Manchester United 2-0 Granada (Agg. 4-0): result, goals, summary
Manchester United 2-0 Granada (4-0 agg): Europa League as it happened
Peeep peep peeep! Granada competed hard, but Manchester United were the better side and go through to the Europa League semi-finals. A 4-0 aggregate scoreline feels a bit harsh on the Spaniards, though; they certainly don't deserve to come away from this tie without a goal to their name.
A quarter-final finish in their first ever season in Europe exceeds expectations, to say the least.
United progress to their 18th European semi-final, where they will face Roma. The Italians have qualified for the last four at the expense of Ajax, a 1-1 draw in Rome earning the Giallorossi a 3-2 aggregate win.
Elsewhere in the quarter-finals, Arsenal have thumped Slavia Prague 4-0 to claim a 5-1 aggregate victory and set up a semi-final against Villarreal, coached by former Gunners boss Unai Emery.
Villarreal booked their semis spot by following up last week's 1-0 first-leg win over Dinamo Zagreb with a 2-1 triumph tonight.
That's all from me - thanks for reading!
Three minutes of time added on in Manchester.
Just before that Vallejo own goal, Granada had come the closest they have all night to getting on the scoresheet. Machís connected with a left-wing cross with a powerful header from 10 yards out or so, but was denied by a fantastic reaction save from De Gea.
2-0 to United, and it's a terrible piece of luck for Vallejo.
Telles swings in a ball from the left for Mata, who gets his header all wrong, pretty much failing to make any contact with the ball. Standing right behind him is Vallejo, who doesn't have time to react before the ball bounces off him and into the net.
Montoro pulls the ball down and clips a cross into the United box from the right, but the hosts clear.
Substitute Diallo then leads a break, shrugging off one man before being stopped in his tracks by Díaz as he threatens to break clear of the visiting defence. United claim Diallo was fouled, but the referee says no.
There's a shooting chance for Díaz, but he can't beat De Gea! The ball fell to the defender in space 20 yards or so out from goal, but the Manchester United keeper was quickly across his goal to gather the shot.
Arsenal are now 4-0 up on Slavia Prague - Alexandre Lacazette has scored his second goal of the night. Mikel Arteta's men are absolutely strolling into the semis.
Molina feeds the ball wide to Machís in crossing space, but the Venezuelan's cross to back post is too high for Puertas.
Both teams make substitutions: Granada replace Germán Sánchez with Nuehén Pérez, while Manchester United take off Mason Greenwood and Aaron Wan-Bissaka for Brandon Williams and Amad Diallo.
Greenwood tries to spin away from Díaz inside the Granada box, but ends up losing sight of the ball and the defender steps in to clear.
Telles curls a Manchester United free-kick well over, via a touch off someone in the wall. Referee Istvan Kovacs gives a goal-kick, so it must have come off a United player.
Granada bring on Víctor Díaz, Carlos Neva making way.
Roma have levelled on the night at the Stadio Olimpico, courtesy of Edin Dzeko. They now lead 3-2 on aggregate.
Elsewhere, Dinamo Zagreb have pulled a goal back against Villarreal and trail 3-1 on aggregate, while Arsenal remain 3-0 up on the night against Slavia Prague, and 4-1 up on aggregate.
Fernandes is replaced by Juan Mata.
Germán has to look alive to cut out a venomous ball sent in low from the left by Fernandes.
At the other end, Germán is also involved, clipping a pass to the top of the box to Herrera, who for a moment looks to be in a prime position to ping the bouncing ball on goal, only to be quickly closed down.
There's a chance for Germán, but he hooks his shot wide! Montoro delivers a free-kick from deep towards the edge of the United box, where the ball somehow evades everyone and runs through to the defender at the back of the area. He turns and strikes first time, but doesn't get a good connection and De Gea watches the ball drift past his post.
Granada have certainly done enough to merit a goal.
Germán Sánchez is booked for preventing Fernandes' forward surge with his hand.
United make another change, replacing Cavani with Daniel James.
Close from Van de Beek! Greenwood drives forward towards the Granada box before being tackled. The loose ball falls straight to the Dutchman, though. He pings in a first-time shot from 20 yards that flashes just past Rui Silva's right-hand upright.
