• Official blew before Morgan Rogers put ball in net for Villa

• Villa unhappy at selection of inexperienced referee

Aston Villa will lodge an official complaint to the Premier League about why a more experienced referee than Thomas Bramall was not appointed after the official blew before Morgan Rogers scored against Manchester United. This meant the video assistant referee could not intervene to rule if the forward had illegally kicked the ball from Altay Bayindir’s hands – as Bramall judged – and Unai Emery claimed later that this was the “key moment” that turned Villa’s Champions League qualification bid.

The incident happened in the 73rd‑minute with the game at Old Trafford goalless and as Newcastle were losing to Everton, Villa were heading for the Champions League. Bramall’s ruling caused a furious reaction from Emery, along with his staff. After this Amad Diallo and Christian Eriksen goals – each provoking sarcastic Emery gestures – gave United a 2-0 win. The visitors ended in sixth and so will play Europa League football next season.

• Head coach addressed fans on pitch after Aston Villa win

• ‘I want to apologise for this season … we move forward’

A defiant Ruben Amorim promised “the good days are coming” after apologising for Manchester United’s “disaster season” that ended in 15th place after their 2-0 win against Aston Villa on Sunday.

After the game the head coach addressed the fans on the Old Trafford pitch. “First of all I want to apologise for this season,” he said. “I know you are very disappointed with me and with the team. I want secondly to say: ‘Thank you.’

On 73 minutes a moment that Aston Villa will argue for a long time cost them the bumper prize of Champions League football next season and its lucrative cash injection of millions.

A weak Harry Maguire header had Altay Bayindir scrambling to collect. As he did, Morgan Rogers prodded the ball from his clutches – the goalkeeper did not have it under control – and the forward found the empty net.

• ‘I will say what is in my mind and what is in my heart’

• United’s problems bigger than he first thought

Ruben Amorim will make a public apology to Manchester United fans on the pitch after their final home game of the season, but the head coach admitted he does not know how long it will take the club to challenge at the top of the table again. United face Aston Villa on Sunday to conclude a desperate season without a trophy and potentially in 17th place, but the players will undertake a lap of honour at Old Trafford.

Their last chance of salvaging something from the campaign ended with a dismal performance in the Europa League final on Wednesday, losing 1-0 to Tottenham, ensuring United will not compete in Europe next season.

After plumbing new depths at the final in Bilbao, the crisis at the club may at last hurt the people who actually own it

Oh yes, Europe. Now you see it. Now you understand why we’re harvesting your players, hoovering up your football culture, poaching your 27-year-old rollerblading hyper-nerd coaches. This is the spectacle we’re creating over here on our island of trade and innovation. Behold our Europa League final, our Wednesday night field of the cloth of gold. Look on our works and … well, maybe go out for a sandwich instead.

The all-English Europa League final has already taken some stick for not being a spectacle worthy of the occasion. Or at least, for looking like what it was: two muddled teams scrabbling for the last escape ladder. It would be normal at this stage to bring out the phrase about a pair of bald men fighting over a comb. But baldness at least has a pattern. Baldness is orderly. Baldness is noble. This was more like two men with bad, failing hair transplants fighting over an emergency toupée.

Our fans network reviews the season with one game to play: the highs, the lows and the moments that made them smile

It’s been yet another “always the bridesmaid, never the bride” season. There were times it felt we were destined for glory, but injuries and red cards cost us. We still had jaw-dropping moments, though, especially in a phenomenal Champions League campaign. As they say, it’s the hope that kills, but even this jaded old lag had begun to believe I’d finally tick that big-eared prize off my bucket list. Still, 8/10.

