Manchester United 6-2 AS Roma: result, goals, summary - Europa League 2020/21
Manchester United vs Roma: live updates
Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani scored two each as Manchester United took a giant step towards the Europa League final with a 6-2 drubbing of AS Roma in their semi-final first leg at Old Trafford on Thursday.
Fernandes put United ahead in the ninth minute after being set up by Cavani but Roma cancelled that opener out six minutes later with a Lorenzo Pellegrini penalty after a handball by Paul Pogba.
Former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko put the Italian side ahead but Roma were forced into making three injury substitutions in the opening half and struggled without fresh legs after the break.
Cavani scored in the 48th minute to get United back on level terms and the Uruguayan striker struck again before a Fernandes penalty, Pogba header and Mason Greenwood goal completed an impressive turnaround for the Premier League side. (Simon Evans)
Peep, peep, peep! Game over. United come from behind to completely nullify Roma's two away goals. 6-2 it ends.
Two minutes of added time to be played before Roma are put out of their misery.
GOAL UNITED!
Cavani releases Greenwood with a beautiful pass wide. Greenwood drives the ball passed Lopez into the left corner. 6-2 and it does feel like this tie is over now even before the second leg is played.
United with ANOTHER clear chance! Fernandes picks out Cavani with a dink over the top. Cavani tries a scissors kick volley but Lopez saves.
GOAL UNITED, POGBA MAKES IT 5!
Pogba gets on the end of the cross and drives the header home. United scored 7 against Roma here back in 2007 in a 7-1 win. They way they're playing they could score 7 again.
Fernandes releases Cavani again inside the box but the Uruguayan's shot is blocked. United look like they'll score a fifth.
GOAL UNITED, FERNANDES CONVERTS THE PENALTY!
Cool as a cucumber, Fernandes blasts the ball into the top left corner. Lopez wen the other way. 4-2 United!
Ref calls a penalty for a very late challenge on Cavani, although the ball was long gone passed him when the tackle came in by the byline. VAR checking but the decision is upheld. Fernandes to take.
United break again and Shaw forces a save from Lopez with a well-hit strike by the edge of the box.
GOAL UNITED, CAVANI GETS HIS SECOND!
Well that has been coming. Another great team goal started around the edge of the box. Shaw to Pogba, Pogba to Fernandes, Fernandes wide to the overlapping Wan-Bisska, whose shot is saved by Lopez. But Cavani is on hand to latch on to the loose ball and he taps it home.
Smalling goes in the book for a late challenge on Fernandes.
Chance for Roma goes a begging as Smalling drives the ball over the bar. Dzeko did well to tee him up inside the box after a quick break from the visitors.
United piling on the pressure now as they go in search of a third. You would not bet against them getting it.
What a chance for Cavani! Shaw does well to work his way down the left and plays a pass by the side edge of the box towards an unmarked Cavani by the penatly spot. But he's driven the ball over. He should have scored!
UNITED EQUALIZE THROUGH CAVANI!
Like United's first, this goal involves another Cavani-Pogba-Fernandes link up move. This time Fernandes sets up Cavani with a nice through ball, and the Uruguayan drives the ball into the top corner with a first time shot. Excellent finish.
Peep! Manchester United get the second half underway. No changes for either side, although Roma were forced to make three in the first half.
The teams make their way back onto the pitch for the second half.
Peep, peep! Half-time. United started well scoring the opener through Fernandes. But Roma had the chance to respond quickly, scoring a penalty after Pogba handled in the box. Roma were able to score a second just after the half hour mark, leaving United with a lot of work to do in the second half.
Cavani misses golden opportunity! A major defensive blunder from Roma gifts a chance to Cavani and the Uruguayan is one-on-one with the keeper. But he can't score!
Five minutes of added time to be played after all the injuries.
Maguire plays a nice long ball over the top to release Cavani, but the linesman flags for offside. There were inches in that.
Roma have been forced to make a THIRD substitution due to injury. Spinazzola is forced off with a muscle issue; Peres replaces him. Horrible luck for the Italian side.
GOAL ROMA!
Roma have their second away goal. Mkhitaryan slots a lovely pass to the unmarked Pellegrini on the left side of the box, who squares the ball to Dzeko positioned inside the six-yard area and between the two United center backs. The ball passes an outstretched Maguire and Dzeko taps it in with ease.
