Manchester United head to UEFA Europa League despite a 3-2 defeat to Roma in the semi-finals second leg. United advanced with an 8-5 aggregated score as they had recorded 6-2 in the first leg. As Manchester United coach, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reached a major final for the first time with the highest record of 13 goals between two teams in Europa League history.
Edinson Cavani fired in a powerful action after 39 minutes to open the scoring, but Roma found the net twice in a three-minute span through Edin Dzeko and Bryan Cristante in the second half.
Cavani led the visitors, but 19-year-old debutant Nicola Zalewski’s shot took a major deflection from Alex Telles to defeat David de Gea as Roma won that evening – but United were celebrating for the final whistle.
Solskjaer’s team has been shot in two League Cups, the FA Cup and the Europa League semi-finals since Jose Mourinho’s success in December 2018, but another outing probably never appeared in the Italian capital.
Earlier this week, Mourinho, who led United to their last Europa League trophy in 2017, was surprisingly named as Roma’s new coach the following season. Therefore, the host team started as a team with a proven point.
De Gea denied Gianluca Mancini from a great distance, Henrikh Mkhitaryan took the lead in net and Dzeko made another clever save from the Spanish goalkeeper. But United stepped into the game and came close when a clever lob by Cavani cut the top of the bar before saving a powerful Uruguayan shot by Antonio Mirante. Visitors took the lead shortly when a Fred pass sent Cavani home to shoot.
Roma equaled at 57 minutes later when Dzeko came from afar and Paulo Fonseca’s team made a quick comeback when Cristante scored from the edge of the box three minutes later. United survived the attack and equalized after 68 minutes when Cavani headed home with Bruno Fernandes, but Roma again threatened as Mkhitaryan’s shot hit the post. Substitute Zalewski had an immediate impact when his ball brought Roma a win at 83 minutes, but the Telles’s own goal came after a hard deflection.
In another match, Villarreal and Arsenal had a goalless draw thus Villarreal proceeds to the UEL final. United will face Villarreal in the final in Gdansk on 26 May, with the Spaniards beating Arsenal 2–1.
