EUROPA League
MAN UTD 2-1 LASK: INTER 2-0 GETAFE – SCORE AND GOAL UPDATES FROM EUROPA LEAGUE LAST 16 TIE
FULL-TIME: INTER 2-0 GETAFE
Inter Milan are also through following their single-leg 2-0 victory over Getafe.
Romelu Lukaku and Christian Eriksen struck in both halves to seal victory.
FULL TIME: Manchester United 2-1 LASK.
Manchester United will now face FC Copenhagen in the quarter-final on Monday.
GOAL: MANCHESTER UNITED 2-1 LASK (Martial 89mins)
Well there it is.
Juan Mata squeezes the ball to Anthony Martial, he jinks into the box and slides home his 23rd goal of the season. He is now Manchester United’s leading scorer this season ahead of Rashford.
GOAL: MANCHESTER UNITED 2-1 LASK
Well there it is.
Juan Mata squeezes the ball to Anthony Martial, he jinks into the box and slides home his 23rd goal of the season. He is now Manchester United’s leading scorer this season ahead of Rashford.
The hosts are now on the way to a wholly unsatisfactory victory sealed only by one of their key men off the bench.
The Nerrazurri have one foot in the last eight as another former Premier League star gets on the scoresheet.
Ex-Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen has doubled Inter’s advantage after Lukaku’s earlier strike.
84mins: ANOTHER SUBSTITUTION FOR UNITED
MANCHESTER UNITED 1-1 LASK
Finally Mengi gets his moment in place of Fosu-Mensah.
Martial is also on to replace Dan James. Solskjaer clearly keen to sneak a winner here for morale purposes.
GOAL: INTER 2-0 Getafe (Eriksen 81mins)
Inter have finally, surely, sealed the victory.
Christian Eriksen is there to fire home a loose ball after a fine run and cross from D’Ambrosio down the right.
80mins: 18-YEAR OLD MAKES A DEBUT FOR UNITED:
MANCHESTER UNITED 1-1 LASK
A big moment for 18-year-old Teden Mengi as the centre-back makes his Manchester United debut.
Tahith Chong has slotted in at left-back, with Williams wrapped in cotton wool and Luke Shaw injured until September. He has looked comfortable there, it could be a long-term shift…
Mata miscontrols as the ball rolls to him across the box. Awful moment for the Spaniard.
79mins: MANCHESTER UNITED 1-1 LASK
LASK bring on Filipovic and take off Andrade.
Not much else to report as we near the final ten minutes of an instantly forgettable game.
76mins: PENALTY FOR GETAFE: INTER 1-0 GETAFE
Anthony Taylor awards Getafe a penalty against Inter Milan.
A lifeline after Diego Godin was adjudged to have handled in the box… but Jorge Molina sends it wide of the post! Inter still on for a huge victory.
Lukaku then misses a sitter from yards out after a fine pull-back. No one wants to win this just yet…
73mins: MANCHESTER UNITED 1-1 LASK
The substitutions made by both Manchester United and LASK have done nothing to lit the game. Very dull right now.
Sabitzer is on for LASK.
Eric Bailly appeared to take a knee to the head but is fine to continue.
Mata and James build an attack but the final ball is wasteful yet aga
SUBSTITUTION ALSO FOR LASK
Balic off, Reiter on
63mins: Substitution for Man Utd – MANCHESTER UNITED 1-1 LASK
Having scored the leveller, Jesse Lingard is then hooked and does not look happy.
Lingard and Fred depart, Paul Pogba and Andreas Pereira enter the fray.
Two goals in 93 seconds! United fight back!!!
GOAL! Man Utd 1-1 LASK (Lingard, 57)
Just like that, United are back level.
Minutes after LASK took the lead with that superb Weisinger effort, Jesse Lingard equalises.
The United midfielder broke free of the LASK defence before cooly slotting the ball past the keeper.
GOAL! Man Utd 0-1 LASK (Weisinger, 55)
What a hit, son! Dig that one out.
Weisinger with a beautiful curling strike from what seemed like miles out right into the top corner. Romero had no chance.
50mins: MANCHESTER UNITED 0-0 LASK – Ighalo misses scoring chance!
