UEFA Europa League 2016/17: Manchester United 2-1 Anderlecht (3-2 agg), 5 Talking Points
Manchester United beat Anderlecht to book their place in the Europa League semi-finals after bearing down Anderlecht’s goal on numerous occasions, but not finishing off as many chances as they should have.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford scored the two goals after Sofiane Hanni equalised in the first half. The game went into extra-time as both sides were level after 90 minutes. However, an extra time goal from Rashford won it for the hosts.
Here are the talking points from the game.
#1 Summer signings combine as Pogba’s pass to Mkhitaryan breaks the deadlock early on
s delicious pass set up the opener for Manchester United
Just as Anderlecht were making a good account of themselves in the opening exchanges and showing desire and determination, Manchester United’s quality immediately hit them on the break. Paul Pogba’s pass in the build up to Mkhitaryan’s goal was of the highest quality, straight out of the top drawer.
He dissected Anderlecht’s defence with a perfect, splitting ball that found Marcus Rashford with some space ahead of him. Rashford’s second effort at a cross found the Armenian who shot low to score. Mkhitaryan has given a proper account of his worth in the Europa League this season scoring five goals now in all.
Pogba, on the other hand, currently leads the Europa League with most passes completed at 664 (i.e. before this game) and that pass to Rashford was as pivotal and classy as it gets. The summer signings combined to give the Red Devils a much-needed lead. Pogba would go close from a corner, producing a fantastic save soon after as well.