Tottenham Hotspur leapfrogged Liverpool into fifth place with a narrow win over Everton on the final day of the Premier League season.

Harry Kane nodded in his 31st goal of the season in all competitions from an Eric Dier cross in the first half to give Spurs the three points as the visitors dominated the first-half.

And, despite an improvement from Everton after half-time and the introduction of Muhamed Bešić, the visitors managed to hold on as Everton dropped into the bottom half of the table.

Both managers made just a single change from their previous games, with Kevin Mirallas in for Aaron Lennon for the hosts and Danny Rose replaced by Moussa Dembélé in the Spurs side.

This meant just a second league appearance for Everton's teenage full-back Brendan Galloway, with the omission of Luke Garbutt from the matchday squad raising some questions about his future at the club.

Érik Lamela had the first half-chance of the game after being set up by Ryan Mason, but the flamboyant Argentine sent the ball sailing over the crossbar from outside the penalty area. Moments later, Christian Eriksen was marginally beaten to the ball by Tim Howard as he looked to break through on goal from a one-two with Nacer Chadli.

Leon Osman saw a weak cross easily claimed by Hugo Lloris in a rare foray forward for the Toffees in the opening section of the game, as the hosts struggled to navigate their way out of their own half of the pitch. Federico Fazio scuffed a header from a corner at the other end after Kane saw a shot deflected behind by the flailing leg of John Stones.

Though Spurs were largely restricted to trying their luck from range, they could and perhaps should have taken the lead with a quarter of an hour played. Eriksen robbed Galloway on the halfway line and played Lamela through on goal, but Tim Howard managed to put a leg in the way of his goalbound shot to remove the danger.

At the other end, Lloris repeated the trick as Mirallas was put through, but the Belgian's finish was tame and the save was a simple one. A goal would have been against the run of play, but again the chance was a good one and should probably have been taken.

However, with just over twenty minutes played, the breakthrough was made. Eric Dier delivered a deep, teasing cross from the right which was glanced home by a largely unchallenged Kane, who drew level with Spurs old boys Teddy Sheringham, Jürgen Klinsmann and Gareth Bale on 21 league goals for the season.

As the first half went on, the discontent amongst the home fans continued to grow as audible groans met every misplaced pass. Both Galloway and Ross Barkley were guilty of giving the ball away in dangerous positions and Romelu Lukaku was cutting an increasingly lonely figure up front, left feeding off hopeful and frequently wayward long balls up the pitch.

Mirallas lobbed the hosts' best chance of the first 45 onto the roof of the net in the dying moments of the half before Lamela's jinking run was halted at the edge of the area by Stones as he geared up to shoot. The teams went in at half-time at 0-1, with Kane ending a four-game mini goal drought to separate the two sides.

Bešić was introduced for the disappointing Barkley at half time, and the Bosnian international almost made an instant impact as he drilled a low shot just wide of the left post from range. Moments later, Lukaku was involved in two chances as first Osman missed the target from the edge of the area, then Galloway saw the ball swiped from his feet by the diving Lloris.

Everton had improved markedly in the opening minutes of the second half, with Mirallas proving a dynamic thorn in the side of the Spurs defence. Mauricio Pochettino introduced Benjamin Stambouli in an attempt to regain control of the midfield which had been lost, but long balls towards Lukaku were still being swatted away with ease by Federico Fazio and Jan Vertonghen.

Fazio and Eriksen missed half-chances during a succession of corner kicks, and the impressive Bešić put another long-ranger slightly off target. Spurs grew back into the game after a spell of Everton dominance in the first half an hour of the second period, with Kane flagged offside as he planted a header wide.

In truth, the game fizzled out after a short spell of Everton pressure as both sides seemed passive to accepting their fates. The result left Spurs in fifth and Everton dropping down to 11th - their lowest league finish since 2006.

Everton (0) Tottenham Hotspur (1)
Howard 6 Lloris 6
Coleman 5 Dier 7
Stones 7 Fazio 7
Jagielka 6 Vertonghen 7
Galloway 6 Lamela 7
McCarthy 6 Bentaleb 6
Barry 5 Mason 6
Mirallas 7 Dembélé 6
Barkley 4 Chadli 6
Osman 6 Eriksen 7
Lukaku 5 Kane 7
Substitutes:
Bešić 7 Stambouli 5
Naismith 5 Townsend -
Distin - Soldado -