Pogba’s back with a bang to spark United
He was the difference. He was what Zlatan Ibrahimovic had hoped to be. The egos landed in the second half at the San Siro, and Paul Pogba won. It was his goal that saw Manchester United through to the last eight, and nobody could deny him: even God.
It was Ibrahimovic — who else — who spoke as a deity this week, announcing his return to international football. God was back, he said. So it must have come as a surprise last night to be eclipsed by a player he would have seen more as a disciple, when they were team-mates together at Old Trafford.
Pogba and Ibrahimovic were both introduced as substitutes to try to win the game — Pogba at half-time, Ibrahimovic after 64 minutes — but only one pulled it off. Pogba’s influence was greatest. At the end the men exchanged shirts, a sign of mutual respect, but they are at different stages of their careers now.
Ibrahimovic is in his twilight, Pogba at 28 is in his prime. This was an exceptional, game-changing performance on his return from injury. Whoever Pogba played for would have won this match.
Ibrahimovic had a header saved by Dean Henderson after 74 minutes, rising above Luke Shaw, but never looked like dragging Milan back into the tie. Once Pogba gave them the lead it was always heading United’s way.
He has been out since February 6, the 39th minute of a match at everton, but took just three minutes to make his presence felt here. And what presence it was. United’s goal was scrambled and messy, but Pogba was the core of it, the strong central pillar amid the chaos.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer played him on the forward left, where Marcus Rashford had been operating, and it was there that he held the ball up and fed it back to Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese played a crossfield pass to Aaron Wan-Bissaka, at which point Pogba embarked on a loping run towards the penalty area.
Wan-Bissaka squared the ball inside to Daniel James, whose shot was blocked and by now Pogba was in situ. He picked up the spare and laid it back to Fred, who lost it in a flurry of defensive activity. Pogba, however, was first to the loose ball again.
Suddenly, he was moving in slow motion while those around him engaged in frenzied activity. Pogba seemed to be the only one thinking calmly. He delayed his decision, considered a split second more, then lashed it past goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma on an upward trajectory.
It was a great goal. A moment of clarity amid confusion, and that was what it must have felt like for Manchester United, too. Pogba allowed them to leave a mark on the game in a way they simply hadn’t early on.
Soon, Mason Greenwood had a shot saved by Donnarumma, the first time he had been called into serious action, beyond retrieving the ball from the net. Pogba drew the first booking of the game too, holding off Pierre Kalulu as the midfielder grew more frustrated.
eventually, referee Felix Brych had seen enough. As he had soon after when Diogo Dalot — technically, still Pogba’s team-mate — was the next to bring him down. It is no exaggeration to say he transformed the action — not just addressing United’s confidence levels, but Milan’s too. They hadn’t looked rattled until he turned up.
The warning signs were there when AC Milan lined up without a recognised striker. Shorn of numbers but carrying an away goal from their visit to Old Trafford, a clean sheet would do it for the Italians. Not that they were negative — in fact they had the best of the first half — but they weren’t looking to take unnecessary chances.
Coach Stefano Pioli set his team up well, sitting deep, denying United’s forwards the space in behind. Rashford and Greenwood were disappointing in the early exchanges. Fernandes’ distribution was erratic and far from going for the necessary away goal, United were in a bit of torpor by half-time. James was working hard on the right, trying to get the better of the forward-thinking Theo Hernandez, but to little avail. In the sixth minute, he looked as if he might have caught Donnarumma in possession but the ball rebounded off him for a goal-kick.
Another good run in a promising situation — two on one — ended with an outstanding tackle by Fikayo Tomori, late of Chelsea. James claimed a penalty but replays instead showed the defender getting a vital first touch on the ball with his studs.
Across 45 minutes, it left United’s lone tilt at goal a wayward shot from Fernandes after Shaw had laid the ball off. It was a meagre return in the circumstances, demonstrating the caution that has too often been a feature of United’s play in their biggest matches. And then Pogba arrived.
Milan, too, were slow to get going, but as the first half wore on, they had begun to dictate the play and the tempo. Franck Kessie, unlucky to have a goal disallowed at Old Trafford last week that could have transformed the tie, had their first shot of the game after 15 minutes, easily mopped up by Henderson.
Towards the end of the half, however, Milan had two good chances. In the 41st minute, Kessie fed Alexis Saelemaekers whose shot was parried to the left by Henderson. The next attack saw Rade Krunic break down the right, crossing for Hakan Calhanoglu who didn’t hit the target.
Maybe it was this that persuaded Solskjaer to make the switch that changed the game. Rashford had played with strapping around an ankle and whether that was troubling him, or whether his quiet 45 minutes was purely coincidental, the manager had seen enough. Pogba had missed 10 games through injury, and United have only won five of them. One imagines those numbers might be set for transformation now, too.