Hold up Their End of the Bargain

The Hammers may have been feeling less pressure because they knew that in reality they needed a minor miracle. They knew that whatever they did, there was every chance it wouldn’t be enough, whereas Spurs had everything to lose. The Hammers hosted Leeds United, a side that had enjoyed an excellent campaign but now had little to play for.

If the home crowd thought they would have things easy, they were mistaken. In a dour first half, Leeds were the better side, at least until the final five minutes (plus stoppage time), when the Hammers managed four shots. In the second period, West Ham were better, and they ran away with the game in the end.

Taty Castellanos netted after 67 minutes before Jarrod Bowen burst clear to score a nice goal on the break 12 minutes later. In stoppage time, Callum Wilson hammered home to make it 3-0 and all eyes turned to Tottenham.

Spurs Squeak to Safety

The atmosphere at Spurs was good as the crowd did everything they could to cheer their side to safety. Tottenham started the game very well against an Everton side that were in freefall. On the 21st of March, the Toffees beat Chelsea 3-0 and backed that up with a good draw away at Brentford. European qualification looked very possible, and they even had an outside chance of making the Champions League places.

However, after that they took just two points from five games prior to facing Tottenham. That left them with only pride and league position to play for, and as in those five previous contests, they simply never got going in the capital. De Zerbi’s side had several early efforts on goal and while none were overly threatening, it was just the start they needed.

They looked dangerous from set-pieces and just when it seemed Everton might get to the break at 0-0, Tottenham scored from a corner. After 43 minutes, Joao Palhinha hit the post with a header but got to the rebound before anyone else and did just enough to score.

As the game wore on, neutrals and West Ham supporters joined Everton fans in growing frustrated with the away team’s lack of quality or urgency. It seemed like Tottenham would cruise to the win and the Hammers’ efforts would be in vain.

The home crowd were overly nervous when the Toffees had given them so little to worry about. Everton did not have a shot on target in the first half and it took them until the 99th minute to have one in the whole game. Even so, with the match at 1-0, everyone knew that if the visitors scored once, the tension would be unbearable.

Everton produced their best football in the last 10 minutes or so but couldn’t score. Despite a nervy 12 minutes of added time being played, Tottenham held on for a huge 1-0 win. It meant they ended the season on 41 points, two clear of the Hammers.

Spurs live to fight another day in the Premier League, while West Ham are relegated to the Championship after 14 years. They may feel unlucky to have been demoted with a points tally that in most years would be enough. But ultimately, this year it wasn’t, and they weren’t good enough. But all’s well that ends well in north London – although it is certainly more well in the red part of town.