Manchester United progressed to the semifinals of the UEFA Europa League as they ran out 2-1 winners over Anderlecht in the quarterfinal second leg on Thursday.
It took more than regular time and two casualties for Manchester United to progress to the semifinals of the UEFA Europa League, as they battled hard to topple Anderlecht in their quarterfinal tie at Old Trafford on Thursday.
It didn’t take long for Manchester United to grab a foothold in the match, as Henrikh Mkhitaryan calmly converted under pressure to give United a 2-1 aggregate lead. However, Anderlecht restored parity just after the half-hour mark as captain Sofiane Hanni scored past Sergio Romero.
The tie remained on level terms for the rest of the regulation time before Marcus Rashford turned into saviour for Manchester United with a scrambling effort to ensure his side’s qualification for the next stage. Here are the best tweets emerging in the aftermath of the thrilling encounter at Old Trafford.
FT: #MUFC 2 Anderlecht 1 (3-2 on aggregate). @MarcusRashford‘s extra-time winner sends us into the #UEL semi-finals! pic.twitter.com/ttF6YTFnvA
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 20, 2017
Man Utd 2-1 (3-2 on agg.) Anderlecht FT (AET):
Shots: 20-15
Pass accuracy: 84%-76%
Chances created: 17-11Marcus Rashford to the rescue. pic.twitter.com/BwWtYOXBVw
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) April 20, 2017
Well played, @ManUtd – through to the #UEL semi-finals ??? pic.twitter.com/ZNtwrR47MO
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) April 20, 2017
Manchester United are through to the Europa League semi-finals! It really wasn’t pretty, but they eventually got the job done. Bloody hell.
— Liam Canning (@LiamPaulCanning) April 20, 2017
Marcus Rashford scored the winner for Manchester United on the night and he was the cream of the crop as Twitteratis lauded his fine performance:
Marcus Rashford has scored in back-to-back home games for the first time since February 2016.
His first two senior games for the club. pic.twitter.com/bdujMnApad
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) April 20, 2017
Marcus Rashford: the Future pic.twitter.com/ZPCHK5Wf4A
— B/R Football (@brfootball) April 20, 2017
I will say another time @MarcusRashford is a bloody star
— Philip Neville (@fizzer18) April 20, 2017
I don’t say this lightly, but @MarcusRashford is the most exciting young player I have seen in a long time. Love him.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) April 20, 2017
“Rashford is the best young talent in the world” #mufc ⚽️?⚫️? @MarcusRashford @ManUtd pic.twitter.com/Fxoj6pkuCo
— Full Time Reds (@FULLTIMEREDS) April 20, 2017
Iheanacho last season, Mbappé this – the need for so many to respond to anything Rashford does with ‘yeah but x is better’ is nauseating
— Nick (@ManUnitedYouth) April 20, 2017
Important win against a decent Anderlecht side, that. A joy to watch Rashford. He’s hit form at a crucial time. He’s needed.
— Andy Mitten (@AndyMitten) April 20, 2017
Martial looking at Rashford like “Damn, that used to be me.” pic.twitter.com/6Vmigwf9UI
— José (@MourinhoMindset) April 20, 2017
Rashford reminds me so much of ronaldo tho. Raw talent with a desire to excel. Needs to be coached properly
— Mkhinator (@Juanderooney) April 21, 2017
Rashford performance remarkable after Herculean effort against Chelsea. Tough love from Mourinho has worked well since West Brom. #mufc
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) April 20, 2017
Rashford keeps saving Mourinho’s job so he does the teenager’s homework in return.??? pic.twitter.com/y2HdP0YAPa
— Raj Lyall (@lyallr) April 20, 2017
Rashford will let me sleep sound tonight, a United player if ever there was one, tremendous talent with the composure of a veteran
— Pilib de Brún (@Malachians) April 20, 2017
Whatever your thoughts are on LVG, we can all be grateful for him giving us Rashford pic.twitter.com/il97UHqqtp
— MadMaximus (@MadMaximusUtd) April 20, 2017
From Wythenshaw & loves to fight;
He’s born to play, in red & white;
So listen close, it must be said;
Like Manchester, Rashford is red; pic.twitter.com/6e8LTPyprj— Jose ‘Judas’ fan (@SemperFiUnited) April 20, 2017
Look at rashford man. What a guy. Runs right at them and causes them to panic. Ok…his finishing has been off but he’s not shying away.
— Doc (@Doc_Joshi) April 20, 2017
However, there was also a cause for concern among the Manchester United fan base as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcos Rojo became big casualties on the night:
Can’t believe some people r happy bout #Ibrahimovic getting injured let’s not forget he’s rescued us so many times this season. Ungrateful ?
— UTD & BEYOND (@terryowusu1) April 20, 2017
Big disappointment to lose Rojo hopefully it’s not too serious been excellent of late #MUFC
— Mickey T (@therealMickeyT) April 20, 2017
Rojo is a big loss, never thought I’d say that
— Pilib de Brún (@Malachians) April 20, 2017
Who’d have thought 6 months ago that we’d be more worried about Rojo being injured than Zlatan. Well I am anyway ?
— United In Focus (@UnitedInFocus) April 21, 2017
Think Rojo could be a bigger miss though, no defenders whatsoever. Tuanzebe Time? #MatchdayMac
— Full Time DEVILS (@FullTimeDEVILS) April 20, 2017
Wishing Zlatan Ibrahimovic a speedy recovery. Hope it’s not as bad as it looks. pic.twitter.com/UWLmlTunWX
— Soccer Fan Base (@Soccerfanbase) April 20, 2017
Mourinho: “I don’t think they (Rojo and Ibrahimovic) are easy injuries. I am fairly negative.” #mufc
— SCHOLES (@iamscholes) April 20, 2017
Love zlatan wish him a speedy recovery same with rojo
But a do think we play better without zlatan we get the ball forward more
— mufc 1 Ander (@mufc1Ander) April 20, 2017
Testament to Rojo that we really missed him when he went off
— James Stubbs (@Stubbs89) April 20, 2017
That was a horrible landing for Zlatan. Hope he’s okay! ?
pic.twitter.com/ly21seMvoS— Abieb Aydrus (@Ravlyoi) April 20, 2017
