Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani each scored twice on Thursday as Manchester United thrashed an injury-hit AS Roma 6-2 at Old Trafford to close in on the UEFA Europa League final.
United are aiming to get to a final under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the fifth time of asking after four semi-final defeats in the past two seasons, but only a second-leg collapse will prevent them from facing Villarreal or Arsenal in Gdansk, Poland, on May 26 after a stunning second-half performance.
The hosts trailed at halftime after Lorenzo Pellegrini’s penalty and Edin Dzeko’s tap-in canceled out Fernandes’ early opener, but the Italian side lost three players to injury before the break and United took full advantage.
Photo: AFP
Two predatory finishes from Cavani turned the tie around, before Fernandes fired home from the penalty spot.
Paul Pogba and Mason Greenwood rounded off the scoring as United became the first team to score six goals in a European semi-final since Real Madrid in 1963-1964.
“Very pleased with the response,” Solskjaer said. “Second half we were very good.”
With United realistically out of the English Premier League title race, but also almost certain to secure a top-four finish, Solskjaer named his strongest available starting XI as he aims to end a four-year trophy drought for the Red Devils.
The combination play between Pogba, Fernandes and Cavani consistently cut the Roma defense apart, as they only marginally avoided a repeat of the 7-1 hammering they suffered at Old Trafford in the 2006-2007 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
“We know we’ve got creative players, players who can create big chances, score goals, it’s about getting them in the positions,” Solskjaer said.
“Marcus [Rashford], Bruno, Paul, Edinson are all capable. The difference today is we took most of our chances,” he said.
“We had a good first half, but we didn’t exist in the second,” Roma coach Paulo Fonseca told Sky Sport. “It’s difficult to explain how the same team that did so well in the first half had that kind of second half.”
In the other semi-final, Unai Emery won his big reunion with Arsenal, but 2-1 might prove a small reward for Villarreal, who failed to take advantage of Dani Ceballos being sent off in a frantic first leg.
Manu Trigueros and Raul Albiol gave the hosts a dream start at the Estadio de la Ceramica in Villarreal, and the tie looked to be slipping away from Arsenal when Ceballos was shown a second yellow card early in the second half, but 10-man Arsenal rallied and grabbed an away goal when Nicolas Pepe converted a penalty in the 73rd minute, before Villarreal’s Etienne Capoue also saw red with 10 minutes left.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang might even have snatched a late equalizer for the visitors, but Mikel Arteta will be delighted his team are not just in the contest, but in a healthy position, too, with an away goal to take back to London next week.
“It changes completely the tie. It makes a huge difference,” Arteta said. “We know we are there, we have to be better and if we are, we will have the chance to be in the final.”
For Villarreal, a chance was missed, but the lead is still welcome and Emery will take comfort from being the better side for the best part of an hour, even before Ceballos was dismissed.
“Things went for us and against us, but we have to keep believing,” Emery said. “It was a difficult challenge before the match and it’s still difficult, but with everything on the table, we have won, we have the advantage.”
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