First, Mata slips the ball to Ighalo but his weak shot as he slips is easily saved. Still, it counts as a shot .
McTominay and Lingard combine in midfield, the latter releases Williams down the left, he breaks into the box and his low centre is just inches away from the sliding James and Lingard.
Copenhagen to come
United will face FC Copenhagen in the quarter-final on Monday.
Providing of course we don’t see the mother of all collapses..
48mins: MANCHESTER UNITED 0-0 LASK
Once more Dan James bursts into space on the edge of the penalty area.
Once again his end product is atrocious with Ighalo lurking.
HALF-TIME: INTER 1-0 GETAFE
Romelu Lukaku’s goal is the only difference between Inter and Getafe in their single-leg knockout match. Getafe have 45 minutes to turn that around.
HT: Man Utd 0-0 LASK
First 45 minutes is up at Old Trafford and little to shout about.
LASK had the best of the chances when Andrade’s header came back off the bar in the opening exchanges.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be hoping to see more from his team in the next half with a number of stars failing to hit the right notes.
HALF TIME: INTER 1-0 GETAFE
Romelu Lukaku gives Inter lead against Getafe
HALF-TIME: MANCHESTER UNITED 0-0 LASK
Let’s pretend that didn’t happen?
A woeful first-half display from Manchester United, with LASK coming closest to a breakthrough after hitting the bar.
Not one of these fringe players is working their way into first-team thinking at the moment.
Manchester United’s spot in the last eight of the Europa League is assured, barring the most ridiculous result at Old Trafford tonight.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men won the first leg in Austria over 140 days ago with a thumping 5-0 win.
Solskjaer makes nine changes from last month’s match with Leicester.
Harry Maguire and Brandon Williams are the only survivors from the 2-0 win at the King Power Stadium 10 days ago.
But there were only two new faces from the 5-0 first-leg win in Austria in March, with Jesse Lingard and Timothy Fosu-Mensah replacing Bruno Fernandes and the injured Luke Shaw.
We’ll keep you across all the action for tonight’s 8PM kickoff.
Follow all the action, as it happens, below.
Man Utd starting XI: Romero; Fosu-Mensah, Bailly, Maguire, Williams; McTominay, Fred; Mata, Lingard, James; Ighalo
LASK Linz starting XI: Schlager; Wiesinger, Trauner, Andrade, Ranftl; Holland, Michorl, Renner, Frieser, Raguz; Balic
Crystal Palace’s appeal against UEFA’s decision to drop them from the Europa League to the third-tier Conference League was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday.
UEFA demoted Palace while allowing Olympique Lyonnais to play in the Europa League as, at the time of assessment on March 1, the Eagle Football Group were majority owners of Lyon while their chairman, John Textor, owned a controlling stake in Palace.
Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League last season, will replace Palace in the Europa League.
“After considering the evidence, the panel found that John Textor, founder of Eagle Football Holdings, had shares in CPFC and OL and was a board member with decisive influence over both clubs at the time of UEFA’s assessment date,” the CAS said in a statement.
“The panel also dismissed the argument by CPFC that they received unfair treatment in comparison to Nottingham Forest and OL.”
Palace did not respond to a request for comment. Club chairman Steve Parish told reporters on Sunday that if Palace lost the appeal, they would “have to look if there’s any steps after that.”
The club, who qualified for the Europa League as FA Cup winners, appealed against UEFA’s decision last month.
The appeal came days before New York Jets co-owner Robert Wood “Woody” Johnson completed the purchase of Eagle Football Holdings’ stake in Palace.
Textor has also resigned from Lyon’s board of directors with Michele Kang appointed chairwoman and president.
As both Lyon and Palace had qualified for the Europa League, the French club were allowed to keep their place because they had finished higher in their respective league. Lyon finished sixth in Ligue 1 while Palace were 12th in the Premier League.
“Olympique Lyonnais welcomes today’s decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport confirming its participation in the Europa League,” Lyon said in a statement.
Palace, who won the Community Shield on Sunday , beating Liverpool in a penalty shootout, are set to play in the Conference League’s qualifying playoff round later this month.
