Marcus shows true grit to fire up United bid

AT LEAST there was one happy Spaniard in the Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes, David de Gea’s return in goal coinciding with another good night in the Europa League for Manchester United. It belonged to Marcus Rashford, whose superb first-half effort meant that he became the first United player since Wayne Rooney 11 years ago to score 20 or more in back-to-back seasons. And Bruno Fernandes’ late penalty in Andalusia last night means United have one foot in the semi-finals again, having lost in the final four of this competition to Sevilla last season, as they once again set their sights on a first trophy under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. This was the biggest match in Granada’s history — hence the thousands of fans who greeted the team bus outside the stadium — but even though they have knocked out Napoli in their maiden European campaign, it’s hard to see how a team lying ninth in La Liga can turn this tie around in the second leg at Old Trafford next week even though Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay and Luke Shaw will all be suspended. The United boss was nonetheless pleased to have come away victorious. ‘It was not a perfect night,’ he said. ‘We got three yellow cards and three suspensions. Two-nil is a very good result. We know how difficult it is to come to Spain. We’ve got to play well to get a result.’ A side that cost £7million to put together produced a typically spirited performance without ever really stretching United’s Spanish goalkeeper. De Gea’s return in goal was his first appearance in eight games and 39 days since simultaneously becoming a father and losing his No 1 spot to Dean Henderson. Given that Solskjaer usually plays his second-choice keeper in the Europa League — at least until the semi-finals, on the evidence of last season — it could also be seen as something of a back-handed compliment. Solskjaer also started Rashford despite saying he was not a ‘90-minute-man’ for this one due to a persistent ankle injury that the Granada players appeared to enjoy targeting. It had been clear within the first five minutes that Rashford wasn’t moving well, yet the England man recovered sufficiently to have United’s first two shots on goal before scoring their opening goal just after the half-hour mark. Until then, Granada had been careful not to make the same mistakes as Real Sociedad in a 4-0 home defeat to United in the last 32 by defending high up the pitch and offering the Premier League side space in behind. But when De Gea played the ball out to Victor Lindelof, he spotted an opportunity to launch an excellent long ball for Rashford as he peeled away from Domingos Duarte. Rashford (pictured) produced an exquisite touch to bring the ball under control with his right foot and steadied himself before sliding a shot past Rui Silva. Granada started the second half brightly with Kenedy firing another two long-range efforts straight at De Gea, who saved without any fuss. The 30-year-old keeper will have been grateful for the fairly gentle shooting practice here, knowing all eyes were on him. United also threatened when Maguire got forward and rifled a shot wide but he was then booked by Portuguese referee Artur Dias, ruling him out of the second leg as well, and so was Nemanja Matic after replacing Paul Pogba. Fernandes gave United some breathing space with his stoppagetime penalty, only just squeezing his effort home after the midfielder was pushed over by Yan Brice Eteki.