The remaining UEFA Europa League qualification spot was up for grabs as West Ham hosted Everton, with both teams still in with a chance of qualifying for next season's competition through the Fair Play Award.
The visitors handed a rare start to young full-back Brendan Galloway, a 19-year-old who slotted in at left-back in place of Leighton Baines, who has been ruled out of action for the next few months after having ankle surgery. Both sides were tentative in the early going, and West Ham were pushed back into their own half in the early minutes of the game, but the Hammers were unlucky with two handball penalty-kick decisions both waved away by referee Kevin Friend as the ball was twice adjudged to deflect off Everton hands; first midfielder James McCarthy, then Seamus Coleman just a few minutes later.
It was an end-to-end affair with both sides going close on-goal, but neither side could break the deadlock before the half-time interval, with Tim Howard the more involved goalkeeper out of the two as he had to start alert to deny a long-range effort from Enner Valencia, a parry away to safety from Stewart Downing's stinging drive as well as a teasing ball driven towards the box by left-back Aaron Cresswell. James Collins had a hamstring complaint and was forced off the field of play after just fourteen minutes, being replaced by talented 18-year-old centre-back Reece Burke, whilst Everton's loanee forward Aaron Lennon caused all sorts of problems running at the hosts' backline down the flank, giving Romelu Lukaku an attacking outlet to feed off.
The big Belgian powerhouse came close to opening the scoring, but saw a powerful strike flash over Adrían's crossbar, which was met by ironic jeers from the home supporters who were rather worried of the former Chelsea youngster's physical presence as well as his goal-scoring prowess of late. A few feisty challenges before the break meant Everton were behind in the Fair Play league table with two bookings to West Ham's one (Coleman, Gareth Barry for Everton, Winston Reid for WHU)
Sam Allardyce's men upped the intensity at the start of the second-half, and eventually got what they deserved after a period of sustained pressure. John Stones made a superb sliding tackle to deny Valencia inside the box, before Galloway was caught ball-watching as Alex Song, returning from an injury, cooly slotted a through ball into the area for Stewart Downing, who weaved past his marker before curling a neat strike beyond Tim Howard into the bottom corner of the net.
The former Liverpool and Aston Villa man ran over to celebrate with the jubilant home supporters, on their last home fixture of the season - after securing his 50th career goal, and his highest tally for a campaign in total. The hosts almost made it two-nil on the counter attack, but much to the frustration of their fans, the tempo of their move slowed down as the ball fell to Mark Noble, 25 yards out, and he was unable to find a defence-splitting pass quickly enough with the Everton players rushing back to support their defenders and ultimately kill the momentum of the counter itself.
Roberto Martinez's men found themselves back in the game a few minutes later, through a moment of sheer brilliance from experienced midfielder Leon Osman, to equalise in some style. Lukaku got past Cresswell on the flank, driving a ball towards the box for his team-mate, who took a touch to control the ball before letting loose with an acrobatic strike which arrowed past a helpless Adrían into the bottom corner of the net.
It was now one-one, and the game was nicely poised with twenty minutes to play. Both sides made one alteration; Carlton Cole was replaced by Nené for the Hammers whilst Ross Barkley was brought off in place of Kevin Mirallas as neither side was happy to settle for a point. James McCarthy was the third Evertonian into the referee's book for a cynical chop on Nené in midfield, which was met by ironic cheers around the ground, with West Ham leading in the Fair Play league due to less bookings in total.
Lennon was brought off in place of Aiden McGeady in a like-for-like change with thirteen minutes to play, to a chorus of boos from the hosts as a Tottenham player (on-loan) in north London, but a standing ovation from the visiting supporters who were obviously grateful for his contributions in the game, as he was constantly their livewire on the flank and was a handful to deal with.
The rest of the match was tense and filled with drama, as both sides were desperate for a late winner. The fourth official signalled for three minutes of stoppage time, and with just seconds remaining, Lukaku popped up in the six-yard box and made the hosts pay for some rather lacklustre marking to seal all three points for the travelling Toffees with a power header beyond Adrían. As the full-time whistle blew, both sets of players got involved in heated arguments as a penalty dispute at the other end of the field was not given by the referee, but with the dust settling and the result confirmed, Martinez's men come from behind to beat the Hammers ahead of the final day next weekend.
Player Ratings:
| West Ham (1) | Everton (2) | ||
 |  |  |  |
| Adrían | 6.5 | Howard | 6 |
| Reid | 6.5 | Coleman | 6.5 |
| Cresswell | 6 | Jagielka | 7 |
| Jenkinson | 7 | Stones | 8 |
| Collins (injury) | N/A | Galloway | 6.5 |
| Kouyaté | 6.5 | McCarthy | 7 |
| Noble | 7 | Barry | 7 |
| Song | 7 | Osman | 7.5 |
| Downing | 7.5 | Lennon | 7.5 |
| Cole | 6 | Barkley | 6.5 |
| Valencia | 6 | Lukaku | 8.5 |
| Substitutes: | |||
| Burke | 6.5 | Mirallas | - |
| Nené | 5.5 | McGeady | 7.5 |