Spurs find the beauty in ugliness to stun Man United and end trophy drought
- By Yann Tear in Bilbao
- 23 hours ago
- 3 min read
Europa League Final - San Mames Stadium, Bilbao
Tottenham (1) 1 Johnson 42
Manchester United (0) 0
They can throw that 'no trophy since 2008' out of the window at last.
Forget all you thought you knew about a Spurs team geared to play only one way under Ange Postecoglou.
Tottenham binned all that all-out attack philosophy in favour of the one that probably matters more than anything else - the currency of silverware.
The gutteral, visceral roar from the Spurs end at full time confirmed that. Forget those 20 league defeats. Forget the fact they are just one place above the drop zone. They have the pot of gold that says 'we dont care.'
It was such a contrast to that last Euro triumph over Anderlecht back on 84 on a delirious night at White Hart Lane. Here there was no style and glitter just grit and bloody mindedness.
Who knew Richarlison was such a good defender. And if Christian Romero led from the back, it was his fellow defender Micky van de Ven who had the standout moment - somehow scissor kicking off the line after Rasmus Hojlund nearly exploited a Guglielmo Vicario spill.
They have found a more pragmatic way in European ties and this time also coped with the absences of key players Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall.
What a jackpot now coming with this slenderest of wins - courtesy of Brennan Johnson's bundled goal, aided in no small measure by Luke Shaw.
They will now join Arsenal - trophyless in spite of everything - and maybe Chelsea in a mass capital assault on next season's Champions League. They may be incredibly lucky to be there, but be there they will.
In so many ways, this was the final this bizarre of the Europa League deserved. Clumsy, scappy, full of fouls, misplaced passes, interceptions, and tetchy moments. It had little finesse or rhythm.
What it lacked in quality, it more than made up for in mediocrity.
The rest of Europe must have been thinking: 'How the hell did we let this happen? How bad must we be to have let these two waltz through to the final so easily?'
United were particularly bad. Their one world class player skipper Bruno Fernades, was unable to work his magic.
Bilbao, a gritty no-nonsense city might have appreciated the way it panned out but the Basque hosts surely deserved a better spectacle than this. It was no advert for the Premier League. Then again, nobody at Spurs will care.
Tortuous and expensive the trip to northern Spain may have been for many but none will regret it - unlike some in the United end, which cleared out quickly at full time.
They will be sick of Spurs. Beaten four times by the North Londoners in a single season. Lads, it's United....
The white corner of the stadium was bathed in pure ecstacy. Winning ugly? The main thing is Ange was true to his word about second season trophies. Gold at the end of the Aussie's rainbow.
Spurs: (4-3-3) Vicario - Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie (Spence 90) - Sarr (Gray 90), Bissouma, Bentancur - Johnson (Danso 79), Solanke, Richarlison (Son 68)
United: (3-4-2-1) Onana - Yoro, Maguire, Shaw - Mazraoui, Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes, Dorgu (Mainoo 90) - Diallo, Mount (Garnacho 71) - Hojlund (Zikzee 71)
Attendance: 49, 224
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