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South African writer Trevor Noah is happy with Son Heung-min winning the UEFA Europa League with Tottenham, who beat Manchester United 1-0 in the final in Bilbao on Wedensday (May 21). Brennan Johnson's 42nd-minute strike was the difference between the two sides.
Son, the Tottenham captain, has been at the club since the summer of 2015, arriving from Bayer Leverkusen. In 454 appearances across competitions, the South Korea international has contributed 173 goals and 101 assists. That includes 11 goals and 12 assists in 46 games this season across competitions.
Having missed the quarter-final second-leg win at Eintracht Frankfurt and both legs of the semi-final win over Bodo/Blimt, Son featured for 23 minutes in the final win over United as he won the first title of his Spurs career.
"I’m so happy for Son Heung-min!!," Noah tweeted. "The man has given so much to football, he deserved a trophy."
Despite their domestic travails (17th in the Premier League after 37 games), the triumph on Wednesday ended Tottenham's 17-year wait for silverware, since their 2008 EFL Cup win. Since then, they fell short in four finals, including one in the UEFA Champions League (2019), before striking gold in Bilbao.
"All my teams have always played a bit different in knockout games" - Tottenham boss after beating Manchester United
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Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou explained that he has always had a different style of play in knockout games, one that yielded success with a narrow win over Manchester United in the Europa League final.
Spurs were dominated on possession (26%), which came down to less than 20% in the second half, where they had just one touch in the opposition box. Nevertheless, Postecoglou's side weathered the storm to emerge triumphant.
"Knockout football is always different," Postecoglou said (as per the BBC). "All my teams have always played a bit different in knockout games because you know that you have to have a real clear game plan. Big games come down to moments. You have to limit the moments of the opposition and change the moments.
"The players embraced it because that was always going to be the approach in Europe. It was the approach in the Carabao Cup, and we beat some decent teams, including Man City, United, beat Liverpool in the first leg and played in a similar way."
While Tottenham return to the UEFA Champions League next season, Manchester United are bracing themselves for a first season without Europeaan football for the first time since 2014-15.
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Bhargav is a veteran sports journalist and editor at Sportskeeda, with a rich professional experience of 17 years, working for the likes of Siemens and Bombay Dyeing. An avid football and tennis follower for over three decades, Bhargav uses his vast knowledge and experience, attention to detail, an unbiased yet interesting writing style, and thorough research to craft insightful articles, which have raked in over 18 million reads so far.
Bhargav supports Italy at national level, a team steeped in tradition and history according to him. He still harbors the heartbreak from the Azzurri’s 1994 FIFA World Cup final defeat against Brazil, and protagonist-turned-antagonist from the game, ‘Divine Ponytail’ Roberto Baggio is his all-time favorite player. His favorite manager is Marcelo Lippi, who ended Italy’s 24-year wait for the World Cup trophy, winning it in 2006.
Outside Europe’s top five leagues, he follows the MLS following Lionel Messi’s move in 2023 but favors Cristiano Ronaldo in the G.O.A.T. debate. During his free time, Bhargav enjoys driving off to new places and singing.
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