Over in Italy, Ajax have taken the lead through Brian Brobbey's 48th-minute goal, taking the Dutchmen to within just the one goal of going ahead in the tie. As it stands, Roma are still going through on away goals.
That's a very presentable chance for Cavani... but he gets his header all wrong and ends up shouldering it wide. Fernandes looked up and whipped in a lovely cross from the right-hand corner of the penalty box, and Cavani was all on his own.
Herrera slips it neatly wide to Neva, who digs out a cross that's directed at Molina but doesn't reach its target.
Granada then win a free-kick in a very decent crossing position wide on the left, but Montoro's delivery is gathered comfortably by De Gea.
Foulquier curls a fantastic, fizzing ball into the United box and right onto the head of Molina, whose effort hits off Wan-Bissaka and bounces into De Gea's arms.
Granada claim Wan-Bissaka handled, but don't get a penalty.
United respond by carving out a not dissimular chance at the other end, Van de Beek scooping a cross into the middle for Greenwood, who is in acres of space but can only direct a tame header right down Rui Silva's gullet.
Alex Telles exchanges passes with Bruno Fernandes and strides forward into the Granada half, but overhits his ball to Donny van de Beek and it runs through to Rui Silva.
Peeeeep! We're back underway at Old Trafford.
Granada make a double half-time change, replacing Roberto Soldado and Kenedy with Luis Suárez and Antonio Puertas.
Manchester United also make a substitution, introducing Donny van de Beek for Paul Pogba.
Elsewhere in the Europa League...
In tonight's other quarter-final second legs, Villarreal and Arsenal are in charge of their ties against Dinamo Zagreb and Slavia Prague, respectively, while it remains goalless between Roma and Ajax in Italy.
As it stands, United are heading into a semi-final match-up with Roma, and former Arsenal boss Unai Emery will be leading his Villarreal side into a last-four clash against the Gunners.
Peeep peeep peeep! Half time in Manchester. Despite going behind to that early Edinson Cavani volley, Granada had a pretty encouraging first half hour or so - but United began to gain a greater measure of control as the half wore on.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men lead 3-0 on aggregate and have one foot in the semis.
Fernandes tries to dink a cute reverse ball into the box to meet the run of Cavani, but the striker clearly wasn't expecting the pass and it's overhit anyway. Goal-kick to Granada.
One minute of time added on at Old Trafford.
Wan-Bissaka plays a rather reckless crossfield ball inside his own half that flies straight to Kenedy. The Granada winger chests it down and tries his luck from way out, but slices his effort well, well off target.
Pogba strides forward and looks to play a one-two with Cavani 20 yards out, but the Uruguayan's return ball isn't on point.
A minute or so later, Greenwood nods it down to Cavani, who touches the ball to the right for Fernandes to shoot. You'd expect him to work the keeper from such a position on the edge of the box... but he drags his strike well wide.
Bruno Fernandes volleys over! He's found by a neat chipped ball to the back of the box, but he can't keep his effort down. At the other end, Molina controls inside the United area and tries to turn Tuanzebe, but is muscled off the ball.
It's been a really competitive first half - with the notable exception of that Cavani goal. That's the one moment Granada failed to compete, and they were punished for it.
Gonalons is down clutching his shoulder and won't be able to carry on. He's replaced by Jorge Molina.
Molina will take up a forward position close to Soldado, with Herrera dropping back into a deeper midfield role to cover the absence of Gonalons.
Greenwood goes down in some pain after being caught late by Vallejo, but no free-kick is given. The forward looks like he'll be fine, though.
It's been mostly United ball in the Granada half in the past few minutes; Granada's encouraging attacking momentum has slightly subsided.
Telles swings a ball into the Granada box, but it's too close to Rui Silva and the goalkeeper clutches hold with ease.
Cavani brings up European milestone
That Edinson Cavani goal was the Uruguayan's 50th in UEFA club competitions. He's the first player from Uruguay to bring up a European half century, and only the fourth South American to do so.
The resulting free-kick is whipped dangerously into the near post, where Herrera connects with a diving header that he sends only a yard or so wide! Granada are certainly not struggling to get themselves into good attacking positions.
