Thursday, March 18, 2021

Paul Pogba scores ‘cheeky’ goal on his Manchester United return to see Red Devils beat AC Milan to make Europa League quarter-finals

Manchester United reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League with a 2-1 aggregate win over AC Milan.

Paul Pogba was the United hero as he scored minutes after coming on in the second half as the Red Devils won 1-0 at the San Siro.

Paul Pogba scored minutes after coming on as a substitute for Man United

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Paul Pogba scored minutes after coming on as a substitute for Man United

The tie was finely balanced at 1-1 following the first leg at Old Trafford and United made a positive in Italy.

Bruno Fernandes fired over from a good position and Daniel James saw penalty appeals against Fikayo Tomori ignored, with Milan in control for the most part.

Stefano Pioli’s men were on top by the end of the period, with Dean Henderson denying Alexis Saelemaekers before Rade Krunic put wide under pressure.

Paul Pogba, who has been out since February 6, came on for Marcus Rashford at the break in a bid to change the dynamic of the game – a change that paid dividends within four minutes.

Paul Pogba came on for Marcus Rashford at the break and went on to score

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Paul Pogba came on for Marcus Rashford at the break and went on to score

James saw a shot blocked to start a penalty-box melee in which United kept their cool, with Fred’s pressure on Kessie leading the ball to be pushed onto Pogba. Five yards out but at an acute angle, he shaped to cross only to strike past Gianluigi Donnarumma at the near post.

talkSPORT’s co-commentator for the match, Dean Ashton, said: “Well, we thought it would be a world star that would come on and make the difference and most people would have thought that would be Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but it’s Pogba.

“The cheekiness of this finish is just glorious. Yes, they get a bit of luck as it ricochets in the box. It falls to Pogba six yards out and it looks like he’s going to play it into the back post, gives Donnarumma the eyes and just cooly curls it into the near post.

“What a delightful, creative finish from Paul Pogba.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s introduction couldn’t inspire AC Milan to come back

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s introduction couldn’t inspire AC Milan to come back

AC Milan could not find the goal that would take the game into extra-time despite Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s introduction.

United joined Arsenal in the next round of the Europa League with Tottenham and Rangers both crashing out.



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