Photo: Stephen Gormley (Red Eye Photo Agency)
Photo: Stephen Gormley (Red Eye Photo Agency)
Man Utd and Spurs entered the Europa League Final in Bilbao sitting 16th and 17th respectively in the English Premier League table with one league match left to play. The only shining light in an otherwise dismal season for both teams was the prospect of lifting a European trophy and the added bonus of qualifying for next season’s UEFA Champions League group stage with a potential €100 million windfall. Given both clubs lowly league position, sitting just above the relegation zone, no-one was expecting a classic final. The match indeed lived up to that billing.
The pressure on the two sets of players was immense. You could see that in the way the game started in a cracking atmosphere that both sets of supporters mixing well together in and around the stadium before the match.
United had a lot of possession without actually causing Tottenham too much trouble early on. With Maddison out, Spurs kept it tight and started with their iconic captain Son on the bench.
It was Spurs that were looking a little more dangerous on the break. With a few minutes to play in the first half Spurs got a free kick down their left just outside the United box. The ball was crossed in and it hit off Shaw and broke to Brandon Johnson who got it past Andre Onana to make it 1-0 to Spurs on the night.
The second half started with a little bit more tempo and Son came on for Spurs early in the second half, which seemed to give them a bit more momentum in the game. But it was United really pushing in the second half looking for that elusive goal to get back into the game. Alejandro Garnacho came close, bringing two good saves from Vicario in the Spurs net. Vicario’s best save on the night came from a headed effort from Casemiro from eight yards out. The Brazilian headed it hard and low into the ground and Vicario got down low to his left hand side to push it away.
Spurs held on for the victory to lift the UEFA Europa League trophy while at the same time receiving the additional golden ticket into next season’s UEFA Champions League.
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