It was another rough day of Premier League action as Tottenham rounded off their poor domestic season with a 22nd defeat of the campaign at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion.
Tottenham took the lead inside the fist quarter from the penalty spot. A bright Mathys Tel was brought down in the box and Dominic Solanke stepped up to fire in off the crossbar – straight down the middle of the goal.
But Brighton stepped it up in the second period and turned the game on its head with two Jack Hinshelwood goals, albeit from poor Spurs defending.
Matt O’Riley scored from the spot as a tired Spurs completely dropped off and Diego Gomez scored a stunner in stoppage time to make it 4-1.
Here’s what you may have missed from the final day of action.
Maddison enjoys himself
With a strong side out there were not too many big names on the sidelines.
However, injured duo Son Heung-min and James Maddison were present inside the stadium and Maddison was still clearly in the party spirit.
With the tunes playing inside the stadium, Maddison could be seen on the touchline sharing a laugh and a joke with his captain and could even be spotted dancing along to Waka Waka, by Shakira.
First chant
There was an incredible atmosphere inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before the players entered the arena.
The usual classics of Waka Waka, Freed From Desire and Can’t Smile Without You whipped the crowd up into a frenzy, as if they needed it after the week the club has had, with flags on every seat utilised to make for an astonishing sight and sound.
And as the game got under way, the first chant from the supporters in the South Stand was for the head coach. ‘Oh, ooooh Ange Postecoglou’ reverberated around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Over to you, Daniel Levy.
Bentancur on it
The talk ahead of kick-off was around what sort of team Ange Postecoglou would pick given the party atmosphere around the club from the Europa League final win on Wednesday and the open-top bus parade on Friday.
Who would be nursing hangovers, who would be in a fit state to play?
As it happened, Postecoglou named a strong side, with only three changes from the final team.
And Rodrigo Bentancur showed he was at the peak of his powers and suffering no ill effects with an imperious display early on.
Spurred on by having his daughter as a mascot, the Uruguayan bit into tackles, demanded the ball, got things moving and even had the wherewithal to juggle the ball over a Brighton midfielder to get one attack started.
He was everywhere and truly back to the Bentancur of old.
Postecoglou runaround
Brighton started the second half strongly, after Spurs had the advantage in the first, and duly equalised through Jack Hinshelwood.
But Spurs had the opportunity to regain the lead moments after that leveller and it had Postecoglou running around his technical area.
A brilliant dart down the left by Mathys Tel saw him get almost to the byline having run from halfway. He cut the ball back and there, running in as he always does, was Brennan Johnson, but his shot into the ground flew past the post.
Postecoglou turned and almost ran in a circle around his technical area with his hands on his head, not taking them off his head for a good many seconds. He could not believe it.
Postecoglou rages
Postecoglou was at it again five minutes from time, for the moment that led to Brighton’s clinching third goal.
As Spurs won the ball inside their own box, they looked to counter, but newly on the pitch on the left hand side of a front three, Djed Spence initially seemed reluctant to sprint forwards.
When he did he took a pass from from Destiny Udogie, the Italian then underlapped to take a return ball. But Udogie’s return pass to Spence was woefully short and Brighton broke with Yves Bissouma bringing down Diego Gomez in the box for Matt O’Riley to score from the spot to make it 3-1.
Ange Postecoglou, arms outstretched, raged at Spence and Udogie, unable to comprehend what had just happened to allow Brighton to round off the match.
Spurs fans, the wait is over. After 17 years, Tottenham have their hands on silverware.
This Daily Mirror special edition tells the story of how Ange Postecoglou and his team battled their way to Europa League victory.
From their first tie against FK Qarabag back in September, to the dramatic night in Bilbao, Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur follows their path to triumph.
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