Manchester United overcame Granada at Old Trafford to make it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League once again. The Red Devils now have A.S. Roma in their sights in the semi finals with a Man United and Arsenal final still on the cards if both teams are successful at the semi-final stage.
United dominated large parts of the game starting off positively out the blocks with Bruno Fernandes lining up United's first shot before the ball was well claimed by goalkeeper Rui Silva. The Red Devils took an early lead courtesy Edinson Cavani. The Uruguayan finding acres of space after Alex Telles's cross was nodded on by Paul Pogba, he lined up a no nonsense volley with his left foot the ball smashing into the back of the net finding the far corner.
The contest was all but out of sight at this stage with the Uruguayan being the first to reach 50 goals in UEFA competitions in his 87th appearance. He was the fourth South American player to reach this feat after Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Alfredo Di Stefano. Although the game looked out of sight United kept pushing for goals with Telles swinging in another good looking ball in from deep on the left, but the goalkeeper was out to collect before it reached Fernandes.
The Red Devils came out firing on all cylinders in the second phase, sealing the tie in the 90th minute to make sure of their progression to the semi finals of the competition, as Telles's cross missed Juan Mata which was ricocheted home off the unfortunate Granada defender Jesus Vallejo. The Vallejo own goal meant that United had now scored 100 goals in all competitions in the season 2020/2021.
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Match Statistics
The match was very one sided, the Red Devils dominant and comfortable throughout, with Granada trying to find a foothold in the contest during the 90 minutes. Man United had 9 shots on goal during the game compared to Granada's 11, with two shots on target to the away sides three. The possession count for the Red Devils was much higher with a 59% to 41% ratio at Old Trafford. The total pass count for the Red Devils was a big 594 to Granada's 390. The Manchester side also had the better passing accuracy of 86% to the visitors 79%.
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Solskjaer was very happy with progressing in the competition and the professional job that was completed at home.
United now have Burnley to welcome to Old Trafford on Sunday evening.
"We have a chance to go to the final, today as you said well done, disciplined job, professional and not really under too much pressure. When you get to a semi that's the nature of the game you are playing against good teams, we played against some good teams so we relish the chance again to go to the final. I have seen the determination and attitude in every player that we want to go one step further. The disappointment of the defeats we have had recently they have given us the motivation to go one step further and hopefully end the season on a high."