A late double from loanee Gareth Bale ensured Spurs would be playing European football next season as Leicester surrendered their lead and Champions League football to Chelsea who lost at Aston Villa.
Great to finish off the season with a couple of goals and a win! Thank you for your support throughout the season, itโs always a special feeling to wear this shirt ๐ค #COYS pic.twitter.com/w4P0ouqZlB
— Gareth Bale (@GarethBale11) May 23, 2021
A win would have been enough for Leicester, and they got off to the perfect start as Ryan Mason’s men were left to rue another defensive error.
Belgian centre-back Toby Alderweireld dangled out a leg, catching Jamie Vardy who converted cooly, sending Hugo Lloris the wrong way to open the scoring.
Marc Albrighton almost made it two after shooting from distance and forcing a good save from the Tottenham and France captain.
Midfielder Dele Alli not long after picked out Heung-min Son with one of the passes of the season, but the Korean with his back to goal attempted to set-up Harry Kane only to see his soft and scuffed pass cleared by Caglar Soyuncu.
Spurs got their equaliser as Son overhit his corner, reaching Matt Doherty at the back-post as Wilfried Ndidi heads the Irishman’s shot into the air with it landing at Son’s feet to pick out Harry Kane with a deflected cross, who volleyed-home emphatically through a crowd of bodies.
The goal that secured the Golden Boot outright โฝ
โจ @HKane โจ#THFC โช๏ธ #COYS pic.twitter.com/v08IpHSXCN
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) May 23, 2021
The goal could be his last in a Spurs shirt, but it also means he finishes the season not only as the top assister, but also the top goalscorer in the Premier League with 23 goals.
Seven minutes after the second-half, Davinson Sanchez got on the wrong side of Vardy who was chasing a through-ball and a tangle of arms caused the English striker to hit the deck and win a penalty, which again he converted with ease.
Not long after, Kane had the chance to equalise when Son picked up a loose ball from Nampalys Mendy before he set-up the England captain who turned his marker inside out before firing way over.
Spurs levelled the game a second time when a goalmouth scramble caused Kasper Schmeichel to deflect Heung-min Son’s corner into his own net after opting to punch the ball away but mis-hitting it.
And while Leicester were pressing for a winner, the visitors continued to look dangerous on the counter-attack, and after bringing on Bale, Champions League was soon out of reach for the Foxes.
Gareth Bale finished his season wonderfully โจpic.twitter.com/KFSTDi3zXL
— GOAL (@goal) May 24, 2021
The Welshman drove at the Leicester defence before threading through Son who back-heeled the ball into the path of Kane, and as the England captain skipped past Soyuncu, the ball struck his hand so instead of sticking it in the back of the net, he turned and laid the ball off for Bale to smash home, meaning VAR could not rule the ball out for handball.
As Brendan Rodgers’ side searched for an equaliser, they were once again caught out as Soyuncu’s clearance rebounded off Youri Tielemans right into the path of Bale who dribbled his way into the box almost unchallenged before playing a one-two with the post around Schmeichel and then tapping in to seal the victory.
๐ Premier League goals this season:
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ Gareth Bale: 11
๐ธ๐ณ Sadio Mane: 11
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Marcus Rashford 11
๐ฌ๐ฆ Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 10
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Raheem Sterling: 10
๐บ๐พ Edison Cavani: 10๐ Re-Sign The Welshman!#THFC #COYS #LEITOTpic.twitter.com/rr1EXmZ5xm
— Last Word On Spurs (@LastWordOnSpurs) May 23, 2021
The win means Spurs not only finish above Arsenal again, but will also book themselves a spot in the first ever Europa Conference League for next season.