John Eustace hailed an “all-round perfect performance” after Blackburn eased their Championship relegation worries with a 5-1 hammering of Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
The Rovers manager was also full of praise for his “unplayable” front four of Sam Gallagher, Sammie Szmodics, Tyrhys Dolan and Ryan Hedges.
Szmodics’ double – his 22nd and 23rd goals of the season – set Blackburn on their way in the first half, with Dolan and Hedges then putting the game out of sight of the hosts within 10 minutes of the restart. Substitute Andrew Moran wrapped up the convincing win after Chris Rigg’s consolation.
It was Eustace’s first win at the 10th time of asking in charge of Rovers, who are now five points clear of the drop zone.
“It was an outstanding performance,” he said. “It’s been coming. The performances have been excellent over the time I’ve been here. You could see the togetherness was there.
“We’ve had some really difficult games but been competitive and rolled our sleeves up. The most important thing was we won playing our style of football but we also showed that level of commitment and desire to defend the box.
“The front four were awesome, they were unplayable at times and the most important thing for me was what they did without the ball, that was outstanding and was the platform.
“It was an all-round perfect performance.”
Furious Mike Dodds hammered his Sunderland players after what he described as a “pathetic” display.
The Black Cats ended a seven-game winless run with a 2-0 win at Cardiff on Good Friday but failed to build on that showing and were booed off at half-time and full-time by the home supporters.
Hopes of another top-six finish have disappeared in recent weeks and Sunderland are now 13 points shy of the play-off places.
Dodds said: “It’s a bad result and an even worse performance. It’s completely unacceptable and I don’t say that lightly. That’s probably the best word I can find.
“Blackburn were deserved winners and I don’t like saying that on our own patch.
“As head coach I have to take responsibility for it, when they’re back in for training there are going to be some uncomfortable conversations but they need to be had if we’re to move forward.
“The players haven’t had much of a chance to talk in there, they’re under no illusions as to my thoughts: if they want to play for this football club then they’re going to have to deliver a better performance than that. If they don’t, they won’t play.
“I could have subbed the whole team when I made the changes in the second half. We’re going to have to reflect and use it as motivation, use it as a huge learning curve – it’s completely unacceptable.”
Howe taking plenty of positives despite frustrating Newcastle campaign
Eddie Howe was keen to look at the positives after Newcastle United secured seventh place in the Premier League on Sunday.
Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes were among the goalscorers as Newcastle won 4-2 at Brentford to finish their Premier League campaign.
The victory ensured a seventh-place finish, and a Manchester City victory over Manchester United in next Saturday's FA Cup final will confirm Newcastle's place in next season's Europa Conference League.
While this season did not quite live up to the heroics of last term, which saw the Magpies finish in the Champions League spots, Howe still feels it has been a successful campaign.
"It summed up our season," Howe told BBC Sport. "We weren't totally secure at the back, but great credit to the players. They've done their job - now we wait and see.
"We anticipated after losing against Manchester United that our control of the [European] situation had gone. It's never a nice situation, but whatever happens, happens.
"We have issues to solve defensively. If we can do that, next season could be another season of really strong performances. This was a season that could have been better, but a good season overall.
"We're a really united club. I think we're still moving forward, so there's a lot to be positive about."
Postecoglou will not settle until Tottenham hit his 'lofty ambitions'
Ange Postecoglou warned Tottenham he will not settle until the club hits the "lofty ambitions" targeted in his mind.
Spurs were 3-0 victors over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Sunday, ending their Premier League season with a convincing win to finish fifth in the table.
Postecoglou voiced his frustrations after Tuesday's 2-0 defeat to Manchester City ended their hopes of Champions League football next term.
The Spurs head coach was far more relaxed after his side performed well in Sheffield, with Dejan Kulusevski twice on target, along with a goal for Pedro Porro against the relegated Blades.
Yet Postecoglou insisted his ambitions remain high as the Australian attempts to take Tottenham to the next level.
"Contrary to my general demeanour, I have loved every minute of it," former Celtic boss Postecoglou said of his first season in charge of Tottenham.
"It is a great challenge in the Premier League and taking over a big club that didn't have a great year last year. You understand it is not going to run smoothly, but I have enjoyed the whole season.
"I have got some lofty ambitions for the football club and until we reach that point I am not going to be smiling too much.
"As I said, all any manager wants is maximum effort and I have got that from everyone involved. I have enjoyed it and looking forward to pushing on from here."
Asked to summarise his first campaign in England's top league, Postecoglou continued: "It's been good, it's been eventful, it's had a bit of everything.
"I am obviously not delighted with the way we finished the season but in fairness to the players and staff we have been in the top five all season, in a year where there was a fair bit of upheaval.
"We finished eighth last year, player turnover, different football, different way of training, it is not easy to maintain a level when you are trying to do that.
"Even in our tough periods this year we have still been competitive for the most part."
Kulusevski scored his seventh and eighth Premier League goals of the season (36 outings), more than he managed in his first two league campaigns with Tottenham combined (seven across 48 games).
Only in the 2019-20 season with Parma has the Sweden winger scored more times in a league season (10 in Serie A), and Postecoglou hailed Kulusevski's returns.
He added: "I thought Deki was good. He's worked awfully hard this year without a lot of reward in the front third.
"We thought playing him through middle today would help us with his mobility and ability to run in behind. He did well.
"He always works hard but it's that sort of final third where we need him to get rewards and he got them today so he did well."
Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United
Southampton saw off West Brom 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday to set up a Championship play-off final showdown with Leeds United.
Leeds thumped Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road 24 hours earlier to book their place at Wembley, where Southampton now await on May 26.
The first leg between the Saints and West Brom finished goalless - just like the other semi-final - but the home side's quality told in the end.
Russell Martin's side dominated the first-half possession, with David Brooks going closest to scoring with a shot that hit the outside of the post.
Southampton made the breakthrough via a powerful Will Smallbone finish four minutes into the second half after Gray Diangana lost possession.
Darnell Furlong had a shot helped over by Alex McCarthy, while David Brooks - who assisted the opener - had a strong penalty appeal rejected.
Southampton remained in control, though, and Adam Armstrong scored a second with a shot through Furlong's legs and past Alex Palmer.
Armstrong's second goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Tom Fellows fouled Ryan Manning in the box, rendering Cedric Kipre's late header a mere consolation.
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