Man United draws on dusty pitch
ZURICH: Europa League favourite Manchester United secured a 11 draw on a threadbare pitch at Rostov, while Olympique Lyonnais beat AS Roma 42, helped by a fine individual goal from Nabil Fekir in their last 16 firstleg ties yesterday.
Racing Genk won 52 at Gent, in an allBelgian clash, and German rivals Schalke 04 and Borussia Moenchengladbach drew 11, in a meeting of former Uefa Cup winners.
United’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan gave the Premier League team a 35thminute lead in Russia, turning the ball in from close range after some nifty footwork by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
But Rostov, which beat Bayern Munich on the same ground in November on its way to a thirdplace finish in its Champions League group, levelled eight minutes after the restart.
Alexander Bukharov volleyed past Sergio Romero for a superblytaken goal after chesting down a long ball over the United defence from Timofei Kalachev.
Both sides struggled on a divotstrewn surface that had been heavily criticised by United manager Jose Mourinho and dust was getting into the players’ eyes towards the end of the game.
‘‘It was impossible to play better, impossible to play a passing game,’’ Mourinho said.
‘‘I remember as a kid some matches like this in Portugal — nonleague and amateur pitches. To see my players coping with it and the humility to fight for every ball is a good feeling for me.’’
Mohamed Salah and Federico Fazio gave Roma a 21 halftime lead at Lyon but the host hit back in style after the break. — Reuters