The final day of the Premier League season brought joy for Liverpool and Chelsea and agony for Leicester.
On a day when most of the major issues had long been resolved, the Foxes missed out on Champions League football for the second successive season.
Elsewhere, Sergio Aguero said his goodbyes to Manchester City with a trademark double, while Newcastle loanee Joe Willock set another goalscoring record.
When Harry beat Salah
Harry Kane is in for an interesting summer. Kane went into what many believe could be his last game for Tottenham locked together with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah on 22 goals in the race for the Golden Boot. The England captain nudged his way ahead with a 41st-minute strike in his side’s 4-2 win at Leicester and Salah could not match him as the Reds beat Crystal Palace 2-0 with Sadio Mane scoring both.
Leicester outfoxed
Brendan Rodgers’ men are really going to have to get the job done earlier if they are going to rub shoulders with European football’s elite again. For the second successive season, they missed out on a Champions League place at the end. Starting the day in fifth place, the FA Cup winners knew realistically they needed to win to claim a top-four spot – and their home defeat by Spurs meant it is Liverpool and Chelsea, beaten 2-1 at Aston Villa, who will join the Manchester rivals on the big stage next season.
Come and get me
Sergio Aguero still has goals in his boots. The 32-year-old Argentina international made the final appearance of his 10-year spell at Manchester City as a 65th-minute substitute in the champions’ 5-0 home demolition of Everton. He is yet to reveal what the future holds for him, but having found the back of the net within six minutes of his introduction and then again five minutes later, he alerted potential suitors to his enduring potency.
Joe in seventh heaven
Newcastle’s Joe Willock celebrates his seventh goal in as many Premier League games (Matthew Childs/PA)
Newcastle are going to have to fight to prise Joe Willock from Arsenal’s grasp this summer. The 21-year-old midfielder, who became the youngest player to score in six consecutive Premier League matches in midweek, became the youngest to do so in seven with the opener in his side’s 2-0 win at Fulham. Head coach Steve Bruce had already signalled his intention to test Mikel Arteta’s resolve to hang on to the youngster, but his stock appears to be rising by the game.
The Moyes, the merrier
David Moyes will look back upon the 2020-21 season as the one during which he re-established his reputation as a manager. Having endured a difficult few years since leaving Everton for Manchester United, he arrived at West Ham via Real Sociedad and Sunderland to little fanfare, but ended the season having guided the Hammers to a club record Premier League points total of 65, just two behind the Champions League places in sixth after a 3-0 home win over Southampton.
Press Association