West Ham United stuck to their end of the bargain on the final day of the Premier League season by getting the better of Leeds United 1-0 at the London Stadium.

To stay up at the death, though, the Hammers needed Everton to overcome Tottenham Hotspur in the capital as well, and unfortunately for those packed into West Ham's home stadium, they were left disappointed by their ex-boss David Moyes.

Indeed, Everton put in a passive and lifeless display on their travels to play Roberto De Zerbi's hosts, with a scrambled home goal from Joao Palhinha proving to be the decisive match-winner for the relegation-threatened side.

The Merseyside giants offered very little throughout, with Moyes surely left with a lot to contemplate regarding who should be starting next season for his team, after they completely failed to spark into life across a dire 90 minutes against an opponent near the foot of the table.

Everton's biggest underperformers vs Spurs

Losing to such a scrappy effort sums up Everton's late-season drop-off in form, with the Toffees ending the campaign with only two wins collected across their last ten Premier League games.

James Tarkowski wasn't quite his commanding best at the back for the visitors on Sunday afternoon, with the former Burnley centre-back only winning five of his nine duels, alongside failing to win a single tackle for his team's cause.

But, it's in the forward areas where Everton fans will be grumbling long after the full-time whistle, with Iliman Ndiaye drawing blanks across his last eight Premier League games of the season, as he fired just one blocked shot at the Spurs' goal across his unmemorable 102-minute runout.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has also experienced a wobble in form, with only 16 accurate passes amassed against De Zerbi and Co, an uncharacteristic poor showing from the former Chelsea man with the ball at his feet, considering he has accumulated ten big chances across the season.

The hope from Moyes will be that these players mentioned just need a rest and will be back to firing on all cylinders when the 2026/27 season gets underway.

But, with one misfiring forward, the powers that be at Everton must seek out an upgrade.

Everton must upgrade on nine-pass star

It was hardly a high-octane classic in North London, but Spurs just about managed to get the job done, courtesy of Palhinha's winner late into the first half.

They were helped by Everton offering virtually nothing throughout, though, with just 0.33 xG accumulated across 102 minutes of football.

£27m man Thierno Barry was guilty of fading in and out of the contest far too much, resulting in the hit-and-miss striker only managing 22 forgettable touches of the ball.

Even Jordan Pickford would manage more touches of the ball, as the England international ended the game with 51 touches, despite only having to deal with two on-target shots.

He has shown flashes of his brilliance this season, with eight Premier League goals, a respectable tally from only 21 league starts, which included a quickfire brace against Manchester City.

Yet, when push came to shove against Spurs, who have a defence that can be easily exploited at home, he was nowhere to be found as a clinical marksman, with only one meagre effort registered at the home side's goal.

Notching up just nine accurate passes from his 84 minutes on the turf, too, it wasn't a surprise that Beto came on for the latter stages of the uneventful affair, to try and give the Toffees a brighter spark in the forward areas.

The ex-Udinese striker's late introduction into the clash didn't result in the Merseyside visitors nicking a late goal, however, to make the game more cagey, with Moyes surely desperate to win a fresh centre-forward in the transfer market, to take his meek team to that next level next season.

Linked with the likes of Alexander Sorloth and Liam Delap already, it is set to be a busy summer in the transfer market for Everton, who had to settle for a weak 13th final position in the Premier League rankings, after losing rather sluggishly to Spurs on the final day of the season.