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Brilliant Marcus Rashford free-kick gets Manchester United in front


Marcus Rashford’s splendid free-kick secured Manchester United a hard-fought win at Celta Vigo to edge Jose Mourinho’s men closer to the Europa League final.
England’s last European representatives have travelled far and wide in their bid to win the only major continental trophy to have eluded them in their success-laden history.
Europa League glory also offers a route back to the Champions League – an increasingly important option given their Premier League struggles – and Mourinho’s men are in the driving seat of this semi-final after Rashford’s fine free-kick secured a 1-0 first-leg win at Celta.
The away goal could prove crucial ahead of next week’s return fixture at Old Trafford, where the Spanish side face an uphill battle to progress from their first major European semi-final.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho: “”He’s (Rashford) a 19-year-old kid in love with football. He’s very mature and let’s forget the age because it’s not the age, it’s the quality.”
Celta Vigo manager Eduardo Berizzo: “We are going to play a game having learned what happened tonight. We often leave with an adverse result from the first leg and that should stimulate us to face the match in England.”

Tweet of the match

Star man – Sergio Alvarez

The Celta goalkeeper kept the visitors at bay for 67 minutes with a series of great saves, with his first-half stop to deny Rashford a particular highlight. The England international hit a rasping drive which the 30-year-old did well to tip over the bar before thwarting Jesse Lingard and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to keep the scores level at half-time. He was beaten by a wonderful free-kick by Rashford to break the deadlock, with question marks over his positioning, but he managed to keep the hosts in contention for the second leg next week.

Stat-o-mania

A general view of the Europa League trophy
(Nick Potts/PA)
Mourinho came up trumps in the first ever meeting between the two sides in what was also Celta’s first European semi-final. United had managed to win just twice on their previous 22 trips to Spain, but defied the statistics to claim victory. United have never won the Europa League, even in its previous guise as the UEFA Cup, and will become only the fourth team to have won all three major UEFA club trophies, including the now-defunct European Cup Winners’ Cup, as well as the Club World Cup or the Intercontinental Cup, should they go on to win the competition.

View from the bench

Mourinho is desperate for United to be playing Champions League football next season and the Portuguese will be happy to take a slender advantage back to Old Trafford. United could have been out of sight had they showed more composure, with Lingard and Mkhitaryan guilty of spurning gilt-edged chances. But United got a crucial away goal, which Mourinho will know should give them the platform to book their place in the Europa League final in Stockholm on May 24.

Player ratings

Celta Vigo: Sergio Alvarez 8, Hugo Mallo 7, Facundo Roncaglia 7, Gustavo Cabral 7, Jonny 6, Daniel Wass 7, Nemanja Radoja 7, Pablo Hernandez 7, Iago Aspas 6, Pione Sisto 7, John Guidetti 6. Substitutes: Claudio Beauvue (for Mallo) 6, Jozabed (for Wass) 6.
Manchester United: Sergio Romero 7, Antonio Valencia 7, Eric Bailly 7, Daley Blind 7, Matteo Darmian 6, Marouane Fellaini 6, Ander Herrera 6, Paul Pogba 8, Henrikh Mkhitaryan 6, Jesse Lingard 6, Marcus Rashford 8. Substitutes: Ashley Young (for Mkhitaryan) 6, Anthony Martial (for Rashford) 6, Chris Smalling (for Young) 6.

Who’s up next?

Manchester United's Daley Blind (left) and Arsenal's Theo Walcott
Manchester United’s Daley Blind, left, and Arsenal’s Theo Walcott (Martin Rickett/PA)
Malaga v Celta Vigo (LaLiga, Sunday May 7)
Arsenal v Manchester United (Premier League, Sunday May 7)

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