'It was' - Tottenham star makes honest admission over goal after securing Europa League final spot

Tottenham defender Pedro Porro made an honest admission after he scored to help Tottenham to the Europa League final on Thursday night. Spurs overcame a challenging second leg against Bodo/Glimt having gone into the clash with a 3-1 lead.

Ange Postecoglou’s men had to protect their lead in the difficult atmosphere of Northern Norway and on an artificial pitch, but they stood up to the challenge to book an all-English Europa League final.

After a close first-half, Dominic Solanke prodded in the opener to all-but wrap up the tie, and six minutes later, in the 69th minute, Pedro Porro looped in what appeared to be a cross to find the net via the far post, catching out the goalkeeper who appeared instantly panicked as he spotted the flight of the ball.

Given the aesthetics of the goal, Porro could have been forgiven for claiming it was intentional, but he took the honest approach in his post-match interview, telling TNT Sports: "It was a cross.” He added: “We said before a clean sheet was the most important thing and we did that."

Tottenham are hoping to save their season by securing Champions League qualification by winning the Europa League, which would be a stellar achievement in its own right. Spurs are on track for a historically bad Premier League campaign, leaving Postecoglou fighting for his job.

It’s unclear whether winning the Europa League will save him, but he will now have a chance to deliver long-awaited silverware, with Tottenham up against Manchester United in the final in Bilbao on May 21. That will be a redemption fixture for both teams, with both having missed out on European qualification by some way this season.

Both teams have been able to put aside their league form to perform in Europe, and speaking to that ability, Tottenham boss Postecoglou said before Thursday night’s win: "Resilience is a very important commodity. Anyone who has success, in whatever field it is, has had to show resilience at some point. This notion that success is linear and it comes really easy, anyone who has had success in whatever field will know at some point they’ve had to deal with a lot of adversity.

“We’ve had to deal with a lot of adversity this year. Through that adversity they’ve never splintered or wavered belief in what we’re trying to do. We wouldn’t be sitting in this position if that wasn’t the case. It’s a testament to them. It helps in games like tomorrow because you’re going to have to deal with another challenge. If they can tap into the way they’ve dealt with every sort of stumble we’ve had this year, then they’ll find the strength they need to get the job done."

He added on the Europa League specifically: “Just the nature of the competition, knock-out competitions demand different things from you as a team. Particularly in knock-out scenarios, just in my experience. It naturally means that you have to be a little bit more focused, because every moment is important, every aspect of the game is important.

“So yes, it does mean that certain things, you have to be really clear-headed on, in terms of our approach. The boys have handled it really well so far in the knock-out stages, particularly in the second legs of every game, of understanding what needs to be done. Within the context of still wanting to play our football, still wanting to be aggressive, knowing what parameters we can play towards to get through.”

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