Thursday 13 March 2025 22:00
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Manchester United surged into the Europa League quarter-finals with a resounding 4-1 (5-2 aggregate) victory over Real Sociedad at Old Trafford.
Just 10 minutes had passed when Mikel Oyarzabal won the visitors a penalty, which he converted. It looked like the worst of starts for United, but it would merely set the tone for a thrill-a-minute game of football.
Five minutes later, Bruno Fernandes levelled the game with a spot-kick of his own before, on the other side of half-time, repeating the trick to give the Reds the lead both in the game and in the tie.
But he wasn’t satisified with just that, sealing his hat-trick in the final few minutes, before his fellow countryman Diogo Dalot put the cherry on the cake in stoppage-time. It was a night to remember in Manchester.
Alejandro Garnacho never let the Real Sociedad defence rest.
FIRST HALF – FRANTIC BEGINNINGS
Head coach Ruben Amorim insisted pre-match that there’s nothing behind the Reds’ decision to shoot towards the Stretford End first in recent games, but his men opted to do so – somewhat against tradition – for the fourth home outing in a row.
The jury’s out on whether it proved a lucky charm for United after a chaotic first 15 minutes.
It looked a routine challenge on first viewing when Matthijs de Ligt prevented Oyarzabal from latching onto a Aritz Elustondo cross, but VAR paused proceedings and recommended a closer look. Referee Benoit Bastien made his way to the monitor and, perhaps a little harshly, awarded a spot-kick, converted by Oyarzabal by sending Andre Onana the wrong way.
If the Reds felt hard done by that decision, we would only need to wait a few moments for compensation.
Downed by the early goal, Old Trafford roared into life and their representatives on the pitch responded. Casemiro flicked a clever ball over the top of the visitors’ backline for Fernandes to chase, who switched it, unselfishly and intelligently, across to Rasmus Hojlund.
The Dane looked a sure bet to score before Igor Zubeldia did the only thing he could do: foul Hojlund before he scored. No monitors required for this challenge; United had a penalty of our own and with his signature, devastating style, Fernandes passed the ball home, as though pressure’s a myth.
There was no shortage of spark following that action-packed five-minute spell and, save for a couple of opportunities, it was all going the Reds’ way.
Electric runs past defenders, tricky feet from Joshua Zirkzee, determined pressing from Alejandro Garnacho, a well-caught volley from Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu and strong defending from Ayden Heaven on his full debut. The first half had it all – all but a second goal to take United ahead.
Amorim’s men were forced to try and bottle their opening 45-minutes energy and carry it through the interval. If they could, a breakthrough would surely follow.
Bruno Fernandes didn’t let the visitors’ lead stand for long.
SECOND HALF – DOMINANT HOSTS
Three minutes is all it took to confirm the Reds had taken that fighting spirit through the break and into the second period.
Dalot had already fired a good cross in and, with the opposition still scrambling from a lightning-quick start, Dorgu picked up the ball and flicked it out of Aritz Elustondo’s path, but the full-back was already committed and brought his opposite number down. Our captain had another chance from the spot.
There was no hint of panic from Bruno. Same old routine: step up, score, celebrate. It had been on a slightly delayed fuse, but United’s immense first-half pressure had paid off; we had a lead to defend.
There was no sitting back from Amorim’s men, though, as we chased more goals.
Diogo Dalot celebrates his goal.
Dorgu – having won our second penalty of the game – remained a thorn in the side of the opposition, and he hadn’t inflicted the last of his damage. Zirkzee managed to thread a ball through a packed midfield to the Dane on the opposite wing and, scared the our no.13 was about to accelerate towards goal, Jon Aramburu clumsily brought him to ground. As the last man, the decision was clear, La Real were down to 10 men.
It was a commanding performance all over the pitch by United. Zirkzee, in particular, shone despite not etching his name on the scoresheet. On numerous occasions, he started moves, created chances, held the ball up, almost notched a couple of times towards the end of the game and was deservedly serenaded off the pitch when replaced by Christian Eriksen.
Incredibly, we almost had a third penalty when Dorgu was once again brought down in the penalty area, before it was chalked off by VAR with the wing-back himself appearing to tell the referee it was not a foul.
It mattered not, however. Minutes later, Garnacho set off down the pitch and fed a tireless Fernandes in, who dispatched his shot neatly into the bottom left corner and celebrated his second hat-trick for the club after his treble against Leeds United in 2021.
Still we didn’t stop. This time, Hojlund twisted and turned inside the box to square a ball to Dalot, who smashed our final goal of the evening into the roof of the net. There were no doubts who had controlled this evening at Old Trafford.
A captain’s hat-trick on a scintillating night of football; the Reds were heading into the next round of the Europa League in style.
A special performance by Joshua Zirkzee.
MATCH DETAILS
United: Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Heaven; Dalot, Casemiro (Collyer 78), Fernandes (c), Dorgu; Garnacho, Zirkzee (Eriksen 88); Hojlund.
Subs not used: Harrison, Mee, Amass, Fredricson, Lindelof, J.Fletcher, Ugarte, Scanlon.
Goals: Fernandes 16 (pen), 50 (pen), 87, Dalot 90+1.
Bookings: De Ligt, Collyer.
Real Sociedad: Remiro; Elustondo (Traore 80), Aguerd, Zubeldia (Aramburu 56), Munoz; Marin (Turrientes 56), Zubimendi, Mendez; Becker (Barrenetxea 74), Oyarzabal, Kubo (Oskarsson 75).
Subs not used: Marrero, Beitia, Sergio Gomez, Marrero, Javi Lopez, Mariekurrena, Olasagasti.
Goals: Oyarzabal 10 (pen).
Bookings: Zubeldia, Marin, Zubimendi, Oyarzabal, Elustondo, Aguerd.
Red card: Aramburu.
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Thursday 13 March 2025 22:00
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