The Spanish keeper is being forced off and on comes Mirante. That's Roma's second forced substitution in less than a half an hour played. Veretout had to go off very early on due to a muscle injury.
Paul Lopez does well to stretch and save a shot from Pogba. And he's managed to hurt himself in the process. Play is stopped to allow the Roma keeper to receive attention. Looks like his shoulder.
Chance United! Rashford rushes towards the box, beating one defender, before slotting a short pass to Fernandes by the penalty area. But the Portuguese puts his shot wide as he collected the ball at an awkward angle.
United have a free kick about 8 yards outside the Roma box. Fernandes goes for goal but he hits it high and wide of the near post.
United looking to restore their lead as quickly as possible. Fernandes whips in a decent cross from the right, but it's too close to Roma keeper Lopez.
GOAL ROMA!
Captain Pellegrini steps up for the penalty and drives the ball into the left corner. De Gea guessed the right way but there was no stopping that. 1-1!
Ref calls penalty for Roma for a United hand ball! The ball struck the arm of Pogba as he slid to block a cross. Looked like he couldn't do much about it.
That was Fernandes' 17th goal of the season across all competitions.
GOAL UNITED!
Superb link-up play as Pogba beats two men, passes to Cavani, who quickly picks out the run of Fernandes in the box, allowing the Portuguese to dink the ball over the keeper from eight yards out. That was a thing of beauty. 1-0 to the hosts!
Veretout is ok and comes back on the pitch. Oh wait, no ... now he's back on the floor. The Frenchman can't continue, and on comes Villar. It looks like a pulled muscle.
Early injury concern for Roma as Veretout has managed to pull something as tried to gather the ball on the wing.
Peep! Roma get the game underway at Old Trafford.
When it was 6-0, they asked me to stop, an opponent begged me to stop dribbling. Others threatened to hurt me. Roma? There is no player with whom I would exchange a shirt."
In other news... Barcelona are losing to Granada at Camp Nou, a huge result if it stays like this...
"Make sure he remembers us"
Solskjaer attracted the ire of Roma fans after his comments a few days ago, in which he said: "I don’t know Roma well and I haven’t seen them play."
Chris Smalling discusses going up against his old club
"We need to assert ourselves and make sure we go back to Roma with a positive result"....
Solskjaer talks about bringing in "experienced players" for tonight
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has called on experience as he brings in Pogba, De Gea and Cavani to the starting XI. He discusses that decision ahead of the game...
Paulo Fonseca pre-match comments
"Manchester United have a lot of strong offensive players: Cavani, Rashford, Greenwood, James, who is a very fast player. They are excellent players capable of deciding the outcome of the match in one second. So we have to be prepared.
"But frankly, we are not going to sit on the defensive. We want to have the ball, the initiative and we have to have the courage to go out and play football against Manchester United."
Solskjaer pre-match comments
"It will be a dream come true the day I lift a trophy with this club as a manager. Our ambition is to finish the season by lifting a trophy. I know how much that would mean to this group going forward."
AS Roma starting XI
Former United players Chris Smalling and Henrij Mkhitaryan go up against their old team mates tonight:
Pau Lopez, Smalling, Cristante, Ibanez, Karsdorp, Diawara, Veretout, Spinazzola, Pellegrini, Mkhitaryan, Dzeko
Man United Starting XI
No surprises with Solskjaer's teamsheet:
De Gea, Lindelof, Maguire, Wan-Bissaka, Shaw, Fred, Pogba, McTominay Fernandes, Rashford, Cavani
United dominate head to head with Roma
This will be the seventh meeting of United and Roma in European competition. The English club have won four, drawn one and lost one of the previous six meetings, all of which have been in the Champions League.
United hope to avoid fifth straight semi-final loss under Solskjaer
United, the chief favorites to lift the trophy, will face a team that are on a run of just one win from their last seven league games.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men haven’t really struggled to get to the semi-finals, as they totally dismantled Real Sociedad in the round of 16 and easily beat Granada in the quarter-finals.
However, the Red Devils have lost the four semis they have played with Solskjaer as manager, so it will be an extra challenge for the former United player.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Europa League semi-final first leg between Manchester United and AS Roma, which gets underway in one hour, at 3pm ET. In the meantime, you can follow the build-up with us here.