Tottenham dragged themselves over the line in the Premier League relegation battle as they beat Everton 1-0 thanks to Joao Palhinha's first-half goal.

West Ham's victory over Leeds United elsewhere on Sunday meant Spurs would have been relegated with a defeat, but a lacklustre Everton never looked likely to inflict such a result on Roberto De Zerbi's team.

Spurs started brightly, buoyed by their noisy home fans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Conor Gallagher and Kevin Danso slashing wide early on.

Yet their performance had grown rather subdued by the time the decisive moment arrived in the 43rd minute.

Mathys Tel swung in a corner, and Palhinha capitalised on slack marking to meet it. He could only direct a header against the post, but the midfielder reacted swiftly to nudge in on the rebound, with Thierno Barry unable to stop it from going over the line.

Jordan Pickford's error almost gifted Djed Spence a goal after the break, but Spurs soon fell back and surrendered territory to Everton, as news of West Ham taking the lead began to go around the crowd.

Everton, though, were woefully short in attack, and it was not until second-half stoppage time that they had a shot on target, with Tyrique George forcing Antonin Kinsky into action as Spurs' first home league win since December ensured their place in the top flight for next term.

Passion from the boss pic.twitter.com/hubjKJPNQI

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) May 24, 2026

Data Debrief: Spurs get the job done

Only Arsenal – who set the single-season record in 2025-26 with 19 – have netted more goals from corners in a Premier League campaign than Tottenham did this term (18), so it is fitting that their winner came from such a scenario.

While Spurs can at least celebrate survival, they know things must be much better next season. This was just their third home win of the season in the top tier, the joint-fewest home wins by a team to survive relegation in a Premier League campaign, along with Hull City in 2008-09.

Everton, on the other hand, will finish what seemed set to be a season of progress in exactly the same place as last year, with just one more point to show for their efforts.

They have not won any of their last seven games in the Premier League (D3 L4), with this equalling their joint-longest winless run under David Moyes in the competition.

There were just three shots on target throughout the match, with Spurs having two and Everton one. The Toffees registered 0.38 expected goals, while the hosts finished with 0.99 xG.