Kyle Walker-Peters finished a solid shift against Everton on the last day of the Premier League season and declared: “We got what we wanted.”
Taking on the Toffees at the new stadium off the back of Wednesday’s historic qualification for next month’s Champions League Final, we knew a point on Sunday afternoon would be enough to put a top-four finish – and qualification for next season’s Champions League – beyond all doubt.
Eric Dier set us on the way early with a close-range strike following a corner and for a large chunk of the game it looked like we might be set to claim all three points, only for Everton to hit us with a quick one-two through Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun to turn the contest around.
Thankfully, Christian Eriksen was on hand to ping home a free-kick shortly afterwards, securing a share of the spoils at 2-2 and getting us mathematically over the line after a long and gruelling domestic campaign.
“We wanted to finish in the top four,” said right-back Kyle after his 10th appearance of the season. “It’s been a tough year for us, we’ve had a lot of injuries but we’ve shown our resilience and shown that everyone can step in when needed.
“It felt great to play again today but the training prepares you to come in at any point, so credit to the manager and the staff for keeping us all ready.
“Ultimately, at the end, we’ve got what we wanted. That was to finish in the top four and we’re in the Champions League Final as well, which is even better. It’s surreal really.”
Reflecting on the match against Marco Silva’s men, Kyle continued: “We started really well, got an early goal which is always important and gives you confidence but in the second half we got a bit sloppy, they came out fast to be fair to them but, again, we didn’t give up and we managed to get a goal back. Overall it’s positive and we finish in the top four which, as I said, is what we all wanted.”