Man United, Lyon advance to Europa League quarterfinals

Manchester United’s progress to the Europa League quarterfinals came at a cost after Paul Pogba hobbled off hurt in the 1-0 win over Rostov on Thursday.

Published : Mar 17, 2017 03:31 IST

Manchester United players celebrate after Juan Mata's goal.
Manchester United players celebrate after Juan Mata's goal.
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Manchester United players celebrate after Juan Mata's goal.

Manchester United’s progress to the Europa League quarterfinals came at a cost after Paul Pogba hobbled off hurt in the 1-0 win over Rostov on Thursday.

The world’s most expensive player pulled up off the ball in the 47th minute at Old Trafford and slumped to the ground with an apparent right hamstring problem.

It proved to be a tough night for United against a Russian team that defended deeply and played on the counterattack in search of the away goal it needed following a 1-1 draw in the first leg.

Juan Mata scored the only goal, tapping home at the far post in the 70th after Zlatan Ibrahimovic flicked on a right-wing cross from Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Ibrahimovic struck two shots against the post in the first half.

United is taking the Europa League seriously as the competition offers a route into the Champions League. United is sixth in the English Premier League, with only the top four securing Champions League qualification.

The English team’s biggest rival in Europe’s second-tier competition, which is shorn of genuine quality this season, might be Lyon.

The French team ousted Roma 5-4 on aggregate despite losing 2-1 in the Italian capital.

Mouctar Diakhaby put Lyon ahead in the 16th before Roma fought back through goals by Kevin Strootman and Lucas Tousard’s own goal.

BORUSSIA MOENCHENGLADBACH 2, SCHALKE 2 (3-3 aggregate, Schalke advances on away goals)

This all-German matchup was the only last-16 contest to be settled by the away-goals rule.

Midfielder Nabil Bentaleb scored the decisive goal with a 68th-minute penalty, as Schalke came from two goals behind on the night.

Andreas Christiansen and Mahmoud Dahoud put Moenchengladbach 3-1 ahead on aggregate, but Dahoud conceded the penalty with a handball.

AJAX 2, COPENHAGEN 0 (Ajax advances 3-2 on aggregate)

Ajax overturned a 2-1 deficit from the first leg thanks to first-half goals by Bertrand Traore and Kasper Dolberg.

Dolberg converted the crucial goal from the penalty spot in the third minute of stoppage time after he was tripped in the area.

BESIKTAS 4, OLYMPIAKOS 1 (Besiktas advances 5-2 on aggregate)

Besiktas weathered the first-half sending-off of Vincent Aboubakar to advance to the quarterfinals for the second time.

Aboubakar opened the scoring for the Turkish champions long before he was given a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident in the 39th.

At that stage, Besiktas was 2-1 ahead on the night and 3-2 up on aggregate but the hosts scored in the final 15 minutes through Ryan Babel and Cenk Tosun to ease through.

KRASNODAR 0, CELTA VIGO 2 (Celta Vigo advances 4-1 on aggregate)

Celta Vigo is back in the last eight for the first time in 16 years.

Second-half goals from Mallo and Iago Aspas allowed Celta to build on its 2-1 lead from the first leg.

Celta is the only Spanish team remaining. Spain has had five winners in the last seven Europa Leagues.

OTHER RESULTS

There will be two Belgian teams in the quarterfinals.

Genk overcame Gent 6-3 on aggregate in their all-Belgian matchup after a 1-1 draw in the second leg, while Anderlecht earned a second 1-0 win over APOEL thanks to Frank Acheampomng’s goal.

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