Sensational Coutinho KO’s United
A superb strike by Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho ended Manchester United’s hopes of pulling off a special comeback in the Europa League on Thursday night.
|||Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho ended Manchester United’s hopes of pulling off a special comeback with a sensational goal to knock the Red Devils out of the Europa League on Thursday night.
United did what was required as they worked their way back from a two-goal deficit by scoring first in the last-16 tie at Old Trafford, with French striker Anthony Martial picking himself up after winning a penalty to put Louis van Gaal’s team ahead after 32 minutes.
Martial showed good skill to skip past hesitant Liverpool right back Nathaniel Clyne, who proceeded to bring down the United No 9 inside the penalty area, and Serbian referee Milorad Mazic pointed to the spot.
United had two other golden opportunities before that, with Jesse Lingard’s header being well-saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, while Martial’s pile-driver from inside the box flew over the top.
Jurgen Klopp’s Reds got going after a quiet start when that man Coutinho fired towards goal just before the half-hour mark, but De Gea was equal to the task and held on after initially stopping the ball.
Liverpool didn’t back down after Martial’s penalty, with Daniel Sturridge’s wicked free kick rocking the United crossbar with De Gea having no chance, and skipper Jordan Henderson somehow managed to miss the target after being set up by the energetic Coutinho.
The fleet-footed Brazilian had to do the job himself eventually, and what a moment it was. Surging down the left-hand touchline, Coutinho wasn’t seemingly threatening United’s goal. But then the 23-year-old took on Guillermo Varela on the edge of the box, and left the United right back for dead with sheer pace.
The large frame of De Gea came to the fore to try and smother the danger, but he was no match for Coutinho, who clipped through a fine chip at the near-post for a wonder solo goal on the stroke of halftime.
That strike virtually killed off the contest, as it meant that the tie couldn’t go to extra time and penalties as Liverpool had secured the crucial away goal that United were unable to achieve at Anfield a week ago in a 2-0 defeat.
So, Van Gaal’s side had to score another three goals to squeeze into the Europa League, but it wasn’t to be.
With injured club captain Wayne Rooney and former manager Alex Ferguson watching from the stands, United tried hard to make a fist of it, with Van Gaal replacing Varela with right wing Antonio Valencia at halftime to spruce up the attack.
But while the Red Devils’ build-up play wasn’t bad, their final touch let them down and their finishing was poor in front of goal.
They had a whole host of chances in the first 20 minutes after the break, but skipper Michael Carrick, young striker Marcus Rashford, Marouane Fellaini and Martial all couldn’t get the ball past Mignolet.
With the minutes ticking by, the United fans soon realised that there was no way back and started leaving the stadium, even when Van Gaal brought on Bastian Schweinsteiger for Carrick with 20 minutes to go.
It was too late by then, and Coutinho dazzled the travelling Liverpool fans with two more fantastic efforts on goal, but he couldn’t add a second.
Klopp, though, will be delighted to have guided Liverpool to the Europa League quarter-finals in his first season, and the fact that they are the first English team to knock United out of a European competition will give the German mastermind extra satisfaction.
But in London, there was no such joy for Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur, who went down 2-1 on the night to Borussia Dortmund at White Hart Lane to lose 5-1 on aggregate.
African Footballer of the Year and Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored in each half to end Spurs’ campaign in Europe, with South Korean Son Heung-min’s 74th-minute strike a mere consolation goal.
ashfak.mohamed@inl.co.za
@IndyCapeSport
Europa League Last-16 Results (Quarter-Final Draw on Friday, March 18)
* Manchester United 1 Liverpool 1 (Liverpool win 3-1 on aggregate)
* Tottenham Hotspur 1 Borussia Dortmund 2 (Dortmund win 5-1 on aggregate)
* Bayer Leverkusen 0 Villarreal 0 (Villarreal win 2-0 on aggregate)
* Lazio 0 Sparta Prague 3 (Sparta win 4-1 on aggregate)
* Valencia 2 Athletic Bilbao 1 (2-2 on aggregate, Bilbao advance on the away goals rule)
* Sporting Braga 4 Fenerbahce 1 (Sporting win 4-2 on aggregate)
* Sevilla 3 Basel 0 (Sevilla win 3-0 on aggregate)
* Anderlecht 0 Shakhtar Donetsk 1 (Shakhtar win 4-1 on aggregate)