midfielder Jesse Lingard (L) vies with LASK’s Austrian defender
Reinhold Ranftl during the UEFA Europa League last 16-second leg
football match between Manchester United and Linzer ASK at Old
Trafford in Manchester, northwest England, on August 5, 2020.
(Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Manchester United edged LASK 2-1 and Inter Milan beat
Getafe 2-0 on Wednesday in rescheduled ties due to the coronavirus
pandemic to clinch places in the quarter-finals of the Europa
League.
United had a 5-0 lead from their first leg played in March and
will face Copenhagen who enjoyed a 3-0 victory on the night over
Istanbul Basaksehir.
Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan will face either Steven Gerrard’s
Rangers or Bayer Leverkusen with the Germans holding a 3-1 lead
going into Thursday’s match.
Romelu Lukaku celebrates scoring the opening goal with his
teammates during the UEFA Europa League round of 16 football match
Inter Milan v Getafe on August 5, 2020 in Gelsenkirchen, western
Germany. (Photo by Ina Fassbender / various sources /
AFP)
Romelu Lukaku and Christian Eriksen scored either side of the
break for the Italians.
“It was a difficult match against a team that plays
aggressively, but we did well, the defense did a good job and I’m
happy to score for the team,” Lukaku told Sky Sport Italia.
“Christian also got an important goal for the side and we must
continue like this.”
Despite United’s comfortable lead from March 12’s first leg the
visitors caused problems early on.
Andres Andrade hit the crossbar with a powerful header after 10
minutes at an almost empty Old Trafford before Peter Michorl fired
wide just after the quarter of an hour mark.
The Linz-based outfit had to wait until the second half to break
the deadlock as defender Philipp Wiesinger rifled into the top
corner from outside the box after 55 minutes.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
midfielder Jesse Lingard runs with the ball during the UEFA Europa
League last 16-second leg football match between Manchester United
and Linzer ASK at Old Trafford in Manchester, northwest England, on
August 5, 2020. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Their celebrations were shortlived as Jesse Lingard equalised on
the counter-attack for United three minutes later.
Anthony Martial claimed the match-winner with two minutes to go
despite LASK goalkeeper Alexander Schlager getting afoot to the
France striker’s shot.
Inter’s meeting with the La Liga side was played over just one
leg in Gelsenkirchen to save time ahead of next week’s last eight
to be held in Germany.
They advanced to the next round as Romelu Lukaku became the
club’s first player to score in five straight European appearances
since Brazilian striker Adriano in 2004.
Lukaku slotted home after Alessandro Bastoni’s long ball after
33 minutes.
The Spaniards were given a chance to take the game to penalties
with 25 minutes remaining as VAR said Diego Godin had handballed in
his own box but veteran cente-forward Jorge Molina missed the
resulting penalty.
Christian Eriksen made sure of Inter’s spot after 84 minutes
with his first touch after Dakonam Djene made a mess of a clearance
inside his own area.
Elsewhere, 2009 champions Shakhtar Donetsk booked a last eight
spot against Basel or Eintracht Frankfurt after three goals within
the closing four minutes clinched a 3-0 win over Wolfsburg.
On Thursday Rangers head to Leverkusen, Wolves host Olympiakos,
and Sevilla face Roma in Duisburg.
-AFP
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