Tottenham Edge Manchester United 1-0 To Lift Europa League Title

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By Sportsgister

Brennan Johnson scored to end a 17-year trophy drought for Tottenham, which earned a gritty 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Europa League final on Wednesday.

Spurs, which had not won European silverware since 1984, will play in next season’s Champions League. For United, however, failing to qualify for it is a severe financial setback.

Despite Tottenham’s triumph in Bilbao, manager Ange Postecoglou’s future is still on the line following a shambolic domestic campaign, with Spurs sitting a place below United in the lower reaches of the Premier League table.

The Australian furiously insisted he was “not a clown” on the eve of the final and had the last laugh on a nerve-racking night as he made good on his claim to always win a trophy in his second season in charge of a club.

“This is what it’s all about, this club hasn’t won a trophy for 17 years, honestly, this is what it means, it means so much,” Johnson said.

“Ever since I came here it’s been (people saying) ‘Tottenham are a good team, but they never get it done’ — we got it done!”

Fans came from far and wide to pack Athletic Bilbao’s stadium, some taking quite preposterous routes and sleeping in cars to avoid eye-watering hotel prices.

The final was a matchup of teams languishing in 16th and 17th place, respectively, after dismal Premier League campaigns. The match was played at high intensity but with low confidence, and with a prize on the line so big it overawed.

There was a large number of turnovers, with neither side keeping the ball with any ease, moves ending in panicked defending, balls being thumped to safety and a litany of clumsy fouls.

Manchester United fans chanted Ruben Amorim’s name, backing their Portuguese coach despite the club’s worst Premier League season in half a century.

In the early exchanges, 22-year-old United winger Amad Diallo, one of the few playing with a lot of confidence, flashed a shot across goal and then left Destiny Udogie spinning as he dribbled past.

Spurs made the breakthrough after 42 minutes and, perhaps fittingly, it came from a scrappy goal.

Tottenham midfielder Pape Sarr, who had completed just a single pass to that point, curled in a cross to the near post for Johnson.

The winger’s attempted flick bounced off defender Luke Shaw’s shoulder, brushed Johnson’s boot again and crossed the goal line in slow motion, with Andre Onana unable to claw it out.

Spurs sat back in the second half, for once pragmatically trying to protect it’s slender advantage and look for opportunities to strike again on the counterattack.

It nearly found one when Yves Bissouma played in Dominic Solanke, but the striker could not control the ball.

Spurs had just 27% of possession by the end, with three shots and just one on target.

Manchester United almost equalized when Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario came off his line but failed to claim a set piece that was pounded forward from deep.

The ball dropped for Rasmus Hojlund, but his header over the stranded Spurs goalkeeper was sensationally cleared in acrobatic fashion by Micky van de Ven.

Spurs sent on captain Son Heung-min for the ragged Richarlison, with the South Korean international a surprising omission from the starting lineup.

United defender Harry Maguire scored a vital goal against Lyon during United’s thrilling run to the final, and was thrust up front late, but Spurs shut him out.

Shaw had a chance to redeem himself for his part in Johnson’s goal at the end, but his header was pushed to safety by Vicario.

United suffered its 21st defeat this season and its fourth against Spurs, which claimed its third Europa League trophy.

Amorim said winning the trophy would not have solved United’s many underlying problems but could have set the club up well for the future. United, however, left Bilbao without even that.

“We managed not to score again, that makes it hard to win matches,” Amorim said.

For only the second time in 35 years, United will not play European soccer next season..

“For a club like Manchester United

, it’s nowhere near good enough,” Shaw told reporters.