United keep on course after late attack of nerves
At a club where so much has gone wrong since the end of the Sir Alex Ferguson era, it would not be implausible that, on the brink of the final that was supposed to save the season, Old Trafford’s hopes would be ruined by a man who was not good enough for Manchester City.
John Guidetti, the former City academy boy in question, who played a solitary League Cup game for the other club in this town, had the chance to score the goal that eliminated Manchester United with the last kick of the game but, with the hand of history on his shoulder, he missed. At least City fans denied this extraordinary denouement could take consolation in one truth: on this evidence, they were probably right to release Guidetti.
The Swedish striker left the pitch in what looked like an emotional state, and it was not the only chance that he missed on the night. For Jose Mourinho and his players, it was the kind of reprieve that they may feel they deserved but it was a reprieve nonetheless after a fraught and anxious end to a tie when the difference in quality between the two sides should have made it simple for the home team.
Even before Guidetti scuffed that last chance, United conceded an equaliser, and then – along with the Celta goalscorer Facundo Roncaglia – had Eric Bailly sent off, a player whom they will miss for the final against Ajax. For all that, however, it could be so much worse for Mourinho, and United have reached their second cup final of the season with a route to the Champions League still open if they prevail on Wednesday week.
That will be an intriguing game against a club run by their celebrated former players, among them Edwin van der Sar, who have no option but to develop their homegrown players or scour the market for cheaper alternatives who can be improved. United, on the other hand, are the financial Goliath, whose expenditure over the past four seasons has not been matched by their success on the pitch, and they are there to be shot at.
In the aftermath of victory, Mourinho was already ruminating on the advantages for an Ajax side whose league season finishes on Sunday and, in his words, “have 12 days to prepare”. He announced that the United team who would face Crystal Palace on the last day of the season, three days before the final, would effectively be a complete change of first-team personnel in preparation for Ajax.
The bigger question is what kind of United will turn up at the Friends Arena, against a bright young Ajax side with nothing to lose. In this semi-final second leg they scored their solitary goal, a header from Marouane Fellaini, in their best period of the match but it did not last long and for a team of such formidable talents it was inexplicable how fearful they became at times in the latter stages.
Mourinho said that he had wanted his team to push higher up the pitch but their natural inclination was to drop back as Celta came forward with nothing to lose and this really felt unlike a classic Old Trafford European semi-final. Those great occasions, when they played Juventus in 1999 or Barcelona in 2008, may have been in a better competition but they were also contested by teams who set out to win rather than simply contain.
Bailly was sent off for a hand to the throat of an opponent and Antonio Valencia was lucky not to go the same way for the shove that followed. Bailly has been United’s best defender this season and in the final they will have to deal with a better class of player than this honest but limited Vigo team.
Guidetti had two good chances to score, the second a header when he was unmarked, before he failed to
get a connection on that last cross, slightly behind him, which turned out to be his team’s final attack of the game. At the end of the game, Celta’s players collapsed on the pitch like a team who knew they had missed the chance of their lives, while Guidetti was distraught.
Celta arrived at Old Trafford on a five-game losing streak, including the first leg of this semi-final, and with very little to lose by attacking. In those early stages, there was the worst of Mourinho’s United – reactive, and unwilling to take hold of possession but, eventually, they came into the game, led by Paul Pogba, who was their best player.
There was also a good performance from Marcus Rashford who, on 17 minutes, took the ball on the left, looked up and struck a fine cross to Fellaini at the back post. It was evident from Mourinho’s eagerness for his players to get crosses into the area as quickly as possible that he did not much rate Celta’s capabilities and Fellaini’s back-post headed goal was well executed.
They could have had more, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan sparking into life and swaying around two challenges before releasing Jesse Lingard, but both of those wide players seemed more concerned about fulfilling their defensive duties. This was one of those nights when Mkhitaryan showed flashes of that easy brilliance on the ball but also managed to give it away too many times.
The end was frantic. After Roncaglia headed in a cross from the right for Vigo’s goal, United faced the prospect of throwing away the tie even before the dismissal of Bailly. It all came down to Guidetti in the end, and it was not his night.
United set up Ajax showdown but Bailly will miss clash after he is shown red card in brawl