BILBAO, Spain — Tottenham Hotspur have won their first trophy since 2008 after beating Manchester United 1-0 in the UEFA Europa League final on a tight and tense night in Bilbao.
The game was decided by a scruffy goal from Brennan Johnson just before half-time, but Spurs and under-fire manager Ange Postecoglou won’t care.
The scrappy nature of the goal — initially credited as a Luke Shaw own goal after it was bundled in at the near post — was fitting of a game which was low on quality from the first minute to the last.
It looked every inch a fixture as teams sat in 16th and 17th place respectively in the Premier League table.
United struggled to make clear-cut chances as they attempted to drag themselves back into the game, although Micky van de Ven had to produce an acrobatic goal-line clearance to keep out a Rasmus Højlund header, and Shaw’s stoppage-time chance was expertly saved by Guglielmo Vicario.
For Tottenham, it’s a first trophy in 17 years and UEFA Champions League football next season. For United, it’s no European football for the first time since 2013-14 and an uncertain future under boss Ruben Amorim. — Rob Dawson
Ange keeps his promise — but will he keep his job?
The Australian has faced ridicule at times this season, ever since confidently stating he always wins things in his second season at a club.
With Celtic in Scotland, he won the domestic treble in his second year. At Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, he delivered their first J1 League title in 15 years. With Australia, he won the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. At Brisbane Roar, he won their first-ever domestic double.
And yet, Tottenham’s inability to win silverware felt so deeply ingrained that it felt like a different test altogether to replicate that success in north London, especially as their domestic campaign lurched from one defeat to another; 21 in all.
But he kept his word and he did so in a style almost the antithesis of the attacking “Angeball” style which won him so many admirers in his first year at the club. Spurs have been more pragmatic in the Europa League knockout stages, but the second half was unlike anything we had seen from them, defending deep for long periods as they conceded territory and possession. It worked.
The question now is whether this success is enough to convince a hierarchy wavering on keeping him in post that they should actually persevere through the summer. — James Olley
United are keen to land a striker in the summer window, and that might mean Højlund will have to move on. No one will want to pay the near £70 million United spent to bring him in from Atalanta in 2023, and so he might be forced to leave on loan.
It might be a good thing. Find a club away from the United spotlight where he can score a few goals and rebuild his confidence. Still only 22 years old, it’s too early to write him off, but he looks like a player in desperate need of a change of scenery. –– Dawson
Pressure mounting on Amorim
Speaking at his pre-match news conference on Tuesday, Amorim was able to see the funny side when he was asked about his future.
He won’t be laughing now. The Portuguese coach was always clear that winning the Europa League would only paper over the cracks. Without it, there is no hiding just how bad the start of his reign has been. Six wins in the Premier League since his appointment in mid-November is shocking.
In any other situation, it’s form that gets you the sack. Sources have told ESPN that United were always likely to keep Amorim, regardless of the result in the final. That is nothing to suggest they won’t follow through with that, but the 40-year-old will now be under severe pressure from the moment next season kicks off.
Amorim is almost in the same situation in which Erik ten Hag found himself a year ago. In the Dutchman’s case, the improvement never came, and he lost his job a couple of months into the new campaign. There needs to be a vast improvement under Amorim from the first game in August, otherwise he could find himself in real trouble during the October or November international breaks. — Dawson
Son finally gets his glory moment as Spurs eye UCL
This probably wouldn’t have been the script he would have written himself, but Son Heung-Min won’t care.
Few players embodied the frustration of Spurs’ long trophy drought more than the 32-year-old, who has given his heart and soul to the club for a decade without a single honour to his name. Not anymore.
Son told reporters on the eve of the game he was physically ready to play, but Postecoglou made the bold call to leave him on the bench, and in his 23 minutes on the field as a substitute, he touched the ball 13 times. He completed two of his six passes. But none of that matters.
Son danced jubilantly at full-time with the South Korean flag draped over his shoulders, the same shoulders that have carried the hopes of a nation for so many years without success. Many South Koreans are Tottenham fans just because of him. More may follow now Spurs are back in the Champions League, the prize on offer alongside their first trophy since 2008.
The financial need wasn’t as great as United’s, but the estimated £100m boost in revenue will help strengthen a squad whose lack of strength in depth has been badly exposed this season. — Olley
