Ange Postecoglou has made history, ending Tottenham Hotspur's 17-year trophy drought to claim a dramatic Europa League final victory over Manchester United in Bilbao.
{SUMMARY]Brennan Johnson's scrappy goal just before half-time was enough for Spurs, who weathered a tremendous onslaught from Manchester United in the closing stages of the match to hang on for victory.
Micky van de Ven acrobatically cleared a Rasmus Højlund header off the line in the second half after Guglielmo Vicario came and missed the ball.
The Spurs keeper made up for that error though with a couple of fine saves to deny Luke Shaw and Alejandro Garnacho late on as United sent waves of attackers forward against a pragmatic and doggedly defensive Spurs side.
Manchester United had 73 per cent possession, completed almost three times as many passes as their opponents and had 16 shots to Spurs' three in the contest.
But Spurs came out on top of the only stat that really mattered.
"I know what it means for this football club," Postecoglou told TNT Sports after the match.
"Coming third was not going to change this football club, winning a trophy would.
"That was my ambition and I was prepared to wear it if it did not happen."
In an at times scrappy, at other times frankly torrid contest between two of the lowest-ranking teams in their domestic league to ever contest a European final, Spurs ground out a victory that will be remembered more fondly in the retelling than any who experienced it live.
The goal was in keeping with that status.
A Pape Matar Sarr cross was met at the near post by the rushing Johnson, who got enough of a tough on the ball to deflect it onto the arm of Shaw.
With André Onana wrong-footed and the ball trickling towards the near post, Johnson swiped at the ball and although the jury is out as to whether the Welshman got a touch, he did enough to let the ball squeeze home past the clawing United keeper.
United pushed for a late leveller, with Onana even coming up in the last of the seven added minutes at the end of the game.
But United's last chance, a Casemiro overhead kick, hit the side netting and there were to be no late heroics for a United side that will now be without European football for only the second time since 1990.
The victory is Tottenham's first European title since winning the UEFA Cup in 1984, with Postecoglou joining Spurs legends Bill Nicholson and Keith Burkinshaw in winning a European trophy with the north London club.
It puts them into next year's Champions League, with the 100 million pound financial windfall that comes with it.
It may yet not be enough to save Postecoglou's job — Spurs are enduring their worst season domestically since 1974 when they were relegated.
But it confirmed the Australia's boast from earlier in the season that he always wins a trophy in his second season at a club.
"I still feel like there's a lot of work to be done, but not as much work as people might think," Postecoglou said.
"People can bang on about our 20 league defeats and where we are, but they're missing the point of what we're trying to build here and what I'm trying to do anyway.
"I really feel tonight can be a great place for us to kick on."
Look back on how all the action unfolded in our live blog.
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