Europa League final AS IT HAPPENED: Ange Postecoglou creates history with victory over United

Thanks for joining us on a famous day for Australian football as Ange Postecoglou delivered Spurs some overdue silverware.

Now we wait to see whether he will stay on as Tottenham manager - or sign off on a high.

Stay tuned to Wide World of Sports and Stan Sport for all the fallout.

Brennan Johnson was one of Tottenham's heroes with that scrappy 42nd minute goal that separated the teams.

"This season hasn't been good at all but I swear not one of us players right now care about that. This is what it's all about, this club hasn't won a trophy for 17 years," Johnson said.

"Honestly, this is what it means. It means so much. All the fans get battered, we get battered, for not winning a trophy, for not winning anything. But we had to get the first one in a while today. I'm so happy."

As for the goal?

"I knew I touched it, and then I looked up because I didn't catch it cleanly," Johnson said.

"Then the ball was trickling in the goal. I can't describe the feeling."

The title guarantees Spurs a spot in next season's Champions League, and brings some much needed relief for Australian manager Ange Postecoglou after he struggled to keep his team on track all year.

The victory comes six years after Tottenham fell short against Liverpool in the Champions League final.

The defeat adds pressure on United coach Ruben Amorim, whose team sits in 16th place - just ahead of Tottenham - in the Premier League.

The club won't play in any European competition next season.

United came close to equalising the match when a header by Rasmus Hojlund was cleared at the goal line by Tottenham's Micky van de Ven in the 68th minute.

Deep into stoppage time, a header by Luke Shaw prompted a difficult save by Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

It had been an even match, with neither team creating many significant scoring opportunities, until Tottenham got on the board in the 42nd minute after a cross by Pape Sarr into the area.

The ball ricocheted off Shaw and fell in front of Johnson, who seemed to get just enough of it to poke it across the goal line.

United pressed forward after conceding but was not able to get the equaliser in front of a split crowd of nearly 50,000 at Athletic Bilbao's San Mames Stadium.

Speaking on Stan Sport, Mark Bosnich predicts Ange Postecoglou will resign from his job as Spurs manager and go out on a high.

What an extraordinary twist that would be but I agree with big Boz.

"I mean I hope he stays but I've got a feeling he's going to resign," Bosnich says.

"Win this trophy and resign. That's my feeling. That's my gut feeling. Winning this trophy is exceptional for this club."

Ange Postecoglou has lived up to the promise he made back in September.

"I always win things in my second year. Nothing has changed," the Tottenham manager said after back-to-back defeats early in the Premier League campaign.

That narrative has followed him all season yet eight months later, Postecoglou delivered on his word by leading Tottenham to the Europa League title with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the final in Bilbao.

Here's a rundown of those second season trophies won by Postecoglou across his career.

South Melbourne (1996-2000)

In his first job as a head coach, Postecoglou won Australia's top-flight title — the National Soccer League — in his second season with South Melbourne and again the following year.

Brisbane Roar (2009-12)

Postecoglou achieved the same feat at Brisbane Roar, winning the league title — by now it was called the A-League — in his second season and retaining it the following year.

Australia (2013-17)

During the second year of Postecoglou's four-year stint with the Socceroos, Australia hosted the Asian Cup in early 2015 and reached the final against South Korea.

The Australians conceded an equaliser in stoppage time — coincidentally scored by current Tottenham captain Son Heung-min — but clinched a 2-1 win after extra time.

It was Australia's first Asian Cup title.

Yokohama F Marinos (2018-21)

In his first big job outside Australia, Postecoglou lost the Japanese Cup final in his first season with Yokohama F Marinos but made up for it by winning the top flight league title by six points the following year.

It was the club's fourth Japanese league championship.

Celtic (2021-23)

At Celtic, Postecoglou was in charge of the biggest team in Scotland — albeit one which had relinquished its league title the previous year.

Under the Australian, Celtic regained the Scottish Premiership title by four points in his first season and retained it — by seven points — in his second season. Postecoglou then left for Tottenham.

Postecoglou's other clubs

Postecoglou has been coach at three other clubs in his managerial career, but never got to the end of a second full season with any of them.

He was at Greek lower league team Panachaiki (2008) for less than a year, with Australian team Whittlesea Zebras for just three months in 2009 and at Melbourne Victory for 18 months - but left at the start of his second full season to take over the Socceroos.

Meanwhile, Sydney Morning Herald colleague Vince Rugari, who wrote Ange Postecoglou's biography, has taken a well deserved victory lap.

The fallout from this famous win will now be fascinating.

Ange Postecoglou has been widely tipped to lose his job after a disastrous Premier League campaign.

But it would be a brave move from Spurs chairman Daniel Levy to sack him after delivering the London club overdue silverware.

"This is tremendous and I'm very happy for them because they did deserve it and it's great for Ange," Stan Sport's Semra Hunter says from Bilbao.

"It's looking like no matter what happens, he's not going to be surviving for next season.

"He's a dead man walking, but at least he goes out on a high and it gives them a really beautiful gift."

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Tottenham beat Manchester United 1-0 to win the Europa League final and lift its first European trophy in more than four decades.

It is the first major title for Tottenham since it won the English League Cup in 2008, and first European triumph since it won its second UEFA Cup — the equivalent of the Europa League now — in 1984.

Brennan Johnson squeezed in the winner at the end of the first half to help Spurs salvage a dismal season in which it will finish near the bottom of the Premier League standings.

The title guarantees Spurs a spot in next season's Champions League, and brings some much-needed relief for coach Ange Postecoglou after he struggled to keep his team on track all year.

The victory comes six years after Tottenham fell short against Liverpool in the Champions League final.

The defeat adds pressure on United coach Ruben Amorim, whose team sits in 16th place — just ahead of Tottenham — in the Premier League.

The club won't play in any European competition next season.

Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario denies Luke Shaw with a big save and Tottenham have won the Europa League!

Ange Postecoglou has created Australian football history by leading Spurs to a drought-breaking victory over Manchester United in Bilbao.

Spurs beat United 1-0 in the all-England final on Thursday (AEST) thanks to a scrappy 42nd minute goal to the prolific Brennan Johnson.

It is Tottenham's first trophy since 2008 when they beat Chelsea in the Carling Cup (now EFL Cup) final.

There will be seven minutes of stoppage time!

Agonising stuff for Spurs fans as they cling to a 1-0 lead.

COYS.