Pierre Pellegri: The Pink Panther

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Tottenham Hotspur came from behind to wrap up the Premier League season with a 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Spurs finished the campaign in 6th place while Wolves finished in 10th place. It was a disappointing league campaign for both clubs who had new managers at the helm this campaign - Mourinho for Spurs and Pellegri for Wolves.

Spurs were without a host of players as Hugo Lloris, Serge Aurier, Jan Vertonghen, Ben Davies, Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso, Lucas Moura, Erik Lamela, Son Heung-Min and Harry Kane through injury. Despite the high number of absences, Spurs proved to be a formidable side and a full-strength Wolves struggled to assert themselves over their opponents.

In an otherwise uneventful first half, Morgan Gibbs-White scored for the visitors. It came from a João Moutinho corner as the veteran Portuguese midfielder drilled a cross towards the near post area. Gibbs-White beat Juan Foyth to the ball and saw his header sail passed a helpless Paolo Gazzaniga. Wolves had taken the lead.

Mourinho got into his Spurs side at half-time and tore them a new one. The team in white came out to perform much better in the second half and soon found an equaliser. Coady was first to a Harry Winks free-kick from wide but his clearances only went as far as the head of Dele Alli who redirected the ball back towards Wolves' goal. Gedson Fernandes got in front of Rui Patrício and poked the ball into the back of the net from close range to level the score.

Spurs turned the game on its head in the second half and scored the winner with less than twenty minutes remaining on the clock. Wolves' Willy Boly was at fault for the goal, losing Steven Bergwijn at the back post. The Dutch winger got on the end of a Moussa Sissoko cross to prod home the game-winning goal for Mourinho's men. It wasn't the first time in recent weeks that Boly had made a high-profile error, with his critics returning to criticise his performances once more.

The result did little to change the final league table. Mourinho and Spurs had a poor season and could only celebrate a 6th place finish. For Pellegri and Wolves, there was a bitter feeling. The club was 19th when Pellegri arrived at the end of November and their 10th place finish was significantly better, but they know they could have finished a lot higher had their form not dipped between February and April.

It was Spurs' last game of the season but Wolves had two more. With an FA Cup final and a Europa League final on the horizon, Pellegri and his players will need to shut their final league game out of mind as they aim for silverware and potentially qualification for European football for next season.

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Manchester City rode their luck as they defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup final following a tense penalty shootout. The game was tied at 1-1 before the shootout, before an incident between Guardiola and his opposite number Pellegri caused quite a stir on the sidelines. The game was settled by penalties as Leander Dendoncker's miss from the spot proved decisive, handing Manchester City their 7th ever FA Cup trophy win.

Manchester City were without João Cancelo, Bernardo Silva and Leroy Sané, who were all injured, while Wolves were without January signing Kalvin Phillips, who was cup tied following his appearances for Leeds in the competition this season. Guardiola's City side lined up in a familiar 4-3-3 shape, while Wolves were playing in a 3-5-2 formation that had become a common theme under Pellegri's management.

The first meaningful chance of the game presented itself to Wolves before the ten minute mark, but they were denied by the alert Claudio Bravo. Rúben Neves first saw his free-kick parried by the veteran goalkeeper before Bravo then reacted quickly to smother a close-range effort from Raúl Jiménez.

The game was a heated affair, with a total of 32 fouls occurring - with each side recording 16. There were plenty of words spoken between Pellegri and his counterpart Guardiola, with their relationship certainly beyond strained. The pair bickered and argued with each other throughout the game, often shouting whenever a contentious was made.

Wolves were left wandering how they hadn't taken the lead early in the second half when Diogo Jota produced a moment of magic. The Portuguese forward picked up the ball deep in his own half before beating both Fernandinho and Laporte and racing free on goal. He looked to take the ball beyond Bravo, but the goalkeeper got down quickly to palm the ball out for a corner. It was another chance wasted by the midlands club.

The chances continued to come for Wolves as Moutinho first fired into to the side netting of City's goal before Willy Boly headed over the bar from close range. The groans of the Wolves faithful, who far outnumbered the City fans at the ground, grew more and more audible as the game ticked on.

The real drama kicked off in the final minute of regulation time. Manchester City attacked Wolves' box from wide, with David Silva leading the charge. The ageing Citizen was fouled by a clumsy Rúben Vinagre tackle, with City earning a penalty from referee Anthony Taylor. City's all-time top scorer Sergio Agüero converted cooly from the spot to all-but-certainly win the title for the team in blue.

Wolves under Pellegri had developed a never-say-die attitude, and Diogo Jota provided the magic moment for his side. Picking up the ball on the left wing, Jota cut inside and skipped passed the helpless challenge of a lumbering Kyle Walker before unleashing a driven shot at goal. The effort was blocked by a desperate John Stones but the rebound fell kindly to Jota who squeezed the ball in at the near post to tie the game in the dying minutes of stoppage time. It was an escape rope at the death!

The goal sparked outrage on Man City's bench, with Guardiola storming to the edge of his technical area to protest with the referee. Pellegri took the opportunity to have a dig at his counterpart, who retaliated by squirting water from a bottle at the Frenchman. Pellegri reacted angrily by storming towards Guardiola and knocking the bottle out of his hands before shouting in his face. The pair were subsequently split up by the fourth official and members from each coaching panel, before being shown the yellow card by the referee Anthony Taylor.

With Manchester City's energy well and truly spent, Wolves dominated the extra time period. However, Man City had Claudio Bravo to thank as he produced fine saves to deny Jiménez, Doherty and Neto, who all spurned glorious goal scoring chances. City rode their luck considerably in the final few minutes, with Jiménez also falsely adjudged to be offside when one-on-one with Bravo. The decision caused anger in the Wolves camp, but the game dragged on into a penalty shootout.

The first four penalties for each side were perfectly taken. Moutinho, Jota, Jiménez and Coady all scored for Wolves while Vidal, Agüero, De Bruyne and Stones scored for City. However, Leander Dendoncker was the man to miss as he put Wolves' fifth penalty wide of the post. Aymerick Laporte scored the decisive penalty for Manchester City, winning the trophy for Guardiola's side.

While the Wolves players, staff and fans were heartbroken, City's were deep in celebration. However, there was more bitterness to follow as Guardiola was pictured laughing and pointing at Pellegri, showing off his winner's medal in the process. Pellegri did not react to this, possibly fearing reprimand from the FA, as Guardiola openly mocked the manager. It was a special day turned sour for Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Replies

ScottT & scott_ish, I think Pellegri is taking the mentality of aiming for only the best. Let's hope he can have a better league season to celebrate next time out!
Griffo, how about single?
Wolf, winning would be nice
J_ames, yes
tedbro20, yes, the Europa League
Jack, we're now down to one final.... let's hope we win that one at least!

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