Rostov v Manchester United: Bukharov cancels out Mkhitaryan

Henrikh Mkhitaryan gave the visiting team the lead in the 35th minute, but this was neutralised by Alexander Bukharov’s goal eight minutes into the second half.

Published : Mar 10, 2017 03:03 IST , Zurich

Manchester United's Henrikh Mkhitaryan gave Manchester United the lead.
Manchester United's Henrikh Mkhitaryan gave Manchester United the lead.
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Manchester United's Henrikh Mkhitaryan gave Manchester United the lead.

Manchester United was held to a 1-1 draw by Rostov in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 clash on Thursday, leaving the tie in the balance ahead of next week's return fixture at Old Trafford.

The fit-again Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored the opening goal with United's first real chance 10 minutes before half-time, the Armenian finishing off a cutback from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Mkhitaryan's return was a timely boost for United, having not featured since the win over Saint-Etienne in the last round due to a hamstring problem, but his side could not hold on to its lead.

Aleksandr Bukharov equalised for Rostov eight minutes into the second half, getting between Chris Smalling and Phil Jones to take Timofei Kalachev's lofted pass on his chest and finish well.

Rostov could even have snatched a comeback victory in its first ever meeting with English opposition, but Aleksandr Erokhin's strike curled away from goal.

Jose Mourinho experimented with a back three ahead of Monday's FA Cup quarterfinal tie at Premier League leader Chelsea, but United was unable to record a fifth consecutive Europa League clean sheet and will have work to do in next week's second leg.

Christian Noboa had the first strike at goal in the second minute but Sergio Romero made a comfortable save, before Paul Pogba miscued a shot when found by Ashley Young in the Rostov box in a rapid start to the game.

Mourinho complained about the poor state of the Rostov pitch before the match and it started cutting up almost immediately, affecting the passing rhythm of both sides, while Rostov was also disrupted by having to replace the injured Vladimir Granat after 18 minutes.

United gradually took control of a poor-quality encounter and the visiting team opened the scoring after 35 minutes with its first shot on target, through the returning Mkhitaryan.

Marouane Fellaini took a long ball down on his chest and slipped a pass behind the Rostov defence for Ibrahimovic, who used the outside of his right boot to neatly pick out Mkhitaryan for an easy close-range finish.

Ibrahimovic, who will miss United's next three domestic games through suspension after elbowing Bournemouth's Tyrone Mings, flashed a drive over the bar soon after the restart.

And Rostov then drew level after 53 minutes with a goal created out of absolutely nothing.

Kalachev was given space to drive into United territory and he floated a delightful pass into the box for Bukharov to chest down and blast a fine finish past the helpless Romero.

Rostov went close to taking a shock first-leg lead when Erokhin's shot swerved wide after he was set up by Dmitri Poloz, while Kalachev slashed an effort off target from just outside the area, as United toiled on the difficult surface.

Home captain Aleksandr Gatskan almost won the game with three minutes remaining, but Romero saved his powerful volley, leaving the tie finely poised.

Key Opta stats:

- Manchester United has drawn four of its five away trips against Russian opponents in Europe (W1 D4).
- Jose Mourinho's sides have scored an away goal in the first leg of a European tie in 11 of the 13 games he has overseen.
- Manchester United recorded its lowest pass accuracy of the season against Rostov (61.17 per cent).
- Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been directly involved in six goals in his last seven appearances for Manchester United (4 goals, 2 assists).
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic provided the assist for the Red Devils’ first goal, it was his 33rd goal involvement of the season (26 goals, seven assists).
- Indeed, Ibrahimovic has been directly involved in 40 per cent of Manchester United’s 82 goals.

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