By Yadnom Awu (Asaba)
Tottenham Hotspurs tonight won the UEFA Europa League Trophy.
They beat Manchester United by a lone goal scored in the 42nd minute of play by Johnson.
The victory gave Hotspurs their first major trophy in 17 years and the first European trophy in 41 years.
The two teams had approached the game on an even keel , with occasional incursions into the vital area of their opponents.
However, no team could break the deadlock until the 42nd minute of play when a goal mouth melee led to a scrappy goal by Johnson.
The first stanza thus ended on a lone goal advantage for Hotspurs.
On resumption, Manchester United upped their ante and mounted wave upon wave of onslaught on Hotspurs,especially after Pathfinder Garnacho was brought in to fortify the United attack.
Their efforts almost paid off in the 71st, 73rd and 75 th minutes of play but resilient defending ensured that the Hotspurs did not concede.
In the 67th minute particularly, Romero, who was voted man- of- the match, had to literally fly to make a floating goal line save after the Hotspurs goal tender had been displaced.
But United hardly gave up .
As the encounter dragged to an end, they confined the Hotspurs to their vital defence line by ceaseless pressure which almost paid off within the last two minutes when Hotspurs’ goal keeper had to make a daring low save and when , off a swinging corner kick, a bicycle kick hit the side netting to save Hotspurs the prospect of the agony of a last minute equaliser.
The result of tonight’s encounter means that United, a major team in the English Premier League, has lost all prospects of going continental next year.
Both sides have had a string of poor outings in the English Premier League this season.
While Manchester United is placed 16 th on the English Premier League table, Tottenham Hotspurs are a step lower at 17 th.
Both teams, by their placings on the League table , had failed to qualify for any continental championship for next season, but had hoped to earn victory tonight to secure a place in the UEFA Champions League next season .
Victory tonight earns Hotspurs the right to automatic qualification for the UEFA Champions League, and an alluring prize money of around $100 million ( about N16 billion).
Between them, both teams had lost 48 games in the current season of the Premier League.
But Tottenham went into the match with a performance advantage on their head- to- head note, having beaten them in their encounters in the current season.
A total of 80,000 fans watched the match, most from England from which both teams hail.
An estimated 174 aircraft brought in air travel fans and officials for the game which was held in the 53,000 – capacity San Sames Stadium, Bilbao, Spain.
