Tottenham 1, Manchester United 0
Old Trafford will not be hosting European football next season after Tottenham beat Manchester United to lift the Europa League in Bilbao.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt was Spurs’ first trophy in 17 years as they put their “Spursy” tag to bed with a backs to the wall performance to deny United the chance to paper over their own cracks in what has been a wretched season for both clubs.
United have now lost for a fourth time to Spurs this term as they suffered a 20th defeat in all competitions this season – their most since losing 22 in 1973/74 – the year the Reds were relegated.
Brennan Johnson scored the only goal of the game – a scruffy finish with the ball coming off a rusty Luke Shaw shortly before half time and beating Andre Onana.
Spurs had just the one shot on target for from just 27% of possession against a United side who were unable to capitalise on their domination to get on the scoresheet themselves..
Micky Van De Ven’s acrobatic goal line clearance and some fine saves by Guglielmo Vicario helped Ange Postecoglou’s injury-hit men get that all important clean sheet that meant that captain Son Heung-min finally won his first trophy with the club as Postcoglou ditched his footballing principles to get his team over line.
The Reds finished with 16 shots on goal with 6 shots on target against Spurs who had just three shots themselves in a game that was wholly reflective of the lowly league position that both clubs found themselves in.
And it said something about the quality of Spurs three shots that they totalled more xG (1.01) than United (0.85) with 16.
Both sides will now fight it out on the final day of the season to avoid the ignominy of finishing just above the relegated sides – Spurs are 17th while United are barely better in 16th place.
And United will have to hope that they can match Spurs’ result against Brighton on the final day of the season on Sunday – the Reds have to try and put the disappointment of missing out on over £100m from Champions League next term to beat Aston Villa to have a better chance of finishing above the Europa League winners in the Premier League.