Man U v Villarreal in Europa League final
FOOTBALL
BERLIN: Manchester United had little difficulty in completing the job started with their semifinal first leg thrashing of Roma last week with a 32 defeat in Italy securing easy progress to the Europa League final yesterday.
But it will not be English Premier League rival Arsenal it meets in Poland's Gdansk on May 26, rather Spain’s Villarreal, which is in a first major final after a goalless second leg in London.
The Yellow Submarine, as Villarreal is known, gained revenge for its 2006 Champions League semifinal loss to Arsenal with a 21 aggregate triumph, while United dominated Roma 85.
United's entry to the final means Manchester could claim both of the major European titles this year, as neighbour City faces Chelsea in the Champions League final three days later.
Only Milan, when AC won the Champions League in 1994 and Inter the then Uefa Cup, has previously managed that feat.
United survived an early scare when its former player Henrikh Mkhitaryan headed wide, but Edinson Cavani, with his third chance of the game, smashed in the 39th minute opener to settle its nerves.
And it was Cavani's simple
header from Bruno Fernandes' cross midway through the second half which ultimately put the tie beyond doubt.
``It's a great achievement,'' United captain Harry Maguire told BT Sport. ``Obviously we didn't win the game tonight, which is disappointing, but we did the hard work in the first leg.’’
Roma deservedly levelled when Edin Dzeko headed in from close range and soon after Bryan Cristante fired in on the hour.
Teenager Nicola Zalewski grabbed the winner on the night but his deflected debut goal offered only late consolation.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had lost his previous four semifinals as
United manager but could finally taste victory.
Villarreal also ended a lastfour hoodoo as it had lost all five of its previous semifinals in various competitions.
Coach Unai Emery, a former Arsenal manager, won three Europa Leagues with Sevilla and is on the brink of glory once more. — DPA