Manchester United reached their first final under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after failing on the previous 4 attempts after AS Roma snapped United’s seven-match unbeaten run in an entertaining Europa League semifinal tie with that saw the Italian side winning 3-2.
United may have lost the second leg in Rome but a dominant showing in the first leg in Manchester had all but certainly secured their spot in the final as they crushed the Romans 6-2 in Europe’s second-tier football competition.
Edinson Cavani scored both goals for Manchester United to add to the two he scored in the first leg as well. Man United’s new #7 has been stellar and given impetus to a United attack that was just lacking prolific scoring in the striking position.
The Uruguayan opened the scoring with a fabulous first-half effort, on a counter-attack that saw Fred intercept the ball, and play a neat give and go with Bruno Fernandes.
The Portuguese playmaker’s first touch pass played Fred through with some space to pick out Cavani who timed his run to perfection to stay onside. He then smashed the ball past the goalkeeper who was helpless as the power and pace outdid him completely.
Cavani also found the net with a fine header as he ran into space from the far side to be unmarked, again timing his run to perfection as Bruno Fernandes picked him out with a delightful floated ball displaying his incredible vision.
In between, Roma also bagged a goal as former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko scored his ninth goal against United and made it 2 in 2 games before Bryan Cristante also scored a beauty from the edge of the box to put the Romans ahead at the time at the hour mark.
Manchester United players celebrate Edinson Cavani’s second goal (Photo by Claudio Pasquazi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Substitute Nicola Zalewski grabbed the winner for Roma in what looked like he was clearly offside but VAR ruled that it was fine that could have sparked controversy but it was of no real consequence so did not seem to bother the Red Devils much.
Zalewski’s shot went in through David de Gea’s legs after taking a cruel deflection off Brazilian defender Alex Telles.
The aggregate scored ended 8-5 in Manchester United’s favour as they sailed into the final to be held in Gdansk, Poland on 26th May.
Arsenal failed to make it another all-English final after Manchester City and Chelsea qualified for the Champions League final as they were held to a 0-0 draw in the second leg of their semifinal against Villarreal in the Europa League. The Gunners had lost the first leg 2-1 in Spain and needed just 1 goal to go through but failed to do so.
This means that Mikel Arteta’s side has no hopes of playing European football next season as they languish in 10th place and are out of all cup competitions, which is ironic given their original involvement in The Super League.
United are without a trophy since 2017, their longest run since the five-year gap between 1985 and 1990, which was ended by an FA Cup success that marked the start of Sir Alex Ferguson’s unparalleled success.
Jose Mourinho was the manager in 2017 when United last won a trophy as they won the Europa League itself back then.
Manchester United are next in action on Sunday when they begin a run of three Premier League games in five days at Villa Park against Aston Villa.
