United indebted to De Gea and Cavani as final spot is secured
This was a test of character for Manchester United and, despite the satisfaction of a place in the final of the Europa League, they did not pass it.
For all the praise that comes with a big victory over two legs in the semi-final, a defeat in the second was a reminder of bad habits that have let them down before.
We should not be too harsh. United are in the final and are certainly good enough to beat Villarreal. But having been challenged to win the second leg as well as the first, they failed.
The hard work had been done in Manchester, of course. The Italians thrashed 6-2, an embarrassing scoreline that made a mockery of the fact that semi-finals are supposed to be tight and tense.
But manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer set them a different sort of task here. The best teams have a ruthless streak, a killer instinct that means they win regardless of the situation.
Roma were beaten in the first leg, but could United do it all over again?
They have lost too many semifinals under Solskjaer to make the mistake of believing they can switch off and cruise, but did it again.
Having scored in the first half through Edinson Cavani, to make it 7-2 on aggregate, they relaxed and offered little resistance as Roma scored three times in the second period. It should have been more, Roma cutting through United’s back line with ease. The fact David de Gea was United’s best player only hints at how many chances Roma spurned. The Serie A side were well beaten, but still scored five times over two games. It could have been double that.
“We are disappointed we have lost the game, it was far too open,” Solskjaer said. “We gave the ball away far too many times in dangerous positions and needed David to save us. Thankfully we have a No9 who is desperate to score goals or it could have been uncomfortable.”
Teams with flaky defences do not tend to win cup finals. United’s defence remains a concern even if their attack, led by the evergreen Cavani, means they are a constant threat. To score eight times over two games in a semi-final is impressive whichever way you look at things.
But this is not just about the Europa League. United will finish second in the Premier League barring a late-season collapse, but that is not a cause for celebration. Just as losing to Villarreal in the final will not be, either.
When they have slipped into their comfort zone, United underwhelm. It has been a chink, a loose thread pulled too many times and Solskjaer is tired of warning them.
No real harm done last night, but is it a sign of weakness? United have plenty of talent, but do they have the mentality of champions? Teams who win the league never switch off, they win week after week.
This performance, particularly in the second half, will have annoyed Solskjaer, even if he hid it. There was a reason he did not rest his best players. It would have made sense to give Bruno Fernandes a break. The Portuguese has played 61 games for
club and country. He did not have to play in this one.
Neither did Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw or Aaron Wan-bissaka. All have taken on a gruelling workload, all would have benefited from a rest, but while Solskjaer made changes, he kept his key men busy. He wanted to see how his side would react. He wants a team who crush the opposition, whatever the threat posed.
Roma needed to score four goals and keep United out to turn this semi-final around. It always looked beyond them, but they had enough chances on the night to do it.
Bryan Cristante and Gianluca Mancini both forced saves from De Gea, good ones too. Roma were desperate. United were slow to react and even after taking the lead through Cavani, set up by Fred, they could not see the game out.
Wan-bissaka and Shaw were replaced at the break and Roma’s two goals, from Edin Dzeko and Cristante, briefly made things exciting. Had United conceded again then it would have got really interesting, but De Gea was superb, making save after save. Roma scored a late deserved third through teenage substitute Zalewski, after Cavani had equalised against the run of play.