Hotspurs Trophy Drought Finally Over
In the only Premier League Final in the Europa League, the Tottenham Hotspurs get to take the trophy back to North London for the first time. After beating Bodø/Glimt in the Semifinals in a thriller of a match, Tottenham Hotspur leaves their Europa League campaign successful after dominating Manchester United. Tottenham Hotspur were the first team to score and the first to deliver a loss to Manchester United in the Europa League this season. The Hotspurs fans finally have something to brag about.
The first half of the game started hot with two attempts on Manchester United’s goal from Pape Matar Sarr and Richarlison de Andrade. The first yellow card of the final was awarded to Manchester United’s Amad Diallo at the 35th minute as he tried to slow Destiny Udogie’s stride on the possession, but was reprimanded for his shirt pulling. Tottenham opened up the lead with a messy but impressive goal off a cross from Sarr to Brennan Johnson, who mistimed his footwork on the ball. It seemed like Luke Shaw got the final touch, but ultimately the goal was awarded to Johnson. The first half was high in attempts for Manchester United with five shots and two on target, but they were unable to find the back of the net.
The second half saw an early yellow for Micky van de Ven, the first card for Tottenham. Van de Ven seemed comfortable handling the attempts from Casemiro down the middle, and despite Manchester United holding the ball for longer, they seemed to be struggling to connect. Richarlison let his anger get the best of him to add to Tottenham’s yellow cards after clipping Noussair Mazraoui’s heels. Tottenham did not let up on their press of the Spurs' defensive line as they continued to counterattack any chance they could.
United bit back in the 68th minute with an incredible shot on the top left of the goal by Rasmus Hojlund, but it was blocked by an even more impressive clearance by Van de Ven, who leaped in the air to kick it out. Manchester United made their first substitutions of the final in the 71st minute, attempting to shift to a more attack-heavy 11, they put on Alejandro Garnacho and Joshua Zirkzee. Garnacho immediately charged to the goal and was able to get a shot on target, but it was converted into a corner for United after coming off Guglielmo Vicario’s wrist. Bruno Fernandes was also contributing to big chances, but continued to come up short against Vicario. On the opposite note, Tottenham’s subs, Son Heung-min and Kevin Danso, came in to shift the style of play to a more defensive one. Son has consistently been a big presence for Tottenham in this Europa League campaign, shining when it mattered most.
The match started to intensify by the 85th minute as Manchester United were desperate to get on the scoreboard and started to become short-fused. Harry Maguire fell in the box in the 85th minute, and three minutes later was handed a yellow for unleashing his frustrations on Cristian Romero, knocking him to the ground in an aerial challenge. The referee seemed to be fed up by the 90th minute with Manchester United’s burning heads and gave Victor Nilsson Lindelöf a yellow from the bench. The last seven minutes of added time were practically a battle as both teams were throwing their bodies and prayers at the ball, hoping for a successful result. Manchester United looked like they were scrambling on the offense and were taking quick shots in an attempt to keep their dream alive before the clock ran dry, sucking the chances of a trophy from the Red Devils.
Tottenham held Manchester United to nil despite the Red Devils’ hardest attempts on goal until the very end. Despite United’s efforts in protests against the referee’s calls, the stoppage time decisions did not result in a draw to keep the game alive. Tonight, the stars aligned for the North Londoners, and they earned something to celebrate. Under the pressure and stadium lights in Bilbao, Tottenham were able to pull through and get their first major trophy since 2008, a drought that was chalked up to a curse, is finally broken.
