Thursday 25 February 2016

Man Utd Vs FC Midtjylland (2nd Leg)

MANCHESTER UNITED 5
MIDTJYLLAND 1 (AGG: 6-3)

Europa League Round of 32, second leg | 25
February 2016 | Old Trafford | Attendance: 58,609 |
Scorers: Bodurov og (32), Rashford 63, 75, Herrera
88 (pen), Memphis 90 / Sisto 27

Young striker Marcus Rashford had a night to
remember as he marked his debut with a brace
that helped fire Manchester United into the last 16
of the Europa League as the Reds overturned
Midtjylland's first-leg advantage despite falling
behind.
Pione Sisto followed up his goal in Denmark with a
stylish opener but a much-changed Reds line-up
showed great resolve to hit back swiftly through
Nikolay Bodurov's own goal. Mikkel Andersen
saved Juan Mata's first-half penalty but Rashford
stole the show after the interval with two poacher's
strikes to end the visitors' resistance.
As the Danes tired badly, and lost Andre Romer to
a second yellow card in the closing stages, Ander
Herrera converted a spot-kick and Memphis Depay
wrapped it up with a goal his performance
deserved.
As in the first leg, United lost a key man in the
warm-up with Anthony Martial forced to make way
for Rashford, who was promoted from the bench to
deputise for the French forward. Rashford had a
low shot turned away by Andersen as the Reds set
about trying to overturn the first-leg deficit.
Kian Hansen almost deflected a Memphis cross
into his own net and Kristoffer Olsson's clearance
cannoned off Jesse Lingard and into the side-
netting as the visitors rode their luck with some
desperate defending. Out of nothing, though, they
extended their overall lead to 3-1 on 27 minutes.
Sisto dribbled through the defence before supplying
a neat finish that rolled wide of Sergio Romero for
the opener.
Romero escaped with a risky clearance seconds
later but Louis van Gaal's men regained their
composure with Memphis firing straight at
Andersen after being picked out inside the area by
Morgan Schneiderlin's astute pass. The ever-
positive Memphis whistled another shot wide and
was instrumental in the equaliser.
Guillermo Varela and Mata were involved in the
move that led to Memphis powering down the left
and his dangerous cross was turned past Andersen
by Bodurov. Schneiderlin sent an overhead kick off
target and went closer with a header that struck a
post from Joe Riley's superb cross.
When Herrera was hacked down by Romer inside
the box, although Daley Blind had the ball in a
promising position, referee Istvan Vad pointed to
the spot. Mata stepped up but shot too close to
Andersen, who pulled off a smart save low to his
right tip the effort away with only a couple of
minutes to go in the first half.

HALF-TIME STATS
POSSESSION: United 73% Midtjylland 27%
SHOTS: United 10 Midtjylland 1
SHOTS ON TARGET: United 4 Midtjylland 1
CORNERS: United 8 Midtjylland 0

United kept up the pressure after the restart but
Schneiderlin and Herrera both contrived to miss
excellent chances, with the Spaniard heading the
wrong side of the near post following more good
wing-play by Memphis. Midtjylland attempted to
eat up time at every opportunity but were undone
when Mata kept the ball in to centre for Rashford
to pounce from close range to level the aggregate
score at 3-3 with 63 minutes gone.
Things got even better for the youngster when he
was in the right place at the right time again to
convert Varela's cross from the right, soon after
the Uruguayan switched flanks with Riley. It put
United ahead overall and Rashford nodded over as
he chased his hat-trick.
The referee had seen fit to caution Lingard for
simulation rather than award a second penalty but
he did point to the spot again when Memphis had a
shot handled by Kian Hansen, with Herrera making
no mistake by smashing past Andersen. Soon
afterwards, Romer was dismissed for tugging back
Memphis.
Memphis had tricked and teased his way down the
left all night and he added the fifth late on,
steering an accurate drive into the corner of the
net after advancing with menace towards goal.
Substitute Andreas Pereira came close to making it
six and Regan Poole made his debut towards the
end as this was a job well done by the Reds, who
are safely into the hat for Friday's draw.

FULL-TIME STATS
POSSESSION: United 71% Midtjylland 29%
SHOTS: United 25 Midtjylland 2
SHOTS ON TARGET: United 9 Midtjylland 1
CORNERS: United 14 Midtjylland 1

THE TEAMS
United: Romero, Varela, Carrick, Blind, Riley (Rojo
79), Schneiderlin, Herrera (Poole 91), Lingard
(A.Pereira 86), Mata, Memphis, Rashford. Subs not
used: J.Pereira, Love, McNair. Booked: Lingard .

Midtjylland: Andersen, Romer, Hansen, Bodurov,
Novak, Sparv, Hassan (Kadlec 67), Olsson (Pusic
79), Poulsen, Sisto, Urena (Onuachua 45). Subs not
used: Dahlin, Banggaard Jensen, Bak Nielsen,
Royer. Booked: Novak, Romer. Sent off: Romer.

MATCH REACTION
"It was a great performance and I think the fans
will have enjoyed our attacking football. I believe
they crossed the middle line for the first time when
they scored. Normally you get a decline in
confidence, but it was not like that as we scored,
but missed a penalty – unbelievable! Still we kept
going and going so I must give great compliment
to my players because it is not so easy to do that."
- Louis van Gaal

"Tonight was good and we enjoyed it out on the
pitch. Everybody could see that. We are very happy
to go through and we have to keep this spirit in the
team as we move forward to Sunday." - Memphis

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