Zorya 0 Manchester United 2
Manchester United are through to the Europa League knockout stage courtesy of Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s fine first strike for the club and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s late finish. José Mourinho’s team finish second in Group A so will be unseeded in Monday’s draw for the round of 32.
A first away win in the competition was marred by an outbreak of violence during the interval and there was disappointment for Wayne Rooney, who remains stuck on 248 goals and still in need of two to become the club’s all-time record scorer.
United’s prime concern had been to secure the draw required to seal passage to February’s next phase. They started against the side from a city from the Donbass region, 550 miles away from where this game was played in Odessa, confident and in control. This featured Paul Pogba, Juan Mata, and Ander Herrera teasing the side forward from inside Zorya’s half though the first clear chance was actually fashioned by the Ukrainians as Ihor Kharatin forced a smart save from Sergio Romero to his right.
From here it was all United for a prolonged passage. Herrera swung a left foot volley at Igor Levchenko, Pogba shot wide and a Herrera cross found Pogba’s head but he failed to finish. Daley Blind took a corner from the left that was flicked on by Pogba towards Zlatan Ibrahimovic and another corner was won.
As is the story so far of United’s Premier League campaign, at this point they lacked the killer touch in front of goal. On the half-hour a firecracker was thrown near Romero that gave off a loud bang and appeared to disconcert the Argentinean. This followed Blind having to complain to officials about a laser light shined onto his face.
Mourinho’s men were not also aided by a pitch that was bobbly and cutting up due to rain and a thaw at this stadium situated on the banks of the Black Sea. It followed the overnight doubt regarding whether the match could be played due to the ground being frozen on Wednesday.
Beforehand Mourinho rated the surface as “not too bad – I don’t think it’s dangerous”, while stating: “We want to be offensive and try to win the game.”
The manager made six changes from Sunday’s frustrating draw at Everton. Out went David De Gea, Anthony Martial, Phil Jones, Matteo Darmian, Antonio Valencia and Michael Carrick. In came Romero, Eric Bailly, Mata, Rooney, Ashley Young and Blind.
Of note here were the returns of Rooney, after he was suspended for Sunday, and Bailly, a first-choice centre-back until the knee injury that caused the Ivorian to miss nine games, having last featured in the 4-0 loss at Chelsea on 23 October.
Of his return Mourinho said: “It’s important, I think [Phil]Jones and Marcos [Rojo]did five good matches in a row so but they can’t always do it, just those two. Having Eric back, albeit for just two weeks before he goes to the Africa Cup of Nations, allows us to rotate a little before Christmas.”
After a becalmed period it was Bailly who at last managed to fire at goal, though his overhead kick lacked power and Levchenko collected. By the point the half had petered out and two rare Rooney shots, plus a too-high Rojo effort, ended it.
Now came the fighting as two United flags appeared to be taken by rival fans from the travelling support’s section to the left of what was Zorya’s goal in the first half. This caused a chase and scuffles before the flags reappeared behind the other goal, where a flare was lit in celebration.
As this was settling down United took the led via Mkhitaryan’s superb solo effort as he weaved his way towards Levchenko then left him no chance.
His first United finish was also only their second on the road in the competition. With Feyenoord also losing United were now even firmer favourites to finish second, so it now became an exercise in controlling the contest.
This they did with little threat to Romero, as Ibrahimovic collected a 13th of the term on 88 minutes to seal the victory. Now, Mourinho and his men can put the competition to bed until the spring.
(Guardian service)
