No meltdown for Red Devils
Jose’s draw-weary men need some Europa delight
JOSE Mourinho’s Manchester United face Zorya Luhansk today knowing that a draw in the frigid Ukraine will propel them into the knockout stages of the Europa League.
The Premier League side however will want to go through in style with victory, even if Europe’s second-tier competition does not feature at the top of their priorities in Mourinho’s first season in charge.
The Old Trafford side will also be eager to end a bout of frustrating draws, the latest being a 1-1 stalemate at Everton at the weekend when Mourinho’s men conceded an 89th-minute equaliser from the spot.
The Zorya match – today is the last phase of Europa League group games – will take place in Odessa, southern Ukraine, a four-hour flight from northern England and where NAPOLI and Benfica clinched places in the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday as nine-man Besiktas capitulated at Dynamo Kiev, while Arsenal snatched first place away from Paris Saint-Germain in Group A.
Jose Callejon and Dries Mertens scored second-half goals to earn Napoli a 2-1 victory over Benfica in Lisbon to send the Italians through to the knockout phase as winners of Group B.
Twice former European champions Benfica pulled a goal back late on through Raul Jimenez and qualified as runners-up.
“We reached our objective, we wanted to win the group and we did it with a splendid performance here in Lisbon,” said Callejon. temperatures will hover around freezing by evening kick-off.
Zorya might already be out of the competition, but United’s French forward Anthony Martial is not expecting the Ukrainians just to lie down.
“It is very different, not just the supporters but the weather. Over there, it’s really cold at this time of the season,” Martial told MUTV.
“But it’s down to us to come to terms with that, adapt to the environment we find ourselves in and get the victory we need.”
He added: “We’re expecting a difficult encounter. Things went quite well for us in the home game (1-0 to United) but it’ll be different over there.
In the group’s other game, Besiktas travelled to Ukraine hopeful of advancing after their rousing three-goal fightback on matchday five against Benfica, but the Turkish champions unravelled in a disastrous first half.
Artem Besedin bundled in Dynamo’s opener on nine minutes at the Olympic Stadium and Besiktas suffered a critical blow on the half hour with Andreas Beck sent off for a professional foul.
Andriy Yarmolenko converted the resulting penalty and the hosts struck twice more before the break through Vitaliy Buyalskiy and Paraguayan Gonzalez to floor the visitors.
Frustrations boiled over as Cameroon striker Vincent Aboubakar
“They’ll be in front of their own supporters and will be determined to make life difficult for us to get a result, so we’ll be on our guard.” United will also go through to the last 32 with defeat if Feyenoord fail to beat Fenerbahce at home in the other Group A fixture.
Fellow Premier League representatives Southampton face the Israeli side Hapoel Beer-Sheva at St Mary’s Stadium knowing that victory or a 00 draw will put them in the last 32, where eight clubs who failed to progress from the Champions League will enter the fray. was dismissed for a second yellow card on 56 minutes and a miserable evening grew even more humiliating with Serhiy Sydorchuk and Junior Moraes adding their names to the scoresheet.
“We want to forget this game and want to represent Turkey in the best possible way in the Europa League now,” said Besiktas captain Oguzhan Ozyakup.
Lucas Perez grabbed his first hattrick in an Arsenal shirt as Arsene Wenger’s side thumped Basel 4-1 in Switzerland to pip French champions PSG to top spot in their group.
Alex Iwobi scored a fourth before Seydou Doumbia notched a consolation for Basel.
Ludogorets claimed a memorable
“It’s a huge game on Thursday and that’s all anyone is worried about now,” young midfielder Sam McQueen, fresh from signing a new four-and-a-half-year contract with the club, told his club’s website.
“It’s a huge competition. You’re playing against a lot of different styles, which is only going to help me grow personally, as well as the team against new challenges.”
They may not be European household names but Ireland’s Dundalk and Qarabag of Azerbaijan can make a slice of history.
No Irish side has ever reached the knockout stages of a Uefa club competition but domestic champions Dundalk can change that if they win point and a place in the Europa League with a 2-2 draw at the Parc des Princes where they twice led on a frustrating evening for Unai Emery’s hosts.
Virgil Misidjan headed the Bulgarian outfit into an early advantage, but Edinson Cavani’s superb acrobatic effort brought PSG level on the hour.
A mistake from Brazilian centreback Marquinhos allowed Jonathan Cafu to tee up Wanderson to put Ludogorets back on top, with Angel Di Maria’s stoppage-time strike not enough to prevent Arsenal climbing above Paris.
Turkey midfielder Arda Turan hit a quickfire second-half hat-trick to propel Barcelona to a 4-0 win at home to Borussia Moenchengladbach at Maccabi Tel Aviv and AZ Alkmaar do not at home to Zenit St Petersburg. A score draw for the Irish would also suffice if AZ lose in the Netherlands.
Qarabag will definitely qualify with a home victory in Baku over Fiorentina, who are all but through.
The European minnows, who are in the Europa League group stage for a third straight campaign but have yet to make it to the round of 32, are impressive at home.
Qarabag are unbeaten in five European home matches since a 1-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in last season’s group stage.
In all, 11 last-32 places are still up for grabs.
Ajax, Roma, Zenit and Schalke are among the sides already through, but Inter Milan are early casualties with nothing to play for. — AFP in Group C with Lionel Messi also on target for the Catalan giants.
Celtic’s Patrick Roberts scored a terrific solo effort against parent club Manchester City in a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium.
Kelechi Iheanacho staked his claim to a longer run in Pep Guardiola’s first team as the Nigerian struck a fine equaliser.
Robert Lewandowski’s stunning first-half free-kick ended Atletico Madrid’s bid for a perfect six group wins from six as Bayern Munich won 1-0 at the Allianz Arena.
Rostov will continue their European adventure in the Europa League after finishing third in Group D following a goalless draw at PSV Eindhoven. — AFP