LET’S HEAR IT FOR BRUNO
Fernandes fires United’s extra time winner from spot
MANCHESTER UNITED needed their 21st penalty of the season to beat Copenhagen in extra-time and reach the Europa League semi-finals.
Bruno Fernandes converted the spotkick, his 11th goal since joining the club in January, to end the frustration for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team. It was awarded in the 95th minute when Anthony Martial was bundled over.
United struck the woodwork several times and had two goals disallowed for offside, and another penalty award overturned by VAR. Outstanding keeper Karl-Johan Johnsson also denied them.
JADON SANCHO wasn’t the only target that threatened to get away from Manchester United in Germany yesterday.
No sooner had Borussia Dortmund smuggled the England winger over the border into Switzerland than United made very hard work of winning their Europa League quarter-final on a sweltering night in Cologne.
It wasn’t meant to be like this. The Danes of Copenhagen were meant to be one of the easier obstacles to clear en route to a semi-final date with either Wolves or Sevilla back here at the RheinEnergie Stadion on Sunday. But midnight was approaching when Bruno Fernandes finally made the breakthrough from the penalty spot in extra time to keep Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side in Germany for six more days at least.
Substitute Juan Mata played Anthony Martial through for the second time in quick succession and goalkeeper Karl-Johan Johnsson was equal to him again.
This time, however, Mata played the ball back in and Martial was bundled over by Andreas Bjelland. French referee Clement Turpin awarded United’s 21st penalty of this marathon season and Fernandes stepped up to convert in the 95th minute.
They will have to be much better on Sunday, whichever side they face. United have been flying since the restart but they have also looked rather ordinary at times and this was one such occasion.
Yes, they hit the woodwork several times last night and had two goals disallowed. But they also had to rely on some desperate last- ditch defending against a Copenhagen side who caused them more problems than they will have expected.
This felt like a European quarterfinal in name only. A two-legged tie between United and Copenhagen in Manchester and the Danish capital would have been a boisterous affair if nothing else.
Instead, there were no fans in the bars of Cologne, one of four German cities chosen to host the final stages of this competition in a one-legged format for the first time. No flags, no songs echoing around the city.
Having made changes in both games against LASK in the last 16, Solskjaer reverted to a stronger line-up with Sergio Romero, Eric Bailly and Fred the only players who would not usually appear in his current first XI.
This was a significantly bigger occasion for Copenhagen, in their first ever European quarter-final, and the piercing screech of their coach Stale Solbakken echoed around the place far more than that of his old Norway team-mate Solskjaer as he urged Paul Pogba to get on the ball in a ragged first half for United.
It was a story of overhit passes in attack and uncertainty at the back. Copenhagen grew visibly in confidence as they realised United were having an off-night.
Bailly had already got a vital touch to block Mohamed Daramy’s goalbound effort when the Danes came closest to breaking the deadlock in the 18th minute.
Fred’s awful, hurried clearance was intercepted and suddenly Daramy was through on goal.
Bailly tried to get back and stop him but was left on his backside by a wonderful turn, and it needed Harry Maguire’s lunging interception to stop Copenhagen’s young No 11 from putting them ahead.
The danger still wasn’t cleared and Pogba had to make another vital block in the following melee.
United struggled to click into gear going forward and Bruno
Fernandes’ free kick, fired well over the bar after Jens Stage had fouled Mason Greenwood, rather summed up their performance.
United thought they had a penalty in the 24th minute when referee Clement Turpin pointed to the spot after goalkeeper Johnsson had tipped Martial’s header against the bar, but the VAR gave offside against Maguire instead.
And there was more frustration for Solskjaer’s side at the end of the first half when Greenwood broke through to score off the far post, but another VAR check showed that the teenager was offside when he received the ball from Marcus Rashford.
United had the ball in the net again soon after the restart, Greenwood’s shot this time coming back off the post with Johnsson beaten and Rashford knew he was offside when he turned the loose ball into the net. The woodwork also denied Fernandes who finally found his range with a 25-yarder that rattled the far post.
But Copenhagen reminded United of their threat when danger man Rasmus Falk bamboozled Brandon Williams and Fred with a sublime turn to get in behind.
The ball was moved wide for former Everton man Bryan Oviedo who seemed certain to score but Aaron Wan-Bissaka made another great block. Falk had a penalty appeal turned down under Williams’ challenge as the 90 minutes ended goalless, but the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot five minutes into extra time.
Fernandes got the decisive goal and there were still a few late nerves after Lindelof missed a chance to make it two by hitting the post.
● FORMER United striker Romelu Lukaku fired Inter Milan into the semi-finals as they beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 in Dusseldorf last night. The Belgian’s first-half effort added to a Nicolo Barella strike before Chelsea target Kai Havertz pulled one back for Leverkusen. Inter will face Basel or Shakhtar Donetsk in Cologne on Monday. MAN UTD (4-2-3-1): Romero 6.5; Wan-Bissaka 6.5, Bailly 6 (Lindelof 71min, 6), Maguire 6, Williams 6; Pogba 5.5, Fred 5 (Matic 70, 6); Greenwood 6 (Mata 90), Fernandes 6.5, Rashford 6 (Lingard 113); Martial 6 (McTominay 120).
Subs not used: De Gea, Pereira, James, FosuMensah, Ighalo, Chong, Mengi. Scorers: Fernandes (pen) 95. Booked: Maguire, Bailly.
Manager: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 6. FC COPENHAGEN (4-3-3): JOHNSSON 8.5; Varela 6 (Bartolec 105), Nelsson 6.5, Bjelland 7, Boilesen 6 (Bengtsson 15, 6.5); Biel 6 (Oviedo 58, 6), Stage 6.5 (Mudrazija 105), Zeca 6; Daramy 7 (Kaufmann 57, 6), Wind 6.5, Falk 8 (Boving 111).
Subs not used: Andersen, Papagiannopoulos, Grytebust, Hjaelmhof. Booked: Stage, Kaufmann, Zeca.
Manager: Stale Solbakken 7. Referee: Clement Turpin 6.