LONDON (REUTERS) - Tottenham Hotspur toasted their extraordinary feat of reaching the Champions League final for the first time by booking their place in next season's competition, clinching fourth spot in the Premier League with a 2-2 draw at home to Everton on Sunday.
Spurs were practically guaranteed a top-four spot as they led north London rivals Arsenal by three points and an eight-goal superior goal difference heading into the final game but the draw meant they missed out on finishing in the top-three, with Chelsea taking third place instead.
Eric Dier smashed home from close range in the third minute to put Spurs ahead in the third minute in a celebratory atmosphere following their against-the-odds win over Ajax Amsterdam, but former Arsenal forward Theo Walcott equalised in the 69th minute with a classy curling finish into the bottom corner.
Everton's travelling fans had been more preoccupied with events in the title race, hoping bitter rivals Liverpool would not win the league, and a cheer rang out from their end each time news filtered through of Manchester City goal against Brighton.
Everton went ahead three minutes later when Turkish forward Cenk Tosun bundled the ball over the line after a goalmouth scramble.
Their lead did not last long, though, as Spurs' Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen netted with a curling free kick in the 75th, ensuring his side ended the campaign on 71 points.
After the full-time whistle, Tottenham’s squad and their families went on a lap of honour of their new stadium.
Tottenham have now qualified for the Champions League for a fourth consecutive season under Mauricio Pochettino, who has made playing in Europe’s top competition something routine for the club since he took over in 2014, securing his first top-four finish in his second campaign.
“Unbelievable, I want to congratulate my players, they are superheroes,†Pochettino told reporters.
“When we started the season, no one believed, the objective was never to finish in the top four and it never was to play the final – but the ambition we showed during the whole season brought the club to a final and the top four.
“People need to realise what this group of payers is achieving. We have three weeks to prepare for the final, it’s going to be the most important game of our history and we need to be ready.â€
Meanwhile, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said Manchester United will “take some time†to close the gap to Manchester City and Liverpool after they finished their season with a dismal 2-0 defeat at home by already-relegated Cardiff.
United finished in sixth place in the Premier League, 32 points behind champions City, who accumulated 98 points, edging out Liverpool by a single point.
That gap between Solskjaer’s side and City is wider than the difference of 30 points between United and top-flight winners Leeds in 1973/74, a season when the Old Trafford club were relegated – albeit in an era when teams were awarded just two points for a win instead of the current three.
United finished five points behind fourth-placed Tottenham, meaning they miss out on qualifying for the lucrative Champions League, which will make it harder to attract top-class players to the club.
“Today was not the problem,†said United manager Solskjaer, who previously had a brief spell in charge of Cardiff, after away fans at Old Trafford on Sunday had chanted he would be “sacked in the morningâ€.
“You can have all the possession and chances you want but we concede easy goals and not score at the other. That is not where our challenge lies – we have a long and hard way to be where we want to be.â€
The Norwegian, who initially oversaw a dramatic upturn in form after he took over from Jose Mourinho in December, said: “It will take some time to close in on the top. We finished five or six points behind third, fourth, fifth and that has to be our aim.
“The top two teams have set a standard higher than before and we have to take up the next challenge.â€
The former United striker added: “The work starts now. Everyone has the summer off but we have to come back with a different mentality and different attitude of being a Man United team.
“The ones who played, did well but it was not good enough.â€
United last won the Premier League title in 2013, in Alex Ferguson’s last season in charge at Old Trafford.
Since then, they have finished seventh, fourth, fifth, sixth, second and now sixth again – a far cry from their repeated title triumphs under the outstanding Scottish manager.
They won 14 out of their first 17 games after Solskjaer replaced Mourinho, including a remarkable 3-1 triumph at Paris Saint-Germain to reach the Champions League quarter-finals but have lost eight out of 12 in all competitions since then.
Solskjaer said the past couple of months had been “extremely hard†for the club.
“More or less, the only positive from today is that the season is over,†he said following boos from home fans at full-time as United ended the campaign without a win in six matches in all competitions, and just two victories from 12 games.
“We meet again July 1 and we’ll work back to where we belong."
Unai Emery launched an impassioned defence of Shkodran Mustafi on the eve of Arsenal's Premier League trip to Wolves - but admits there is room for improvement for the beleaguered centre-back.
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