Manchester United head to the Theatre of Dreams with two vital away goals


By Neo Poho

Manchester United played out to a 2-2 draw against Barcelona in the 1st leg of the UEFA Europa League Play-offs at Camp Nou on Thursday night.

Both sides produced an incredible second half as everyone was on the edge of their seats, Barcelona broke the deadlock when Marcos Alonso capitalized on his height advantage as he rose above Manchester United's Fred at the far post to head the ball in the back of the net, leaving David De Gea helpless.

The goal was welcomed by the Barca fans who were jubilant on the stands while Barcelona's coach Xavi was delighted that his side started the second half on a good note.

However, Manchester United replied almost immediately as Marcus Rashford scored again in as many matches for Erik Ten Hag's men after his low shot went through Marc-André ter Stegen's near post.

The match now began to open up with both teams going at each other in a bid to regain the lead again, that proved to be the case as United's resilience and bravery paid off when Rashford crossed the ball in Barca's box and while there was some little scrambling over the ball, The ball eventually hit Jules Kounde’s chest as the Barca defender scored an own goal in the 59th minute.

United seemed to have beaten Barcelona on home soil when the match started to get into the last 20 minutes but lapse of concentration at the back for the away side proved to have worked against them as Raphinha restored parity very late for the Catalans side, much to the delight of the fans and Xavi.

The draw means that both Barcelona and Manchester United will have it all to play for at Old Trafford on the 23rd of February.

With United having the upper hand by virtue of the two away goals scored on Thursday night, Barcelona are expected to be a house on fire from the first whistle as they will try to salvage the encounter in the second leg.

With La Liga and the English Premier League being on the horizon this weekend, Barcelona will now turn their attention to Cadiz who they meet on Sunday at Camp Nou.

Meanwhile Manchester United who are mathematically still in the title race on the Premier League after city rivals Manchester City got the better of Arsenal on Wednesday night.

The Red Devils will welcome Leicester City on Sunday at the Theatre of Dreams and the last time the sides met United narrowly defeated the Foxes 1-0 at the King Power Stadium last year.

A victory for United will see them remain on the third spot with 49 points trailing log leaders by 2 points while Leicester City will look to create some breathing space between them and the relegation threatened sides with a victory against United.

Article Tags

Football

UEFA Europa League

Manchester United

Barcelona

Cancel

    Most Read