Europa League 2016/17 Final: Ajax 0-2 Manchester United, 5 Talking Points
Manchester United secured their spot in the group stages of next season’s Champions League as they brushed aside a young Ajax side at Stockholm’s Friends Arena to win the Europa League for the very first time in their illustrious history.
Jose Mourinho’s side opened the scoring early on when Paul Pogba’s strike deflected off defender Davinson Sanchez to leave goalkeeper Andre Onana wrong-footed. Their lead was doubled when Ajax failed to clear the first ball from a corner, allowing Henrikh Mkhitaryan to produce a smart back-flicked finish.
Mourinho expertly switched to game management post the second goal to see out the remainder of the match and guide United to European success and a place amongst Europe’s elite next season.
Here are the talking points from the encounter at Stockholm:
#1 A young Ajax come unstuck
Ajax deserve all the plaudits for making it to the summit clash at Stockholm with such a young and vibrant side. However, they came unstuck against a side filled with quality and experience.
With the average age of the starting line-up just 22 years and 8 months, Ajax were always going to find it tough against the United players, most of whom have already embraced European finals at earlier stages in their careers.
That was apparent from the very first minute, as goalkeeper Andre Onana fluffed his lines in an attempt to catch the ball from a cross and, luckily for him, saw the rebound sliced off target by Paul Pogba. The defence looked shaky against an early spell of United dominance that ended in a fortuitous goal for the world-record signing.
Though Ajax responded with a flurry of quick passes and crosses from the wide men, United, in particular former Ajax man Daley Blind, always had an answer. Once the second goal went in, Ajax were doomed to defeat as the midfield trio of Marouane Fellaini, Ander Herrera and Pogba resorted to defensive duties and effectively shut all pockets of space for the Dutch outfit to exploit.
It was a game the Ajax youngsters will take a lot out of, but today was all about Jose Mourinho’s tactical masterclass and United’s joyful end to a long and draining season.