Leeds United and Leicester City have dropped out of the Premier League and will enter lions den of the Championship after a dramatic final day on the 2022/23 season.
Nottingham Forest did their business, last week away to Arsenal, and that left three teams battling for one remaining survival place and it was Everton who snatched it away from Leicester as Abdoulaye Doucoure hit the Toffees’ best and most valuable goal of the campaign. The pre match Premier League 2023 betting odds backed Everton to escape and it was a job well done by boss Sean Dyche who was drafted in to save the Toffees after Frank Lampard was sacked.
Leicester did all they could, beating West Ham 2-1 but the 2016 Premier League champions and 2021 FA Cup winners are relegated, alongside Leeds, who couldn’t be saved by Sam Allardyce and went down 4-1 to Tottenham on their final game of a gruelling season.
How the nail-biting drama unfolded…
2 mins: The Leeds Whites really needed a Super Sunday when they hosted Spurs. They already had a lot to do, but the day became even harder when Heung-Min Son put a ball on the plate for Harry Kane to fire home his 29th goal of the campaign.
28 mins: Leicester were taking their game to West Ham, with James Maddison and Harvey Barnes both recalled to the Foxes’ starting 11 and they were inches away from taking the initiative when Kelechi Iheanacho’s angled drive clipped the crossbar.
30 mins: Everton almost took the lead against Bournemouth when Idrissa Gueye was clean through, but he went for power and Mark Travers made a brilliant fingertip save.
33 mins: Leicester fans went crazy as the Foxes climbed out of the bottom three when Barnes played a slick one-two with Iheanacho before curling a sumptuous shot beyond Lukasz Fabianski and into the corner. Goodison Park fell silent and Travers made another superb save to tip over a rasping drive from James Garner.
47 mins: Leeds went 2-0 down when Harry Kane found Pedro Porro and he fired low past Joel and into the corner. The Whites needed a miracle and, as the Premier League 2023 updates from elsewhere came in, Everton should have scored but Demarai Gray headed weakly with the goal at his mercy.
56 mins: Goodison Park erupted as Abdoulaye Doucoure scored the goal which lifted the Toffees clear and it was an absolute screamer. The Mali man met a Cherries clearance with a pile driver which took a slight deflection and flew past Travers to make it 1-0. Then, down in Leicester, Said Benrahma almost drew West Ham level but his shot cannoned back off the post.
62 mins: Leicester were on the way down at this point but they were doing their bit as Wout Faes flicked home a cross from Youri Tielemens to make it 2-0. Everton now had to hang on to their narrow lead.
67 mins: Jack Harrison pulled one back for Leeds with a fine low drive into the bottom left corner but, Spurs went 3-1 up, just two minutes later as Kane scored his 30th goal of the campaign.
78 mins: as the Leicester fans listened anxiously, hoping to hear of a Cherries goal on Merseyside, their own lead was halved when Pablo Fornals burst through and fired home, in off the post, to make it 2-1.
90 mins: The board went up at Goodison Park with TEN minutes of added time, much of it added when Everton keeper Jordan Pickford stayed down for over five after a spat with Dominic Solanke.
94 mins: Pickford made a sharp save to deny Matias Vina who hit a sweet strike goal wards as the Cherries belatedly showed their teeth, and the full time whistle went at the King Power Stadium. Leeds conceded another goal to lose 4-1 and return to the Championship.
100 mins: Bedlam on Merseyside as the final whistle went and the scenes of jubilation exploded onto the pitch. But at the King Power Stadium and Elland Road the fans were subdued, with the thought of trips to Rotherham and Millwall to look forward to.
So another momentous Premier League campaign comes to a close and now the attention turns to the summer transfer window.
In the meantime, the action keeps on coming. So we’ll be busy here at SBOTOP to give you all the best Asian Handicap betting offers on Europa League, FA Cup and Champions League action in the next couple of weeks.
Football…we love it! But spare a thought for Leicester and Leeds…it’s going to be a tough night.
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