Man United move onto next round of UEFA Cup
An early Henrikh Mkhitaryan goal was enough to send high-flying Manchester United through to the next round of the UEFA Cup. On the back of a sturdy 3-0 result at Old Trafford last week, United rotated their squad somewhat, with an eye toward the end of the week’s cup final against Southampton. While Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba — substitutes on Sunday — started tonight’s game at Stade Geoffrey-Guichard, Valencia, De Gea, Martial, Darmian and Rashford were missing from the starting lineup. As was the suspended Ander Herrera.
The two Pogba brothers lined up against each other over two legs in the UEFA cup. Photo credit: Metro
Although a second half red-card to Eric Bailly looked like it may complicate things, United were quite comfortable even with 10-men; arguably more comfortable than they were last week at Old Trafford. The game ended 1-0 to United, and really, aside from Bailly, the real worry is Mkhitaryan’s injury. Jose Mourinho will hope the in-form Armenian recovers in-time for Sunday’s final. [Update: Mourinho revealed in his post-match press conference that Mkhitaryan and Carrick are both unlikely to feature on Sunday].
Ratings (out of 10):
- Romero – 6. Birthday boy didn’t need to do much.
- Young – 6. Defensively solid and is proving to be a good rotation option for fellow winger-turned-fullback, Tony Valencia.
- Bailly – 5. Was having a good game, until some rash decision-making lead to two rapid yellow cards. Is currently relying on his pace to get him out of trouble. Needs to improve reading of the game.
- Smalling – 7. Looked assured and had a crucial interception in 1st half.
- Blind – 7. Got forward and stretched the play on the left.
- Pogba – 5. Struggled to assert himself in the game.
- Mata – 7. Excellent assist for Mkhitaryan. But disappeared from the game soon after.
- Mkhitaryan – 8. Looked lively before and after his goal, until his substitution due to injury.
- Fellaini – 7. Kept it simple. Had a good chance on goal.
- Carrick – 7. Kept it simple. Moved the ball around and played it into channels for Ibra and other players.
- Ibrahimovic – 7. Final ball was poor at times, but held up play well. Surprised to see him go 90′ tonight.
- Rashford – 7. Lively when he came on.
- Rojo – 6. Didn’t really do anything remarkable.
- Schweinsteiger – 6. Played ~25′ as a substitute. Was tidy in possession.
United go into Sunday’s final having conceded only one goal in over 10 hours of football, and with just one loss in their last 20-odd games.
Likely starting XI for Sunday: De Gea-Valencia-Smalling-Bailly-Blind-Herrera-Fellaini-Pogba-Mata-Ibra-Martial. The Cup final will be shown on beIN Sports at 11:30 AM ET.
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