Europa League final reaction as Spurs snatch narrow win in dismal game

Tottenham Hotspur salvaged their season as they beat Manchester United 1-0 in a dismal Europa League final in Bilbao to claim a first trophy since 2008.

United and Spurs showed exactly why they lie 16th and 17th in the Premier League table as they produced a low-quality affair and the only goal of the game reflected that perfectly.

Just before the break, a combination of Brennan Johnson and Red Devils defender Luke Shaw contrived to bundle the ball into the corner of the net, with a flailing Andre Onana unable to stop it dribbling across the line.

Spurs won’t care however, as a first trophy since their 2008 League Cup success vindicated boss Ange Postecoglou who claimed pre-match he “always wins” a trophy in his second year in charge of clubs and created waves of headlines in the build-up by taking a swipe at a journalist for writing that he was “teetering between hero and clown”. Presumably, he will now go down as a hero in the white half of north London.

The Tottenham Hotspur matchwinner spoke after the game saying: “Ever since I came here it’s been ‘Tottenham are a good team but can never get it done’.

“We got it done. I knew I touched it but I didn’t catch it clean, I can’t describe the feeling.

“I couldn’t watch [the final few minutes] I was listening to what the boys were saying and asking how long was left.

“The relief was something I can’t describe.”0