KEIR RADNEDGE in BILBAO: Never mind the glory, feel the trophy. Tottenham’s 1-0 victory in an awful all-English final of the UEFA Europa League in San Mames here stretched their unbeaten sequence against Manchester United to seven matches.

No-one in that particular corner of North London will care about the manner of success after a scrambled winning goal by Brennan Johnson with the inadvertant help of Luke Shaw just before the interval. Johnson’s toe-poke provided the nice little earner of £100m for passing go on next season’s Champions League as well as the little bonus of a UEFA Super Cup tangle with Internazionale or Paris Saint-Germain.

The joy of Tottenham’s players at the final whistle was unrestrained and unconfined as they ended a 17-year wait for a trophy since the League Cup in 2008 and their first European prize since the UEFA Cup in 1984. The achievement owed everything to not only Johnson but some tigerishly un-Spursy defending under siege in the last 20 minutes.

Appropriately Argentina’s World Cup-winning central defender Cristian Romero was acclaimed man of the match. He played a captain’s role, having taken on the armband in the initial injury absence of Heung-min Son. The Korean ultimately appeared in time to raise the trophy though UEFA had run out of winner’s medals by the time he took to the podium.

For ultimately vindicated Ange Postecoglou and United manager Ruben Amorim Bilbao had opened up the prospect of a rare positive note on which to finish a dismal season in which both teams sit just above the relegation zone, albeit a long way clear of danger. Postecogolou heads off happily on holiday on Monday, job done, though who knows whether he will be back to reap the rewards.

United started on the front foot and had Spurs scuffling around their penalty area to resist. Then it was Tottenham’s turn to put United’s nervy keeper Andre Onana under pressure.

A couple of corners and threatening free kick all came to nothing so now it was United’s turn again with tricky right winger Amad Diallo flashing an angled drive across the face of goal. That promising spark, however, was merely the prelude to a lengthy anonymous spell in a match turning out as poor as the teams’ league positions had suggested.

A goal was desperately needed and it was eventually delivered, three minutes short of halftime. Johnson stretched to reach an angled cross from Pape Matar Sarr with the ball ricocheted home off Shaw.

The standard of play failed to improve in the early stages of the second half and was, if anything, worse than the first with Micky van de Ven, Richarlison and Yves Bissouma all collecting yellow cards for studied clumsiness.

Desperation finally forced United to raise their game and it took a magnificent, spectacular clearance from beneath the crossbar by Van de Ven to deny the hitherto anonymous Rasmus Hojlund an equaliser.

Amorim had now seen more than enough. He immediately replaced both Hojlund and the equally ineffectual Mason Mount and was almost rewarded with an equaliser. Instead Bruno Fernandes’s stooping header flew inches wide then Guglielmo Vicario denied the newly-arrived Alejandro Garnacho.

This was backs-to-the-wall time and Postecoglou responded by replacing Johnson with Kevin Danso and going to five in defence. It was a risky tactic, inviting United to attacl, but it worked.

As the clock ticked down so tempers began to fray which suited Spurs’ cause because United lost whatever rhythm they had been developing as the match staggered to a close. Seven minutes of stoppage time saw Vicario save magnificently from Shaw and Tottenham defend as they had never defended all season . . . so Postecoglou could fulfil his boast of always winning a trophy in his second season.

The teams:

Tottenham: Vicario – Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie (Spence 90) – Sarr (Gray 90), Bissouma, Bentancur – Johnson (Danso 78), Solanke, Richarlison (Son 66). Manager: Postecoglou.

Man. Utd: Onana – Yoro, Maguire, Shaw – Mazraoui (Dalot 84), Casemiro, Fernandes, Dorgu (Mainoo 90) – Diallo, Højlund (Zirkzee 71), Mount (Garnacho 71).

Ref: Zwayer (Ger). Att: 49,224.

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