Leeds United were relegated from the Premier League after being thrashed 4-1 by Tottenham Hotspur at Elland Road in the season finale on Sunday as Harry Kane scored twice for the visitors.
Leeds had to win and hope other results went their way but they caved in against a sprightly Spurs side and head back to the Championship after three seasons in the top flight.
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“It’s professional suicide,” Leeds manager Sam Allardyce told BT Sport. “We made critical errors at the wrong period of time.”
Pedro Porro and Lucas Moura also scored for Tottenham, who finished eighth, narrowly missing out on a place in the UEFA Conference League. Jack Harrison got a consolation for Leeds.
“We were playing for pride today,” Kane told BT Sport. “We also had the chance to finish seventh but that wasn’t the case today. It is about showing the fans some fight and determination.
“It is not an easy place to come away from home. Leeds are fighting for their lives and we put in a great performance. They put a lot of balls into the box and we stood up to that well.”
Kane silenced the home fans in the second minute when Spurs worked the ball down the right and into the area with Son Heung-Min finding the England striker unmarked just outside the six-yard box and he made no mistake.
The second half had barely kicked off before Kane cleverly chipped the ball to himself over a defender to tee up Porro who was lurking unmarked at the corner of the box to lash home from a tight angle.
Harrison pulled one back to inject some life into the crowd in the 67th minute but Kane restored Tottenham’s two-goal cushion two minutes later to take his season’s tally in the league to 30.
Moura, playing his last game for Spurs, added the fourth deep into added time after carrying the ball nearly half the length of the pitch around several defenders.
“We were good value for it,” Spurs manager Ryan Mason said. “We scored some good goals and I’m really pleased.”
Leeds’ defeat ends a roller-coaster season under four different managers with just two victories on the road.
Allardyce was brought into the club in early May to right the ship but picked up just one point in four games.
It was a tough season for Spurs as well.
“We can’t let this win dust over that,” Kane said. “A lot to work on. We have had to show fight in some moments. A club this size should not be finishing eighth and we need to go away enjoy a break and look how we can improve.”