Ibrahimovic injury mars United’s Europa progress
Manchester United reached the Europa League semifinals for the first time after beating Anderlecht 2-1, but at the cost of a potentially serious injury to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The talismanic Swede, 35, had to go off after damaging his right knee late in the game at Old Trafford and may not play again this season, while United also lost centre-back Marcos Rojo.
United prevailed courtesy of an extra-time strike by Marcus Rashford, which secured a 3-2 aggregate success, after Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s opener was cancelled out by Sofiane Hanni.
The scrappy, sapping victory means Jose Mourinho’s side remain on course to claim the only major trophy missing from the club’s collection.
But the injuries to Ibrahimovic and Rojo could prove costly, particularly with United having re-energised their push for a topfour finish in the Premier League by brilliantly beating Chelsea.
Ibrahimovic’s injury occurred late in stoppage time, his right knee bending the wrong way as he landed following an aerial challenge in the Anderlecht box, leaving him grimacing. He was able to hobble down the tunnel, aided by medical staff, but United’s fans will fear they have seen the last of him this season.
Ajax Amsterdam, trailing 3-0 and down to 10 men, scored two late goals to overcome Schalke while Olympique Lyonnais won a 16-kick penalty shootout against Besiktas. A 1-1 draw away to Racing Genk was enough to give Celta a 4-3 aggregate win.
Four-times European champions Ajax, leading 2-0 from the first leg, appeared to be on the way out as Schalke wiped out the deficit in just under an hour and then scored again early in extratime. Yet, despite having Joel Veltman sent off in 80th minute, Ajax replied with a scrambled goal from Nick Viergever and a clinical effort from Amin Younes in the last 10 minutes of extratime and won it 4-3 on aggregate.