Granada are incensed. Having just been booked, Pogba lunges in on Herrera and is more than a shade fortunate to escape without a second yellow.
Roberto Soldado gives the referee a fairly sizeable piece of his mind, and earns himself a booking for his remonstrations.
Pogba is the first man to go into referee Istvan Kovacs' notebook after catching Germán Sánchez with a stray elbow as he looks to shake the Granada defender off and advance into the Andalusians' half.
Granada are showing plenty of attacking purpose. Machís runs at a back-pedalling United defence and slips it wide to Kenedy, but the Brazilian can't organise his feet to get the ball into the box.
"Pass the ball properly," the Manchester United bench can be heard telling their players. The hosts lead on the night, but Granada have had most of the play. That said, of course, United are clearly in a position where they don't need to take the initiative.
Granada's task tonight hasn't changed a whole lot, it should be noted. They needed three to win the tie before kick-off, and they still need three to win.
The visitors react well to falling behind: twice Yángel Herrera has efforts on goal, first with a header that drifts just past David de Gea's left-hand post, then with a shot that flies over the Spaniard's crossbar.
Cavani makes no mistake here, though! United have an early lead and extend their aggregate lead to 3-0! It's a little bit too easy for United, to be honest.
Alex Telles clips a left-wing cross into the box to Paul Pogba, who flicks it on to Cavani. The striker has too much time to set himself and volley low past Silva and into the corner.
Darwin Marchís bustles forward down the left and crosses low, but Victor Lindelöf is in position to clear.
At the other end, United create their first moment of danger - and if Edinson Cavani's pass had been a bit better, Mason Greenwood would have been in on Rui Silva.
Bruno Fernandes releases Cavani into space in the right-hand channel and, with Greenwood sprinting into a shooting position all on his own in the middle, the Uruguyan plays his square ball too close to the Granada goalkeeper.
Axel Tuanzebe climbs all over Roberto Soldado 35 yards or so out from the Manchester United goal, conceding a free-kick that gives the visitors a chance to swing a dead ball into the box.
It's taken short, however, and United deal with the danger.
Moments later, Granada get Kenedy into a crossing position on the right and, though the hosts again clear with relative ease, this is a promising start from Diego Martínez's side.
Peeeep! We're underway at Old Trafford.
Ajax or Roma up next
A semi-final against either Roma or Ajax awaits the winners of this United-Granada tie. The Italians lead 2-1 from last week’s first leg in Amsterdam, and I’ll be sure to keep you abreast of the score in tonight’s return at the Stadio Olimpico.
While we're talking about that United kit swap...
On the subject of that infamous kit change, incidentally, Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier, who scored the Saints’ third in that April 1996 win over Manchester United, later admitted that he didn't notice that Sir Alex Ferguson’s side had swapped their grey strip for a blue and white number.
"After the game [was the first I’d heard that United had changed their kit]," Le Tissier told the Quickly Kevin; Will He Score? podcast in 2017. "I never noticed. It wasn’t a subtle change either, was it?"
Old Trafford banners changed in bid to improve United home form
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed that the banners draped over the empty Old Trafford seats have been changed, as it was felt their predominantly red colour could be putting the Manchester United players off.
This season, United have so far managed a win percentage of just 54.2% at home in all competitions - their second-worst since the Premier League was created in 1992.
"You'll see a change now, the banners around the pitch, they're not red anymore," Solskjaer told reporters ahead of tonight’s match.
"We've looked into this and there shouldn't be any reason really, but some of the players have mentioned, that split-second decision you have to make - look over your shoulder if your team-mate is there or not - and the red shirt is on the red background with the red seats.
"So, we've tried to change that, along with the anti-racism campaign [banner], so of course it was important that wasn't red anymore.”
Shades of THAT half-time kit change at the Dell 25 years ago...
Full story: Solskjaer suggests Old Trafford banners to blame for home form
What the coaches said: Diego Martínez, Granada
Granada need "perfect" display to turn tie around at Old Trafford:
"There are things from the first leg that will stand us in good stead [in the return], because the team played very well in particular areas of our game. You have to play these kinds of games with intelligence. We’ll need a perfect performance."
