Europa League - United survive Ajax fightback to advance
Ajax came back from a goal down to defeat Manchester United 2-1 at Old Trafford, but the Premier League club advance to the Europa League last 16 with a 3-2 aggregate win.
United appeared to be on the fast track to the next round when Javier Hernandez put them ahead on the night after just six minutes, extending their total advantage to three goals following their 2-0 victory at the Amsterdam ArenA last week.
But Aras Ozbiliz pulled one back shortly before the interval and when Toby Alderweireld headed home a free-kick three minutes from time, the home side faced a nervy finish to avoid conceding a third and going out on away goals.
But they were able to hold on and will now take on Athletic Bilbao of the Spanish Primera Liga in the last 16 for a place in the quarter-finals.
Athletic defeated Lokomotiv Moscow 1-0, scoring just two minutes after being reduced to 10 men, to earn the fight to face the Red Devils on the away goals rule.
United looked to add a third goal to their aggregate advantage right from the off, beginning with purpose in the hope of breaking their Dutch opponents’ spirits early on.
Park Ji-Sung forced a good parry from goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer inside the opening moments before the opening goal came after just six minutes.
Dimitar Berbatov provided the assist for his strike partner, with Hernandez cutting inside and coolly stroking home a goal most imagined would kill off the Ajax threat.
Frank de Boer’s young side were far from beaten, however, and began to settle into the game with Christian Eriksen and Siem de Jong firing shots wide of the target.
The hosts countered a quarter of an hour in and only a sliding interception from Jan Vertonghen prevented Hernandez from returning the favour for Berbatov inside the area.
The away side continued to have their fair share of possession and a number of forays into United’s final third, and eight minutes before the break their efforts were rewarded.
The Premier League side failed to clear their lines as Ajax pressed and, amid shouts for a foul, a loose ball fell to Ozbiliz on the edge of the area and the Armenian buried his first-time effort low into the far corner.
Tom Cleverley tested Vermeer with a rasping drive from 25 yards in the closing stages of the half, while left-back Dico Koppers sustained a knock which saw him replaced at half-time by Davy Klaassen.
The enforced change did little to dampen the visitors’ collective spirit, however, as they began to take over the game in search of the two goals they needed, urged on loudly by their impressive travelling support.
And when a lengthy period of attacking from the Dutch culminated in De Jong forcing a superlative reflex block from David De Gea with a near-post header from a corner, there appeared to be an outside chance they could pull it off.
However, Sir Alex Ferguson quickly moved defend his side’s lead by bringing off the ineffectual Cleverley and Ashley Young in favour of Paul Scholes and Jonny Evans.
Having Scholes anchor the midfield alongside the defensive-minded Phil Jones slowly paid off for the home side, as the game slowed down and United began to create openings on the break in the hopes of finishing off Ajax for good.
And on 73 minutes, Nani cut inside from the right on one of those breakaways before unleashing a 20-yard screamer which thumped off the crossbar.
Berbatov made way for Danny Welbeck, who came close to creating an opening on the counter-attack on a number of occasions, but a lapse in concentration at the back ensured a tense finale.
Scholes needlessly gave away a free-kick led to Ozbiliz pumping a long central delivery into the United goalmouth, and as a result, claiming an assist as well as a goal when Alderweireld shook off his marker to head past De Gea.
It was a goal which ensured Ajax’s status as the only Dutch side to emerge victorious from the Theatre of Dreams, but it was one short of what they required to make it through at United’s expense.
Comment 199 - 218 of 218
tezzer89@189 YOU SAID YOU WOULDNT TELL ANYBODY BOUT THAT
as an outsider i cant believe how childish some of the city fans are , very immature comments by people with a mental age of 5
fergy needs to retire an old man who has lost the plot, his best days are behind him
Great crowd again United had over 67000, no other Europa cup game got any where near that, the game in Amsterdam had a full house, no one in the Europa league can attract the crowds United will get home and away, the only way city will get a decent crowd is if they get United. Monday 30th will be a great day for Manchester, United will beat City to take the title.
manchesters red!! manchesters red??- 10.000 empty seats, your fooooked in the head!!!!
Ajax fans are amazing! I was sat five seats away from them and they were deafening all match, put us United fans to shame who sang maybe one chant all night! Spoiled with success is what we are and we ALL need to start getting behind the team EVERY game! Not just when we feel it's important! That's an arrogant attitude to have! Plus I'm sure most fans would find that way alot more fun, the Ajax fans last night looked like one big family having a great time win lose or draw!
mission accomplished with our heart in our mouth next time sir Alex should use the old and the young, that is exuberance and experience.