Bernard Azulay onlinegooner.com; @GoonerN5

Jonathan Pritchard

Chelsea braced for City Ground cauldron, Rodri back on the scene and party vibes all round at Anfield

• Golden Boot: how the leading scorers stand

Bournemouth’s hopes of European football were vanquished after defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday but the Cherries, 11th on 53 points, could still achieve ninth spot and match their best finish in the Premier League (under Eddie Howe in 2016-17, although that was achieved with only 46 points). A home game against relegated Leicester looks to offer the perfect opportunity but the closing stretch has been tough for Andoni Iraola’s side, with the past 12 league games producing only two victories. Remarkably, a three-game league form table puts Leicester in fourth after home wins over Southampton and Ipswich either side of a 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest. Perhaps this won’t be the walkover most are expecting, and there could be a wistful feeling in the air at the Vitality on Sunday afternoon. No one can deny it has been a strong season but what a party it might have been. With Dean Huijsen off to Real Madrid and Milos Kerkez linked heavily with the champions, Liverpool, how many of the goodbyes on the traditional end-of-season lap of honour will be permanent? David Tindall

Wednesday’s fare in Bilbao was low on quality, bringing to mind some other high-stakes stinkers, such as the 2003 Champions League showpiece between Milan and Juventus

The attacking talents on show for both Italian sides were frightening. Juventus partnered David Trezeguet in attack with Alessandro Del Piero, while Milan opted for Pippo Inzaghi and Andriy Shevchenko in front of the creativity of Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf and Rui Costa. Such was the embarrassment of riches available to Carlo Ancelotti, Rivaldo was an unused sub for Milan. Yet after 120 minutes, the final remained goalless. Marcello Lippi, who had succeeded Ancelotti as Juve manager in 2001, was particularly culpable, having brought on the defensively minded Antonio Conte as a makeshift No 10 at half-time. How they missed the suspended Pavel Nedved. Milan prevailed in the shootout, with Paolo Maldini lifting the trophy at Old Trafford, but the final did nothing to dispel the belief that Italian football is a defensive game.

Not many at Old Trafford are suited to the manager’s trusty 3-4-2-1 but replacing them will cost hundreds of millions

Everything always seems clearer in the morning, and in the cold grey light of Thursday, the prognosis for Manchester United is bleak. While Tottenham face an awkward calculation – weighing up whether the delirium of a first European trophy in 41 years offsets their worst league season in terms of proportion of games lost – for Manchester United the equation is far starker.

Ruben Amorim will only play in one way. He is committed absolutely, uncompromisingly, irrevocably to the 3-4-2-1. Liverpool considered him, looked at their squad, realised the two things did not go together, appointed Arne Slot and won the league. Manchester United looked at their squad, flinched at the horror, and seem to have reasoned it was such a mess that it was impossible to find a manager whose philosophy would fit. There was a dissenting voice, Dan Ashworth, but at the court of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, reasoned doubts are as unwelcome as a free lunch.

Many happy tax returns | Saving the welfare state | Defeat’s silver lining | Champion pundits | AI and copyright

Re your article (UK’s 50 richest families hold more wealth than 50% of population, analysis finds, 19 May), we would all see how little the super‑rich pay in taxes if we adopted the Scandinavian system of putting all tax returns in the public domain. Nosy neighbours would soon flush out tax dodgers.
Anthony Stoll
London

Steepest drop in nearly eight months as club misses out on lucrative place in next season’s Champions League

Manchester United shares have slumped after the football club was defeated in the final of Europe’s second-tier tournament, which will ultimately lead to £100m in lost revenues.

United lost 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur in the Uefa Europa League final in Bilbao on Wednesday night, dealing a further blow to its billionaire owners, the Glazer family and Sir Jim Ratcliffe. It means the club has failed to qualify for next season’s lucrative Uefa Champions League, Europe’s top-tier football competition.

• No sales needed to pursue top targets Cunha and Delap

• United will listen to offers for players including Garnacho

Ruben Amorim has a summer transfer budget of a little less than £100m and retains Manchester United’s firm backing despite Wednesday’s Europa League final defeat by Tottenham.

As the Guardian previously reported, the executive’s belief in Amorim was not going to be affected by the result at San Mamés in Bilbao. The football department, headed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, wants the Portuguese to have a first pre-season with his team and to strengthen the squad.