Belief in his side's chances of knocking out United:
"We’d like to make it through to the next round for all the Granada fans. This team has achieved things that had previously been unthinkable. We’re up against really tough opposition, but we’re convinced that we can do it."
"Pride and gratitude"
"When I see my players, the first thing I feel is pride and gratitude."
(Photo: Parker/Diario AS)
What the coaches said: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manchester United
No intention of sitting back and protecting first-leg advantage:
"We’ve got a great foundation to play from, a good [first-leg] result, but we going into this game wanting to win the game. We want to play a good game, perform well; we know that Granada will come here and give it everything they’ve got so we have to go out there and try to dominate the ball and score goals like we always want to do, and just keep carrying on. Momentum is big in football; if it goes for you, it goes for you, so we just want to carry on and hopefully the players will enjoy the game."
Granada's approach to the second leg:
"It's a quarter-final in Europe so of course they need to score goals. The way they want to create chances and score goals, I cannot predict of course, but we have seen them against Barcelona, seen them against Real Madrid, how dangerous they can be. We just have to play a very, very good game. If they come and press us we have be ready for that. If they sit back and there’s more counter-attacks, we have to play a good game and not give them those opportunities. It’s all up for grabs."
(Photo: EFE/Pepe Torres)
Rashford on the bench for United, Kenedy starts for Granada
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer makes five changes to the team that won last week’s first leg, as Axel Tuanzebe, Alex Telles, Fred, Nemanja Matic and Edinson Cavani replace Harry Maguire Luke Shaw, Scott McTominay, Daniel James and Marcus Rashford.
Rashford had been a fitness doubt after missing training on Wednesday with an ankle injury, and in the end starts on the bench; meanwhile, Shaw, Maguire and McTominay are all suspended after being booked in Andalusia.
Granada head coach Diego Martínez makes two changes from the first leg, Dmitri Foulquier and Darwin Machís coming in for Víctor Díaz and Antonio Puertas. Kenedy’s place in the XI had been in doubt because of an ankle problem he picked up in the first leg, but the on-loan Chelsea player is finally fit to start.
(Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images)
Manchester United team news
Starting line-up: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Tuanzebe, Lindelöf, Telles, Fred, Matic, Greenwood, Fernandes, Pogba, Cavani
Substitutes: Grant, Henderson, Fish, Williams, Amad, James, Mata, Van de Beek, Elanga, Rashford, Shoretire
Granada team news
Starting line-up: Rui Silva, Foulquier, Germán, Vallejo, Neva, Herrera, Gonalons, Montoro, Kenedy, Soldado, Machís
Substitutes: Aarón, Arnau, Nehuen, Suárez, Puertas, Díaz, Molina, Ruiz, Torrente
Manchester United vs Granada: times, TV & how to watch online
Should you be wondering how you can accompany our live feed of the match with sounds and moving pictures, by the way, we suggest you have a shufties at our guide on how and where to watch Manchester United vs Granada.
Manchester United vs Granada: Europa League preamble
Hello! Hola! Welcome to our live coverage of tonight’s Europa League quarter-final second leg at Old Trafford (3:00 pm EDT/9:00 pm CEST), as Granada play their maiden competitive match in England against a Manchester United side who have a really rather commanding lead from the opening leg in Spain.
Goals by Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes gave United a 2-0 win at the Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes last Thursday, and a look at some of the Red Devils’ stand-out European stats suggests that only the bravest of gamblers would put their hard-earned corn on Granada turning the tie around this evening.
After all, not only are United unbeaten in their last 16 home Europa League games, but they have come out on top in all 19 previous continental ties in which they won the first leg away from home.
That said, United’s recent home record against Spanish opposition is actually pretty patchy: the Premier League giants have won just one and lost four of their last 10 games against LaLiga sides at Old Trafford.
Granada boss Diego Martínez, who has masterminded the Andalusians’ rise from the second tier of Spanish football to a first ever appearance in European competition, remained bullish about his side’s chances of springing a surprise in his pre-match press conference, but conceded: “We’ll need the perfect performance.”
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