Anthony: theatre of commedy , total shyte , fergie take a good long look , and do the decent thing for club and your long suffering family ,RETIRE UPSTAIRS .
Hmm, that's a fantastic point Anthony, you're obviously a very clever individual.
Yeh Fergie, what have you achieved?
Oh, there was....
Premier League (12): 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11
FA Cup (5): 1989–90, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04
League Cup (4): 1991–92, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10
FA Charity/Community Shield (10): 1990 (shared), 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011
UEFA Champions League (2): 1998–99, 2007–08
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1990–91
UEFA Super Cup (1): 1991
Intercontinental Cup (1): 1999
FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2008
Ok, take a good long look, be exceptionally proud, and carry on as you were.
kels- list!!,,come on kel, why dont you make your list fully comprehensive??
the best part was the 2 min injury time,, ragagagagaga, 2 minutes added on in a match that should of had 4 min,,,fergie time again methinks,,, blatant cheating by the authority`s!!,,when do you ever see 2 min added on??,,ohhh thats it, when united are loosing and holding on for dear life!!,, so the only time they added on was for subs despite evans being booked for time wasting???? dodgy as helll!!!!!
the best part was the 2 min injury time,, ragagagagaga, 2 minutes added on in a match that should of had 4 min,,,fergie time again methinks,,, blatant cheating by the authority`s!!,,when do you ever see 2 min added on??,,ohhh thats it, when united are loosing and holding on for dear life!!,, so the only time they added on was for subs despite evans being booked for time wasting???? dodgy as helll!!!!!
theatre of commedy , total shyte , fergie take a good long look , and do the decent thing for club and your long suffering family ,RETIRE UPSTAIRS .
Very disappointing game, manu are slowly losing the golden boys, Not the team they were ! berb is uS
Stu (141) nice to read a sensible comment from a United fan about last night's match which was an eye opener regarding the new young crop of players that Fergie is bringing through. I'm a Chelsea fan myself and wish my club would do a similar thing as we've had several players like McEachran, Bruma and Bertrand amongst others who should be getting a decent run in the team to help them progress. I thought Ajax were well worth their win last night and felt that they spent too much time trying to play like Barca from the back but unfortunately had no Xavi or Messi quality to turn their massive possession into goals. I also thought it was strange for Fergie to bring Evans and Scholes on, Evans really looks vulnerable in central defence on the matches I've seen him in and can be a reckless tackler whereas Scholes should really never tackle under any circumstances and I can imagine the Man Utd fans fearing the worst when they came on, similar to what I feel whenever John Obi Mikel is playing for Chelsea. One other thing from last night was the fact that only 2 minutes stoppage time was allowed there having been all six substitutions in the second half albeit one Ajax sub coming on at the start of the second half. De Gea was also doing a fair but of time wasting with goal kicks. Ajax are looking good for the future and under Frank De Boer should do well...
tezzer89 it shows how poor Looserpool are when they shout about the mickey mouse carling cup while ignoring the fact that they are 19 points behind Man Utd and cannot stop us winning our record 20th title lol
Well done Man Utd mission accomplished. Use the mickey mouse europa cup to get players returning from injury match fit again and as a bonus getting through to the next round as well. We are just too strong in depth for the premiership and rest of Europe and we are showing a rise in profits again, which means more money to spend than any other team according to the fair play rules. The future is looking even better at Man Utd than the past 20 years so get used to it lol
Although i'm a United supporter, i'm agreeing with a lot of comments made, and what Harry Redknapp said, that if you don't qualify for the Champions League, you shouldn't get a second chance in another competition. I think it's an insult to the other teams in the Europas that don't usually get Champions League football. We could now have two Champions League losers in the Europa League final, shameful and embarrassing, I certainly wouldn't relish winning this competition, it wouldn't feel right. It's time UEFA had a look at the rules.
just about got through you poor mancs are on the decline
I think it's totally wrong that teams who don't qualify for the knock-out stages of The Champions League should get another bite of the european cherry in the Europa League. It underminds all the teams that qualified for the knock-out stages on merit. Both Manchester teams should not be there. What have they done to deserve it?
I see the moron 'tezzer89' has broken into the computer room again.
Surprised he even understands how to switch the bloody thing on
195 margaret why dont you stick to knitting
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