The battle for survival at the bottom of the Premier League continued on Saturday afternoon with West Ham and Tottenham both fighting for points after Nottingham Forest’s huge win
17:06, 25 Apr 2026Updated 17:49, 25 Apr 2026
Tomas Soucek revels in the moment after scoring for West Ham against Everton(Image: Warren Little)
The games are running out for Tottenham. And the dramatic events of Saturday afternoon underlined why even an upturn in form might not be enough to save them as a late West Ham winner condemned them to another week in the relegation zone.
Spurs did their part: they beat already relegated Wolves 1-0 courtesy of an 82nd minute goal from Joao Palhinha. Minutes after his goal, Everton even equalised against West Ham to propel Spurs to safety, for a few minutes at least.
But Callum Wilson struck right at the death to clinch a 2-1 win for West Ham – leaving Tottenham two points adrift of safety with just four Premier League games remaining.
Both teams suffered a blow before a ball had even been kicked with Nottingham Forest beating Sunderland 5-0 on Friday night. That statement victory put Vitor Pereira’s men on 39 points, seven clear of Spurs and five of West Ham.
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If Nottingham Forest’s stunning result did light a fire under either team, then it failed to translate on the pitch initially. Both sides went in goalless, with Tottenham losing striker Dominic Solanke to injury in a first half where they failed to overly trouble Wolves.
Things got even worse for Spurs not long after play got back underway with West Ham taking the lead against Everton through Tomas Soucek.
The midfielder’s header from a corner, given after penalty appeals were waved away moments earlier, piled even more pressure on Tottenham in their bid to bring points back from Molineux.
Xavi Simons was then stretchered off with what looked like a serious injury as Tottenham’s afternoon took another devastating twist. But with time running out, Palhinha popped up to put Spurs on their way to what looked to be a priceless victory.
Tottenham beat Wolves but are still in the relegation zone(Image: Darren Staples/AFP)
Wilson, however, had other ideas: his intervention in added time wiped out Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s 88th minute goal to lift the roof from The London Stadium. A complete contrast to Molineux.
Speaking after the game, Palhinha told BBC Sport: “We have four finals [remaining]. We need to do our jobs. Hopefully this win can change things, give us a bit more motivation as well as it’s been a long time without victories.
“What we can control right now is doing our job until the end of the season and keeping the club where it belongs, which is the Premier League.
“We will give everything we have until the end of the season because it means a lot for us to keep [Tottenham] in the Premier League.
After weeks of damaging results, Tottenham can at least take solace from the fact that winning keeps them in touch of West Ham and, to a degree, Nottingham Forest, even it it was not enough to lift them out of the relegation zone.
Defeat would have been disastrous. Instead, Tottenham stay alive – for now.
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