UNITED JOY AS POGBA PUTS ZLATAN IN THE SHADE

THE egos landed, and Paul Pogba won. It was his goal that saw Manchester United through to the last eight, and not even God could deny him. Zlatan Ibrahimovic spoke as a deity this week when he announced his return to international football. The God was back, he said. So it must have come as a surprise to be eclipsed by a player he saw more as a disciple when they were Old Trafford team-mates. Pogba was introduced at half-time, Ibrahimovic after 64 minutes, but Pogba was the hero. Ibrahimovic had a header saved by Dean Henderson on 74 minutes, but couldn’t drag Milan back into the tie. Pogba has been out since February 6 at Everton, but took just three minutes to make his presence felt. United’s goal was scrambled, but he was the core of it, the strong central pillar amid the chaos. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer played him on the left, where Marcus Rashford had been operating, and it was there 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. Suddenly, he was moving in slow motion while those around him engaged in frenzied activity. He delayed his decision, thought a split second more, then lashed it past Gianluigi Donnarumma. It was a great goal. A moment of clarity amid confusion. Pogba allowed United to make a mark on the game in a way they simply hadn’t early on. Solskjaer admitted afterwards: ‘He’s been out for almost two months and any team would miss a player like Paul Pogba. He makes a very, very big difference to us.’ 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. Milan hadn’t looked at all rattled until he turned up. He switched roles with Greenwood, too, moving from left to false nine. Suddenly, Milan looked stretched. A clean sheet would have done for the Italians. Coach Stefano Pioli had set his team up well, sitting deep, denying United’s forwards the space in behind. United were in a bit of a torpor by half-time. Their lone tilt at goal in the first half was a wayward shot from Fernandes. Milan, too, were slow to get going, but began to dictate the play and tempo. Franck Kessie had their first shot after 15 minutes, easily mopped up by Henderson. Towards the end of the half, they had two good chances. In the 41st minute, Kessie fed Alexis Saelemaekers, whose shot was parried to the left by Henderson. The last attack of the half saw Rade Krunic cross for Hakan Calhanoglu, who met it on the volley but should have got it on target from close range. Maybe that persuaded Solskjaer to make the switch that changed the game. Pogba had missed ten games through injury, but was available and on the bench. On he came and United were a different team.