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Tottenham Hotspur booked their place in the Europa League final with a mature 2-0 victory against Norweigan underdogs Bodø/Glimt thanks to two second half goals from Dominic Solanke and Pedro Porro.
After an excellent away performance against Frankfurt saw them advance to the semi-finals, Spurs went on a varied domestic run coming into the second leg, losing to Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and dropping points to West Ham on the weekend despite being Bodø/Glimt 3-1 in the reverse fixture to give themselves a great pedigree coming into the game. Alternatively, the home side didn’t play a game in between the two legs, and went undefeated in three domestic games winning two and drawing one after advancing ahead of Lazio in their quarter final game.
The North London side made seven changes from the side that drew 1-1 at the London Stadium last Sunday, with the likes of Christian Romero, Micky Van de Ven, and Dominic Solanke returning to the starting XI. Bodø/Glimt made three changes from the side that conceded three at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, with Brede Moe, Håkon Evjen and Patrick Berg getting the nod.
It was a fairly even affair from the off, with both sides getting half chances in the opening quarter of the game. Guglielmo Vicario was called into the action properly for the first time in the 31st minute, where a fast-paced free kick came whipped in from the right-hand side from Patrick Berg, but the Italian was equal to the effort and tipped it over the bar.
The 27-year-old was audacious enough to try a shot from his own half in the 41st minute, but lacked any real power or accuracy to trouble Vicario, who collected the ball comfortably in the end. This lacklustre effort summarised Den Gule Horde’s offensive efforts in the first half, where despite seeing enough of the ball to stay in the game failed to do anything substantial with it to truly worry Spurs.
Despite time ticking away for the home side, they continued to probe in the second half for a way back into the tie, and almost found it as left-back Frederik Bjørkan sent a low ball in towards the back-post in the 58th minute, but Destiny Udogie was there to intercept at the last moment and clear the ball away.
Both sides made changes on the hour mark, with attackers Andreas Helmersen and Sondre Sørli entering the fray for Bodø/Glimt and Mathys Tel replacing Richarlison in what was a quiet evening for the Brazilian. Despite the more positive changes for Kjetil Knutsen’s side, it would be Ange Postecoglou’s side that took the lead just moments later when Christian Romero glanced a header towards goal from a corner that Dominic Solanke would poke into the back of the net to put Spurs 4-1 ahead on aggregate.
From here, Bødo/Glimt heads dropped as the mountain to the final was just too high to climb, and Spurs dominated proceedings from here. The final nail in the coffin was applied in the 69th minute, just six minutes after Solanke’s opener, when a wild Pedro Porro cross-turned-shot went sailing past Nikita Haikin and off the left post and into the back of the net, settling any lingering nerves of the 400 Tottenham fans wrapped up in the away end.
Though the tie was wrapped up, the home side made changes in the final 20 minutes of the game and thought one of their substitutes had provided a glimmer of hope as Sondri Sørli thought he had won his side a penalty after being taken down by Pedro Porro, but a quick VAR review denied them the opportunity to offer the home fans some conciliation as the first Norwegian side to reach the semi-finals of a European competition bowed out.
Spurs now face Manchester United in the final in Bilbao on May 21st, but still have three Premier League fixtures before their season is over domestically. Bødo/Glimt face Aalesund on Monday evening in the Norwegian cup.
