Manchester United reach the Europa League final by skin of their teeth after dramatic Celta Vigo draw
Manchester United 1 Celta Vigo 1 (agg: 2-1): Both Eric Bailly and Facundo Roncaglia were sent off at the end
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jose Mourinho made his managerial name by winning the Uefa Cup and now he is one game away from repeating the feat.
Lifting the Europa League as the Uefa Cup is now called and bringing Champions League football back to Old Trafford is the only way Mourinho could have forged a success from his first season at Manchester United.
Standing in their way is one of the great names of European football, a young, dazzlingly talented but brittle Ajax side. Given Mourinho’s record in finals, few would bet against him in Stockholm.
He will have to do it without Eric Bailly. The Ivorian was dismissed in a fracas just after Celta Vigo, whose side costs a quarter of Juan Mata’s transfer fee, had equalised through Facundo Roncaglia’s header. The Argentine was also dismissed and the two men had to be kept apart as they walked towards the tunnel.
The journey to Sweden has been effective rather than heroic – only two results, the 4-0 win over Feyenoord and the 3-0 defeat of St Etienne – could be counted as memorable. However, this was a victory decided by one of Manchester United’s most effective players.
Leading 1-0 from the first leg, the tie seemed settled the moment Marouane Fellaini escaped his marker to meet Marcus Rashford’s cross on the six yard box. His header squeezed between Sergio Alvarez’s glove and the post. It was a beautiful floated ball from the teenager and the Belgian’s header brooked no argument. Celta Vigo, needing now to score two times, seemed finished.
However, Celta played far, far better beneath the steepling stands of Old Trafford than they had in front of their own supporters in the more modest surroundings of their own ground, the Balaidos. They deserved their equaliser and kept passing and probing while their Ugandan-born forward, Pone Sisto, forced Sergio Romero to tip his shot into the Stretford End.
Two years ago in another Europa League tie, Sisto had scored for Midtjylland to inflict one of the most embarrassing defeats in Manchester United’s European history. An astonishing debut from Rashford erased that result and his touch for Fellaini’s goal showed Rashford’s game was about more than goals.
If Fellaini’s dismissal in the Manchester derby for two fouls within minutes of each other, emphasised his inadequacies, the way he dealt with Rashford’s cross suggested his value. He gives Manchester United something they lack, a committed physical presence.
This has been a fairly awful season for David Moyes but as he dealt with Sunderland’s relegation, he could at least reflect that his two signings – Fellaini and Mata – are still at Old Trafford, which is more than you can say for most of Louis van Gaal’s.
Celta’s players thought that one of them, Daley Blind, was fortunate not to have been dismissed for a studs-up challenge midway through the first half. That was not Manchester United’s only scare.
The way Celta Vigo went out of the Copa del Rey emphasised what sort of team they are. They had knocked out Real Madrid in the quarters and in the semi-finals lost to Alaves, the little club from the Basque Country who contested an epic Uefa Cup final with Liverpool in 2001.
Iago Aspas, who had spent a thin time under Brendan Rodgers at Anfield, remarked: “we have one more bullet that we want to use well”. The way Aspas’s side-footed, curling shot forced Romero to tip over in the opening exchanges proved they could shoot but Rashford’s goal in the Balaidos had given Manchester United too much protection.
As Celta Vigo pushed forward in the second half so did United. If Alvarez had been at fault for the goal, he made some fine saves from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Rashford and from Fellaini, hunting an improbable second.
As Mourinho watched from the touchline as Old Trafford’s electronic clock counted down the minutes, he could see a long banner that ran along the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand. It depicted all the trophies Ferguson had won in his 26 years at Manchester United. It did not include the Uefa Cup.
When it came to European football, the great helmsman dealt mainly in Champions Leagues. However, should Manchester United win in Stockholm, Mourinho would have achieved something Ferguson did not. It may be a very small thing but in the rebuilding of Manchester United it is a start.
Manchester United (4-3-3): Romero; Valencia, Bailly, Blind, Darmian; Pogba, Pogba, Herrera, Fellaini; Mkhitaryan (Carrick 77), Rashford (Smalling 89), Lingard (Rooney 86).
Substitutes: De Gea, Jones, Mata, Martial.
Celta Vigo (4-3-3): Alvarez; Mallo, Cabral, Roncaglia, Jonny; Wass (Jozabed ht), Radoja (Bongonda 68), Hernandez; Aspas, Guidetti, Sisto (Beauvue 80).
Substitutes: Villar, Fontas, Diaz, Gomez.
Referee: Ovidiu Hategan (Romania)
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments