🔬 The Debrief as Saints avoid PL curse and Villa maintain European bid | OneFootball

The final Saturday of the Premier League season saw five clashes.

Here's what we made of it all.

What happened? 📝

📸 Shaun Botterill - 2025 Getty Images

A rare day of afternoon-only kick offs saw Brighton inflict a 2-0 defeat on Wolves while Everton did similar to Fulham by returning to winning ways with a 3-1 reversal.

Brentford continued Ipswich's miserable end to their time in the top flight with a 1-0 win while Southampton managed to frustrate Manchester City with a goalless draw.

In the late game, Ollie Watkins became Aston Villa's record Premier League goal scorer after notching the only successful effort in a 1-0 victory at Bournemouth.

Player of the day 🔥

📸 ADRIAN DENNIS - AFP or licensors

Watkins' record-setting goal may have tipped the balance on the South Coast but Aston Villa were equally indebted to Emiliano Martínez against Bournemouth.

The Argentine is widely regarded as one of the finest goalkeepers in world football and proved it at the Vitality Stadium with a string of impressive second-half saves.

A late red card for Morgan Rogers left the Villans facing a potential onslaught in the final ten minutes but Martínez was at close to peak form to thwart the Cherries.

It's in no small part that Unai Emery's men are still in Champions League contention.

Stat of the Day 📊

What this means 🤔

📸 GLYN KIRK - AFP or licensors

Southampton's hard-fought point means they have officially avoided the threat of being the joint-worst team in Premier League history after overtaking Derby's pitiful 11 points in 2007/08.

City risk being overtaken by Newcastle after their margin for error sits at just two points in the battle for top-five qualification.

Villa, meanwhile, have been propelled back into the European reckoning after the win at the Vitality saw them leapfrog Nottingham Forest, who play on Sunday.

What they said 🗣️

📸 Julian Finney - 2025 Getty Images

Kevin Schade reveals the secret to Brentford's success against Ipswich "Perfect cross, perfect finish. The gaffer said it could be that we win in set pieces and we did. Every corner was a foul or not but we just stayed focused and tried to score."

Everton boss David Moyes was in mischievous mood when asked about the referee denying a Fulham penalty by BBC Sport: "I clapped him. I would have had a Mexican wave. Isn't it great we have someone who is willing to go to the screen and stick with his decision? We want referees to go by their own decision, and from what I've seen the correct decision."

His opposite number, and former Toffees manager, Marco Silva took a different view on things: "We were the best team on the pitch, the first 30, 35 minutes was the level we want. Last 10 minutes we started to lose some of the main things we had to be in control of the game. It is the story of the last three or four games."

Danny Welbeck is delighted at hitting double figures for the first time in a league season, telling PLP: "It is a good milestone to have and I feel like it could have been more. I'm looking forward to improving. We have two more games left and hopefully I'll get some more [goals]."

Fresh from avoiding PL infamy, Southampton's Aaron Ramsdale still refused to sugarcoat things: "We’re not happy about how the season has gone but we’re happy we’ve avoided that record. We’re under no illusions that it’s not a great points tally. The fans are happy in the sun smiling. Everyone knows it's been a difficult season for us".

What's next? 👀

📸 Justin Setterfield - 2025 Getty Images

Another five top-flight encounters with implications in the race for Europe as Newcastle and Chelsea face off before Europa League finalists Manchester United and Tottenham do battle with West Ham and Crystal Palace respectively.

Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest host an already relegated Leicester while Arsenal visit Liverpool in a meeting between this season's top two sides.

📸 BEN STANSALL - AFP or licensors