Manchester United has only managed to pick up 10 points out of a possible 21 in the Premier League over their last 7 games and after going top of the table. However, their form in the Europa League has been sublime.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side has only lost 1 game in the competition, which came in the one-legged semifinal of last season’s UEFA Europa League when they lost to Sevilla since the Norwegian has taken charge of the Red Devils.  

The story last night was no different as United faced off against Spanish side Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Europa League Round of 32 matchup. The match was played in Turin at the Juventus Stadium given the COVID-19 restrictions imposed on certain locations, which meant that Real Sociedad could not host United in Spain.

Manchester United seemed to be a level above their opponents as they dominated most of the game. Marcus Rashford had 2 golden opportunities that he should have scored from early on and Scott McTominay also just needed to place the ball past the goalkeeper but only managed to hit it at him to keep the scores level.

Marcus Rashford

Marcus Rashford netted his 17th goal of the campaign and 7th in Europe, this season. (Photo by Sportinfoto/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

United did finally find the breakthrough with Bruno Fernandes pouncing on a horrendous error by goalkeeper Alex Remiro who charged for the ball but missed it completely and crashed into his defender to allow Fernandes to pass the ball into an empty net to make it 1-0.

Manchester United came out of the half dictating the tempo and play. When Real Sociedad had the ball, United looked more dangerous as they broke on the counter on every opportunity they got.

This led to Daniel James running in behind the defenders to set up Bruno Fernandes’ second of the game and to double United’s lead to 2-0 in the 57th minute.

This meant Real Sociedad really had to push to get back into the game to have any chance of getting a result next week at Old Trafford in Manchester but it was not to be. United kept catching them out on the break and were too quick for the Spaniards to handle.

In the 60th minute, Marcus Rashford was picked out by an inch-perfect through ball by Brazilian Fred, which the England international calmly finished past Remiro to give United what seemed to be an unassailable lead at 3-0.

Things really started to open up and the Red Devils were relentless. Daniel James capped off his fantastic performance with a terrific goal to make it 4-0 and lead Manchester United to a resounding victory.

Manchester United now has a 4-goal advantage going back to Old Trafford next week and more importantly, 4 away goals, which practically makes it almost impossible for the Spanish side to turn things around.

This was Real Sociedad’s biggest defeat at a home fixture in European football. The last time a team scored 4 goals was Barcelona when they beat the Spanish side 4-2 but the San Sebastian side had never lost a home game in European club competitions by more than 2 goals before last night.

 

Manchester United are now unbeaten in their last 9 away games across all competitions (won 5 and drawn the other 4), while they have managed to keep a clean sheet in 4 of their last 6.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer praised his team after the result saying, “We played well. We were more clinical in front of goal, of course, even though we had a few chances before we got the first one.”

“But definitely when we got the second, the game opened up and we found ourselves in loads of space.”

The Red Devils will want to get their Premier League campaign back on track as they get ready to face Newcastle this weekend before hosting Real Sociedad for the 2nd leg.