Hull City 1
Tottenham 7
HARRY KANE SCORED a hat-trick to wrap up the Premier League Golden Boot as Tottenham ended an impressive campaign with a 7-1 thrashing of relegated Hull City.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men were unable to keep pace with champions Chelsea, but end the season with 86 points, by far their best tally in the Premier League, beating their previous record by 14.
Kane had jumped past Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez in the top-scorer stakes with four goals against Leicester City on Thursday and fended them off with back-to-back trebles to finish the campaign on 29 league goals.
Spurs’ goals summed them up at their flowing best with Dele Alli, Victor Wanyama, Ben Davies and Toby Alderweireld all joining Kane on the scoresheet to subject City to their heaviest Premier League defeat.
A Spurs side that has begun to hunt records and trophies will have been put out by Sam Clucas’ goal, which denied Hugo Lloris a share of the Golden Glove award with Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois.
Watford 0
Manchester City 5
Manchester City emphatically made sure of their place in the group stages of the Champions League next season by thrashing Watford 5-0 at Vicarage Road.
Pep Guardiola’s side made the most of an abject showing from their hosts, with the home crowd making it clear that departing head coach Walter Mazzarri will not be missed.
City’s grip on third place ahead of Liverpool was rarely in doubt after captain Vincent Kompany headed a fifth-minute opener and Sergio Aguero’s first-half brace took him to 33 goals in all competitions this term.
The goalscoring emphasis then shifted from Argentina to Brazil, with Fernandinho and Gabriel Jesus – the latter making it seven goals in eight Premier League starts – completing the scoring.
It meant City answered their manager’s call to be more clinical in front of goal as he contemplates the first campaign of his coaching career without a major honour.
Leicester City 1
Bournemouth 1
Leicester City’s season as Premier League champions went out in nostalgic fashion as Jamie Vardy got the goal to seal a 1-1 draw against Bournemouth.
In a match that had all the hallmarks of a typical end-of-season affair amid bright skies at the King Power Stadium it was the visitors that went in front inside the first minute. Junior Stanislas was the beneficiary of some slack Leicester defending to slot home a third goal in as many games.
The home fans may have feared a repeat of the midweek 6-1 capitulation against Tottenham when Kasper Schmeichel had to brilliantly claw away Dan Gosling’s fierce strike.
But Vardy, whose 13 league goals pale in comparison the crucial 24 he netted last season, scored a scrappy second-half leveller to earn a draw.
Vardy saw another goal ruled out for offside and Islam Slimani missed a gilt-edged chance late on, but a 12th-place finish will be a huge relief to Leicester in a season that for long periods had threatened to end in relegation, although it represents the worst defence to a Premier League title.
For Bournemouth, Eddie Howe and his team can reflect on a job well done after ensuring a top-half finish in just their second season in the top flight, pipping West Brom for ninth.
Swansea City 2
West Brom 1
Fernando Llorente kick-started the Premier League survival party at the Liberty Stadium with a late winner for Swansea City in a 2-1 victory over West Brom.
The Spaniard, whose 15 goals have been central to the Welsh club’s successful fight against the drop, volleyed home an 86th-minute winner as Paul Clement’s men came from behind to snatch the victory.
A 2-0 win at Sunderland, along with Hull City’s defeat to Crystal Palace last weekend, had secured Swansea’s top-flight future with a game to spare. But Paul Clement’s side threatened to sign off their 2016-17 campaign with a defeat when Jonny Evans headed the opening goal of the game in the 33rd minute.
Swansea squandered numerous chances to level matters before Jordan Ayew’s first goal for the club restored parity, and Llorente completed the turnaround four minutes from time. The result prevents West Brom from achieving a club record-equalling eighth-place finish, while Swansea climb above Burnley and Watford into 15th.
Burnley 1
West Ham 2
Andre Ayew scored the winner as West Ham came from a goal down to beat Burnley 2-1 and end a disappointing Premier League season on a positive note.
Sofiane Feghouli’s fine goal cancelled out the opener from Sam Vokes for Slaven Bilic’s side, before Ayew nodded in the decider 18 minutes from time. Burnley, who had only lost five games at Turf Moor in the top flight all season before Sunday, end a largely strong season in 16th place, five points behind the Hammers.
Vokes turned in his 10th league goal of 2016/17 to reward a strong start from Sean Dyche’s men, but Feghouli’s well-taken equaliser four minutes later restored parity. Clear-cut chances were scarce in a match in which there was little but pride to play for, but Ayew benefited when the ball bounced off the crossbar from a Tom Heaton save and allowed him to nod in the winner.
The win was greeted warmly by the travelling supporters, but Bilic’s long-term future will likely remain uncertain as the planning for next term starts to begin in earnest.
Southampton 0
Stoke City 1
Peter Crouch became the first Premier League player to score 50 headed goals when he grabbed the winner in Stoke City’s 1-0 victory over Southampton and condemned his former club to a defeat that prompted boos around St Mary’s on the final day of the season, increasing the pressure on Claude Puel.
The 36-year-old striker rose to meet Geoff Cameron’s cross after an hour at St Mary’s and score the kind of goal that has typified his career, before Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland pulled off a string of fine saves to ensure the visitors ended the season with a win.
Despite having Charlie Austin in the starting line-up for the first time in 2017, Puel’s Southampton lacked a cutting edge in attack and the result leaves them with a record of just one victory from their last eight Premier League fixtures.
Though he has guided the club to the EFL Cup final and a place in the top half of the table, speculation suggests Puel will not be in charge at the start of 2017-18 following their collapse in form in recent months.
Stoke manager Mark Hughes had led the club to ninth place in his previous three seasons, but on a day when the Potters could have dropped to as low as 17th, he will be relieved to have emerged with a first win in five attempts. Hughes’ men end the campaign 13th, two points behind Southampton in eighth.
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