• Winger says he will ‘see what happens next’
• He was on bench after starting every knockout game

Alejandro Garnacho has thrown doubt over his Manchester United future, while pointing to how he started every Europa League knockout game but got only “20 minutes” of Wednesday’s 1-0 final defeat by Tottenham.

The winger’s comments regarding his United career come after Ruben Amorim stated he would leave for “no compensation” if the board and fans lose faith in him and Bruno Fernandes said he would depart if the club wanted to “cash in”.

• Head coach ready to leave ‘next day’ if he loses trust
• Midfielder says Amorim ‘has done a lot of good things’

Bruno Fernandes has insisted Ruben Amorim should remain as Manchester United head coach despite Wednesday’s Europa League final defeat to Tottenham, while the captain admitted he would leave if the club wants to “cash in” on him.

United lost the final at San Mamés Stadium to Brennan Johnson’s 42nd-minute winner. Amorim stated afterwards he would leave the “next day” if the board and fans lose faith in him.

After a 17-year wait for another piece of silverware, jubilant Spurs fans from London to Bilbao celebrated their Europa League triumph after a 1-0 victory over fellow Premier League strugglers Manchester United. Postecoglou stuck to his word by winning a trophy in his second season, claiming vindication amid a poor Premier League campaign that has Spurs in 17th position on the back of 21 losses and led to much scrutiny over the Australian’s position.

• Brennan Johnson strikes to clinch Europa League glory for Tottenham

• ‘Mate, I’m a winner’: Postecoglou keen to continue at Spurs after Europa League glory

• Spurs prevail with Mourinho blueprint and ultra pragmatism in baffling final

• Postecoglou: ‘I’m a winner … we’re still building this team’
• Amorim will quit if Manchester United don’t want him

Despite being under pressure to retain his job, Ange Postecoglou insisted he is a “winner” who wants to keep building after Tottenham beat Manchester United 1-0 to claim the Europa League, the club’s first piece of silverware since 2008.

And while Brennan Johnson’s 42nd-minute strike sealed Spurs’ first continental trophy in 41 years, Ruben Amorim stated he would quit as United head coach if the club’s executive and supporters no longer believed in him.

Deployed in central midfield rather than a more unfamiliar No 10 role, the playmaker failed to make his mark in Bilbao

Wanted desperately: a system that allows Manchester United to create a cornucopia of chances, plus a Bruno Fernandes who does not go missing precisely when this one-man Ruben Amorim outfit needs him - in a major European final.

Cumbersome, toothless and lacking flair: this has been Amorim’s 3-4-3 formation since he took over in early November, and was Fernandes on Wednesday night, alongside the (again) impotent Rasmus Højlund, plus the anonymous Mason Mount, Amad Diallo and too many others in United colours.

Ange Postecoglou moved away from his attacking style while Brennan Johnson earned the sweetest vindication

Finals are not for the playing; they’re for the winning. Who cares about the spectacle? Who cares about the quality? At some level football is always more about the narrative and the drama than technical mastery. Tottenham certainly will cheerily ignore what a shambolic game of football this was as they bask in their first trophy since 2008, their first in European competition in 40 years. Glory comes in many forms, and just because this might not be how Danny Blanchflower sanctioned it, does not mean this was not, in its own way, glorious.

But it was a baffling game. For the third round in a row, Tottenham prevailed with a sort of ultra pragmatism. Ange Postecoglou always wins a trophy in his second season, a fact of which he has delighted in reminding everybody. It just seems odd that it took him that long to move away from his characteristic attacking, high-pressing style to a blueprint José Mourinho might have left behind in a drawer. Ange stared into the Barclays, but the Barclays stared back far harder into him.

Romero and Van de Ven were rocks at the back for Spurs, while Højlund never looked like scoring for United

4-2-3-1

For Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham, there was only one story, one mission. It was not about what happens next with the manager; that can wait. It was about grasping an opportunity that does not come around very often, about emerging from what has felt like a generation’s worth of jibes; about winning.

On a golden night for their longsuffering followers, they chased the baggage from their backs, they changed the narrative. Yet again, Postecoglou won in his second season at a club. For the first time since 2008, Spurs got their hands on a trophy.