-Reuters
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UEFA has decided to postpone its assessment of the multi-club ownership case involving Olympique Lyonnais and Crystal Palace until the French club’s relegation has been confirmed, European football’s governing body said on Monday.
The multi-club ownership regulations do not allow clubs under the same ownership compete in the same European competition, and American businessman John Textor holds a stake in both Palace and Lyon.
Palace qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup last season while Lyon reached the competition by finishing sixth in Ligue 1 but have since been relegated to Ligue 2 by French football’s financial watchdog (DNCG).
Lyon are appealing the decision, which came following an audit of the club’s finances, and UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body will now await the outcome of the appeal before making its decision.
UEFA and Lyon reached a settlement agreement over the club’s breach of the financial sustainability requirements, and as part of the settlement, Lyon agreed to their exclusion from European competition should the DNCG confirm their relegation.
League of Ireland club Drogheda United lost an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport earlier this month over their exclusion from the Conference League, after falling foul of the multi-club ownership rules.
-Reuters
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Tottenham Hotspur have sacked manager Ange Postecoglou, the club said on Friday, little more than two weeks after the Australian guided the London club to a first major trophy in 17 years with victory in the Europa League final.
While Postecoglou’s fate has split opinion amongst the fans, the 59-year-old ultimately paid the price for an horrendous Premier League season which saw Tottenham finish 17th.
“The Board has unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of the Club for a change to take place,” Tottenham said in a statement.
“Following a positive start in the 2023/24 Premier League (PL) season, we recorded 78 points from the last 66 PL games. This culminated in our worst-ever PL finish last season.”
Postecoglou leaves two years to the day after his appointment and 16 days after his side beat Manchester United 1-0 in Bilbao for the club’s first silverware since 2008, a win that also put them in next season’s Champions League.
The former Celtic manager has had to face questions over his future for several months, yet delivered on his claim early last season that he always wins a trophy in his second season in a job
He also took Tottenham to the League Cup semi-final but their league campaign was their worst since 1976-77, the last time the club suffered relegation from the top flight.
Several of the club’s first team have voiced their support for Postecoglou since beating United, but chairman Daniel Levy is now searching for his fifth full-time manager in six years since Mauricio Pochettino was sacked in 2019.
“At times there were extenuating circumstances — injuries and then a decision to prioritise our European campaign,” the club said. “Whilst winning the Europa League this season ranks as one of the Club’s greatest moments, we cannot base our decision on emotions aligned to this triumph.”
Several managers have been linked to the Tottenham job, including Brentford’s Thomas Frank and Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner.
GOOD START
Postecoglou will walk away with his pride intact and a handsome bonus, but his recent comment to fans at the Europa League victory parade that the third season of a TV series is always better than the second now looks hollow.
It all started so well for Postecoglou. He began the 2023-24 campaign by guiding Tottenham to their best start to a top-flight season since the 1961 title-winning team.
That form soon dipped though and despite finishing fifth in his first campaign the momentum had long since gone.
This season Tottenham earned only 38 points and lost 22 top-flight matches. They managed five points from their last 12 league games and the only win they earned during that run was against a Southampton side who narrowly avoided becoming statistically the worst team ever in the Premier League.
Postecoglou has pointed to a long injury list which denied him the likes of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Dejan Kulusevski, Destiny Udogie, Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Son Heung-min for significant periods.
But while it has clearly been one of long-serving chairman Levy’s toughest calls, he has concluded that Postecoglou is not the man to lead the club forward.
“We have made what we believe is the right decision to give us the best chance of success going forward, not the easy decision,” the club statement said.
“We have a talented, young squad and Ange has given us a great platform to build upon. We should like to express our gratitude to him. We wish him well for the future — he will always be welcome back at our home.”
Many fans reacted to the news of Postecoglou’s sacking with surprise, but England manager Thomas Tuchel said that sometimes even winning a trophy is not enough.
“I feel for every manager and I have huge sympathy for every manager in these moments because I was in the same spot,” the German, who was sacked by Chelsea despite taking them to the Champions League title, said on Friday.
“If the trust is not there anymore then sometimes it’s not enough to win a trophy.”
-Reuters
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