West Ham go down as Salah and Guardiola make emotional Premier League exits

West Ham United were relegated and Tottenham Hotspur survived on an emotional final day of the Premier League season when Pep Guardiola and Mohamed Salah made their exits after record-breaking spells in English football.

West Ham beat Leeds 3-0 on Sunday but that was not enough to climb out of the relegation zone because fourth-to-last Tottenham also won, 1-0 at home to Everton, to stay two points clear of their London rivals.

Spurs kicked off against Everton needing, realistically, only a draw to avoid relegation for the first time since 1977 – as they sat two points clear of the Hammers with a significantly better goal difference.

Joao Palhinha released the mounting pressure at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium just before half-time, poking home after his header thundered back off a post.

That meant West Ham’s 14-year stay in the Premier League was over and Tottenham will be in the top division for a 49th straight season.

Guardiola’s decade-long tenure at Manchester City – which has included six Premier League titles – ended with a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa that featured a mid-match guard of honour for first Bernardo Silva and then John Stones, two of Guardiola’s stalwarts.

Guardiola hugged both, and wiped away tears with his T-shirt

In Liverpool, Salah was given a standing ovation – before he kissed the Anfield turf – during his second-half substitution in his 442nd and last game for the Reds, in which he grabbed an assist in a 1-1 draw with Brentford.

The Egyptian winger finished his nine years with the Reds with 257 goals.

The point sealed Champions league football for Liverpool next season.

Meanwhile, Arsenal has already clinched the title and closed their first championship-winning campaign since 2004 with a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace.

Sunderland became only the fifth side ⁠in ⁠Premier League history to qualify for Europe in their first season following promotion ⁠after beating Chelsea 2-1 on Sunday.

Sunderland will join Bournemouth, who drew 1-1 at Nottingham Forest, in the Europa League next season with Chelsea missing out on Europe entirely after finishing in 10th place – just 10 months after winning the Club World Cup.

The Conference League spot went to Brighton ⁠in eighth despite a 3-0 ⁠home defeat by Manchester United.

United, whose talisman Bruno Fernandes scored a goal and supplied a record-breaking 21st assist of ⁠the season, had Champions League qualification wrapped up as did ⁠champions Arsenal, Manchester City and ⁠Aston Villa.

Crystal Palace can also qualify for next season’s Europa League if they beat ‌Rayo ‌Vallecano in the Conference League final in Leipzig on Wednesday.