Southampton suffered the earliest relegation in Premier League history as they were condemned to the drop with a 3-1 defeat at Tottenham.
The Saints have endured a miserable time in the top flight after gaining promotion through the Championship play-offs last season.
And they succumbed to the inevitable in north London, a brace from Brennan Johnson putting Spurs in command.
Mateus Fernandes pulled one back for Southampton in the 90th minute, but a 96th-minute penalty from Mathys Tel made sure of the points for Spurs.
It is a result to ease the mounting pressure on Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou following their midweek defeat to Chelsea.
Still, Tottenham’s season essentially rests on their fortunes in the Europa League. They face Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of their quarter-final tie on Thursday.
Southampton became the first team to be relegated with seven games to play and could yet break the record for the lowest Premier League points total, their latest defeat keeping them on 10 points. Derby County were relegated with a record low of 11 in the 2007-08 season.
7 – Southampton have become the first side in Premier League history to be relegated with as many as seven games left to play. Wimper. pic.twitter.com/ppwW3HFMtW
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 6, 2025
“We have to avoid that record. Do our best. It cannot happen,” manager Ivan Juric told Sky Sports after the game.
“We are thinking just about the games now. We will see now what everyone thinks, what I think. The fans deserve much more and we have to understand all of the mistakes we have made and then create something really strong.”
Postecoglou seeking complete performance
Though Spurs had little issue seeing off Southampton, Postecoglou still was not satisfied with their second-half showing, knowing it likely will take a more complete performance against Frankfurt, who are third in the Bundesliga.
“We performed well in the first half and we have got to make sure we do that for the full 90,” Postecoglou told BBC Sport.
Johnson’s goals were his first since February and Postecoglou added of the Wales international: “He was outstanding and he also earned the penalty. His general play was really good, not just his goals so really pleased for him.
“It was important we got a win today and everyone came through [unscathed] for Thursday.”
Brentford 0-0 Chelsea
Chelsea suffered a setback in the race for Champions League football as Enzo Maresca’s decision to make five changes from the side that beat Tottenham 1-0 three days ago failed to pay dividends.
Talisman Cole Palmer was among those left on the bench, perhaps with an eye on Thursday’s Europa Conference League quarter-final with Legia Warsaw.
It was Brentford who had the better opportunities in the first half.
Bryan Mbeumo fired just past the right post and Keane Lewis-Potter forced Robert Sanchez into an impressive save. At the other end Tosin Adarabioyo wasted a golden chance to give Chelsea the lead before the break.
Nicolas Jackson was brought on to start the second half and nearly made a rapid impact, with Mark Flekken showing great reflexes to prevent Sepp van den Berg from turning the Senegal forward’s cross into his own net.
Palmer entered the fray just before the hour mark and, though Flekken was the busier of the two goalkeepers thereafter, Van den Berg and Yoane Wissa each went close with headers for the hosts.
Chelsea’s star man had an opportunity to win it in the 94th minute, but his effort from the edge of the area flew over, stretching the Blues’ winless league run on the road to eight games.
Maresca’s men will be leapfrogged into fourth place by Manchester City should they win the Manchester derby, and Chelsea’s slip-up gives Newcastle United the chance to move level with them by beating relegation-threatened Leicester City on Monday.
