The hope flickered again briefly on Saturday afternoon, but in the end it is clear: After Sheffield United, the other two promoted teams Burnley (1-2 at Tottenham) and Luton Town (1-3 at West Ham United) must also leave the Premier League after just one year
Burnley knew what the hour had come on Saturday afternoon: only a win at Spurs would avert the early relegation of the pre-season second division champions, at least for the time being. And indeed, Vincent Kompany’s team seemed to be grasping at straws when former Bundesliga professional Bruun Larsen (BVB, Hoffenheim) fired the visitors into the lead in London (25′). Just seven minutes later, however, Burnley’s hopes were dashed again: Pedro Porro marched down the right, was not tackled at all and thumped the ball into the top right corner of the goal to make it 1-1 (32′).
In the second half, Spurs, who had recently suffered four defeats in a row, steadily increased the pressure. Former Wolfsburg player Van de Ven scored the acclaimed winner in the closing stages, suddenly appearing at the front of the opposition penalty area and finishing skillfully with a left-footed finish (83′). While Tottenham’s victory keeps their vague Champions League hopes alive (they are four points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa with two games to go), Burnley have already been relegated ahead of the final matchday.
The same is more or less true for Luton Town. Like Burnley, Luton were initially given hope at West Ham United: Lokonga headed in for an early lead (6th). However, the Hammers clearly did not want to lose the last home game of their outgoing coach David Moyes: Ward-Prowse (54) and Soucek (65) turned the tables within a few minutes. Substitute Earthy (19) capped the scoring with his first Premier League goal (76).
As a result, Luton now have at best a theoretical chance of staying up. Although they are only three points behind 17th-placed Nottingham Forest, Luton’s goal difference is 12 worse. Although Forest did not score against Chelsea FC this evening, it would take a minor miracle to catch Nottingham
For the first time more than 100 goals conceded in a season
However, Sheffield United, who had long since been relegated, set a new negative record with a 1-0 defeat at Everton FC, which made United the first team in Premier League history to concede more than 100 goals in a season (101). In 1993/94, Swindon Town had conceded 100 goals – albeit in a 42-match season.
