Tottenham beat Manchester United to win Europa League final in Bilbao

By Simon Peach, PA Chief Football Writer, Bilbao

Tottenham ended their 17-year trophy drought and sent misfiring Manchester United into a tailspin as under-fire Ange Postecoglou oversaw a 1-0 victory in Wednesday’s all-or-nothing Europa League final.

It has long been a case of Bilbao or bust for these teams considering their wretched English Premier League campaigns, with the San Mames showpiece offering the winner silverware and much-needed Champions League qualification.

Spurs edged this tense all-English final, with Brennan Johnson’s goal, thanks in no small part to a touch from Luke Shaw, Micky van de Ven goal-line clearance and Guglielmo Vicario’s stoppage-time save seeing them win a first trophy since the Carling Cup in 2008.

Beaming boss Postecoglou silenced the critics – temporarily at least – as he stuck to his word by winning a trophy in his second season, while United will now spend a first campaign without European football since 2014-15.

Ruben Amorim’s already tough rebuild becomes that much harder without Champions League qualification after the Red Devils lost a first Europa League match of the campaign at the worst possible time.

It compounds their worst top-flight season since suffering relegation 51 years ago, but this is Tottenham’s night as Postecoglou’s men joined the UEFA Cup winners of 1972 and 1984 in immortality.