Manchester United vs Barcelona: Twitter reacts as United beat Barca 2-1 to reach Europa League last-16

Robert Lewandowski’s early penalty had given Barca the advantage in England, but the hosts came out all guns blazing in the second half and netted twice through Fred and Antony.

File photo of Manchester United players; Credit: Twitter/ @ManUtd
By Sreejith C R | Feb 24, 2023 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Manchester United fought back from a goal down to beat Barcelona 2-1 in the second leg of their Europa League playoff tie at Old Trafford on Thursday. Robert Lewandowski’s early penalty had given Barca the advantage in England, but the hosts came out all guns blazing in the second half and netted twice through Fred and Antony. The result meant that the Red Devils entered the las-16 of Europe’s secondary competition with an aggregate 4-3 win. It was a comeback that had not looked likely at the interval but head coach Erik ten Hag’s changes after the break, turned the game on its head. Barca tried their best to level the score, but David de Gea yet again made some stunning saves to secure the win. 

Barca’s world class midfield-duo of Pedri and Gavi weren’t available for selection because of injury and suspension respectively, while Sergio Busquets was back after recovering from an ankle problem. Therefore Franck Kessie and Sergi Roberto came into the starting eleven to join Busquets and Frenkie de Jong in the midfield. The visitors went ahead inside the opening 18 minutes when left-back Alejandro Balde was brought down inside the penalty box by Bruno Fernandes and the referee pointed to the spot. Although De Gea got a touch to Lewandowski’s spot-kick he could only palm the ball into the top corner of the net. Once in front, Barca gained a measure of control through Busquets and De Jong. 

Fred levels the score before Antony nets the winner

Ten Hag was quick to bring in changes as he brought in Antony in place of Wout Weghorst at the break. Fernandes was shifted to his preferred central midfield role, with Rashford leading the line. United leveled the score two minutes into the second half as Fernandes squared the ball for Fred and the Brazilian fired home from just inside the box. Immediately after the goal, Antony raced his way past Andreas Christensen to get on the end of Casemiro’s long ball from the back, but the Brazilian winger’s effort went wide. 

In the 63rd-minute De Gea made a brilliant reflex save to keep out Jules Kounde’s header from De Jong’s cross. It proved to be the save of the match. Ten minutes later, at the other end,  Alejandro Garnacho and Fred saw their efforts blocked, before the ball fell nicely for Antony, and the former Ajax-man curled it past Ter Stegen into the far bottom corner, with a brilliant left-footed strike.  The Red Devils have had 19 goals scored by substitutes in all competitions this season, the most of any side in Europe’s top-five leagues. Meanwhile, Raphael Varane made a goal-line clearance to deny Lewandowski three minutes into injury time. And then, Old Trafford erupted in joy when the referee blew the final whistle.

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