Fernandes lifts United; Lukaku justifies big purse at Inter
COLOGNE:BRUNO Fernandes scored a penalty in extra time as Manchester United scraped past FC Copenhagen 1-0 in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, also reshaped into an eight-team knockout tournament. The Portugal international notched his competition-best seventh goal of the season as United set up a semifinal clash against Sevilla or Wolves, joining Inter Milan in the last four following the Italian side’s 2-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in Dusseldorf.
“Third time this season we’ve been to the semis, every competition we’ve been in. Delighted we’ve gone through, we deserved to win tonight,” United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said. “Their keeper was fantastic, unbelievable. We hit the post a few times, there were a couple of VAR decisions against us. It could have been one of those nights that you end up with penalty shoot outs. They made it hard for us.”
Solskjaer recalled Fernandes, Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood and Anthony Martial but the 2017 competition winners struggled early, and 18-year-old Copenhagen forward Mohamed Daramy was twice involved as the underdogs threatened a creaking United backline.
Eric Bailly intervened just as Daramy attempted to stab home a bouncing cross, and the Ivorian defender was then played into trouble by Fred with Jens Stage’s subsequent effort blocked.
Appearing in their first European quarterfinal, and the first Danish club to reach this stage since 1997, Copenhagen continued to frustrate United as they sought a repeat of their 1-0 win when the clubs last met in the Champions League group stage in 2006. Martial nearly won the game in normal time but again a sprawling Johnsson tipped away his curling attempt that appeared destined for the top corner. The France striker was once more repelled by Johnsson at the start of extra time, but Martial won a penalty as United kept the attack alive and the striker was upended by Andreas Bjelland.
Fernandes blasted home from the spot on 95 minutes but Solskjaer’s team were left to sweat until the end as Johnsson pulled off sensational stops from the Portuguese and substitute Juan Mata, with Victor Lindelof the third United player to strike the post. United though ultimately ensured their 2019-20 campaign will extend into a second year, having started the season 365 days ago with a 4-0 Premier League win over Chelsea. Awaiting them on Sunday will be Sevilla—who have won the Europa and its precursor, the UEFA Cup, a record five times—or Wolves.
Former United striker Romelu Lukaku grabbed the decisive goal for Antonio Conte’s Inter against Leverkusen as the Serie A runners-up are chasing their first trophy in nine years. Eyebrows were raised last year when Inter shelled out a club record of around $73 million plus $15 million in bonuses for Lukaku, who had had a disappointing final season at United.
Nicolo Barella put Inter ahead after 15 minutes, driving home after Lukaku’s shot was blocked, and six minutes later the Belgian got on the scoresheet when he displayed his strength by holding off defender Edmond Tapsoba before firing home. Leverkusen winger Kai Havertz, reported to be a transfer target of Premier League club Chelsea, pulled a goal back for the Germans but it was goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky who kept them in the game with a string of fine saves. The win sets up a semi-final against Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk or FC Basel of Switzerland.
After scoring what proved to be the winner, Lukaku could have had a second goal when Inter were awarded a penalty for handball, but that harsh decision against Leverkusen was overturned by VAR.
Tapsoba struggled to contain the physicality of Lukaku, who set a record by scoring in nine straight Europa games, and in the second half the centre-back resorted to hacking the striker down. Lukaku was again denied a spot kick by VAR after an Inter player was discovered to have handled just before Christian Eriksen was bundled over in the box, and he fired a late shot wide under pressure from Tapsoba.