Young Gunners star in easy win – but Red Devils struggle again

Arsenal secured another comfortable Europa League victory with Gabriel Martinelli leading the way as Unai Emery’s youngsters again seized the chance to impress against Standard Liege last night.

Bukayo Saka stole the headlines in the recent win at Eintracht Frankfurt and has since progressed into the Gunners’ Premier League side, with Emery making 10 changes from the draw at Manchester United for the 4-0 success here.

Martinelli, who scored twice on his first start for the club in last week’s Carabao Cup win over Nottingham Forest, repeated the feat with another double in three first-half minutes before Joe Willock and Dani Ceballos completed the rout.

Former Celtic defender Kieran Tierney impressed as he continued his comeback from injury by making his second appearance in a Gunners shirt, while Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin – who captained the side for the first time – also continued their comebacks from spells on the sidelines.

Meanwhilemanchester United’s alarming slump continued as another poor and predictable performance saw Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side stumble to a goalless draw at AZ Alkmaar.

After starting his reign with a club-record nine successive away wins in all competitions, Solskjaer’s subsequent wait for a victory on the road stretched to a 10th match on ADO Den Haag’s plastic pitch.

March’s jaw-dropping Champions League last-16 win at Paris St Germain remains the last time United triumphed away from Old Trafford – a stage and performance that was a far cry from last night’s tepid display against AZ.

The tired, artificial pitch in The Hague did not help Solskjaer’s men in this Group L encounter, but their lack of attacking creativity and coherence was a bigger issue for the muchchanged visitors.

Teenager Mason Greenwood’s blocked first-half effort was the best United could manage against AZ, who would have been ahead had their finishing matched their confidence.

The Eredivisie side continued to threaten in the second period but were just unable to find a way past David De Gea as Solskjaer’s team failed to build on their unconvincing opening win against Astana and provide a much-needed dollop of positivity.

Willy Boly wrote his name into Wolves folklore as his stoppage-time goal snatched Wolves a 1-0 victory against Besiktas in Istanbul.

The game looked to be heading for a goalless draw but the big defender was on hand to score a goal befitting of a striker rather than a centre half.

It was Wolves’ first win in European competition for exactly 39 years.