On 68 minutes Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho combined for the Manchester United second that sealed passage into the last 16: over went a delivery from the No 17 and there was Mainoo to finish coolly.
For two young talents who are on the market for the right price here was a satisfying moment that showed Ruben Amorim what can be harnessed if each are retained beyond Monday’s deadline.
It secured, too, a third consecutive win for Amorim, the first time United have done so this season, and gives him a February clear of a playoff to concentrate on training.
Friday’s draw decides which of Midtjylland, Alkmaar, Real Sociedad or Galatasaray United will take on in March’s next round in a competition that, if claimed, comes with the bonus of Champions League qualification.
Amorim said: “We can, game-by-game, win it – you have the responsibility, you are Manchester United so you must fight to win trophies. At this stage of any competition, anything is possible.”
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Lazio finished top of the Europa League’s opening league phase despite a 1-0 defeat at Braga. The hosts got the only goal in the sixth minute as Ricardo Horta fired home from Victor Gómez’s cross – but it was not enough to send them through as they missed a playoff place on goal difference.
Athletic Bilbao finished second after a 3-1 home win over Viktoria Plzen, with Nico Williams [pictured] opening the scoring after 25 minutes. Roma‘s 2-0 home win over Eintracht Frankfurt earned the Italians a seeded playoff spot, Angeliño and Eldur Shomurodov goals forcing Frankfurt down to fifth.
Lyon, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Ludogorets, and Olympiakos, who saw off bottom side Qarabag 3-0 with Ayoub El Kaabi striking twice, complete the top eight with Manchester United, Tottenham and Rangers. Bodø/Glimt let a last-16 place slip as they conceded an equaliser away to eliminated Nice.
Hoffenheim earned a dramatic 4-3 win at Anderlecht, but it was not enough to keep the visitors’ European bid alive. Tom Bischof and Adam Hlozek helped Hoffenheim take a 4-1 lead, but Anderlecht fought back and missed a late chance to level from a corner and take the final last-16 place from Rangers.
Twente advanced at the expense of Besiktas, Daan Rots’ 76th-minute winner earning a home win in a game where both teams needed three points to advance. José Mourinho’s Fenerbahce clung on to the very last unseeded playoff spot after letting a two-goal lead slip to draw 2-2 at Midtjylland.
Ajax climbed above Galatasaray among the seeded playoff teams with a 2-1 home win, Kian Fitz-Jim finishing a quick break for what proved to be the decisive goal. Real Sociedad finished in 13th, between those two sides, as Orri Óskarsson’s double defeated PAOK Salonika.
Porto edged into the playoffs with a 1-0 win at Maccabi Tel Aviv, ending the hosts’ faint chances of progress. Ferencvaros secured their playoff place with a 4-3 win over AZ Alkmaar, Mohamed Ben Romdhane’s double giving the hosts a 4-1 lead before two consolation goals in stoppage time. Guardian sport
Photograph: Miguel Oses/AP
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Mainoo has struggled for game-time under the 40-year-old. “We need time to understand the players, he was struggling a lot defending as a midfielder,” he said.
For now, Amorim ponders what version of United Crystal Palace will encounter when they visit on Sunday: the Portuguese remains aware his side are an enigma.
This began as a contest of the £32m-costing Romanian champions taking on the £267.5m visitors, £72m of which was Rasmus Højlund, the United No 9 who had failed to score in 23 of 28 games this term. Part of the Dane’s problem is a lack of service, as when Christian Eriksen floated in a free-kick, the No 9 leaped, but the ball was aimed at Matthijs de Ligt, who connected weakly.
Diogo Dalot celebrates after scoring the opener at National Arena. Photograph: Andreea Alexandru/AP
Amorim sent out a United XI containing the fringe talents of Toby Collyer, Altay Bayindir and Tyrell Malacia. When Malacia scythed down Florin Tanase he was booked, and Risto Radunovic’s set piece went close to punishing the left wing-back’s recklessness. Again, United’s powderpuff backline failed: the delivery was a diagonal Noussair Mazraoui, De Ligt and Lisandro Martínez all missed yet Mihai Popescu’s sliding volley did the same.
For FCSB it was a glimpse that a famous win was possible. As they should, United retained a dash of potency, as when Højlund ran wide to turn back Martínez’s pass in behind. The striker found Mainoo but he blasted over from point-blank range.
The 1,500 or so United enthusiasts who had made the trip could be happy, though, as those in white spun the ball about at a pace pleasing to Amorim. Eriksen warmed Stefan Tarnovanu’s fingers with a fierce shot, and when Steaua had possession United pressed quickly.
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Manchester United and Tottenham cannot meet until the Europa League final after finishing third and fourth in the league phase table. The two Premier League clubs will be placed on different sides of the bracket in Friday’s draw, and will both play winners of the playoffs between AZ or Midtjylland and Real Sociedad or Galatasaray.
Rangers‘ final-day climb into the top eight means they skip the playoffs, but they could face the teams they pipped to eighth place – Bodø/Glimt or Anderlecht – while their potential playoff opponents, Twente and Fenerbahce, also look dangerous after just avoiding elimination.
If Rangers advance to the quarter-finals, they are likely to face either Lazio or Athletic Bilbao, although the group-topping Serie A side could play arch-rivals Roma in the last 16. Manchester United and Tottenham will be in a quarter with Eintracht Frankfurt or Lyon, depending on the draw’s outcome.
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But Højlund’s toothlessness was evident when a free header, near-in, from Martínez’s flighted ball did not trouble the keeper. This, or one of Mainoo’s two chances, had to be taken as United are no goal machine, and as this opening 45 minus aged, those in blue edged back as a force, pinning their visitors near their area.
United’s shot count was six to Steaua’s paltry two. Their possession percentage was 69. At the interval they were in the fourth place they began the night, Rangers, two points back, the closest to stymieing the bid to avoid a playoff. To shake things up Amorim’s options were to stick or make a change – Amad Diallo’s zest and Garnacho’s directness his best options for this, being his only attackers on the bench.
This was precisely what the Portuguese plumped for. Off went Malacia and Collyer, and on came the Ivorian and Argentinian. Garnacho’s first touch was to clip Tarnovanu’s left post after he latched on to a poor back pass: the speedster raced forward but, in a microcosm of a chief United ill, his radar was awry.
Eriksen seemed to favour De Ligt as the far more likely to net than an actual forward. You could hardly blame him. At a second free-kick one of the two Amorim No 10s pinged the ball over from the left, it bounced on to the Dutchman, but he mirrored Mainoo, Garnacho, Eriksen and Højlund in his pale imitation of a lethal marksman.
Next, Højlund offered a latest, unwanted iteration of the act when passed to inside the Steaua area: he worked the ball sharply on to his favoured left but when he shot Tarnovanu had a simple gather. Yet soon the home keeper saw Fernandes smack an attempt off the frame and when his defence half-cleared, Mainoo directed a cross from the right and Dalot slid in. It came in front of the now jubilant travelling fans, so the wing-back milked his moment.
After Mainoo’s clincher United did what they struggle to do: manage the remainder of the tie professionally. Bayindir’s late save from an Alexandru Baluta rocket ensured that.
