EUROPA League
BAYERN MUNICH WIN UEFA SUPER CUP
Bayern Munich finally crushed the spirit of Sevilla to win the UEFA Super Cup final 2-1.
But as the relentless red machine added another trophy to the Champions League it won last month and extended its run of straight wins to 23 games, it was tested to the limit by the Europe League holders
Spanish substitute Javi Martinez got the winner for Bayern, heading past Bono after the Sevilla keeper had parried a David Alaba shot straight to him. There were 104 draining minutes on the clock when Bayern finally got themselves in front.
Alaba had conceded a first half penalty from which Lucas Ocampos gave Sevilla the lead. Leon Goretzka had levelled on 34 minutes before Bayern got their extra-time winner.
The game was played in front of 15,500 spectators in the 67,000-capacity Puskas Arena, with around 500 travelling from Spain and 1,000 from Germany.
Sevilla took the lead on 12 minutes when Lucas Ocampos sent Manuel Neuer the wrong way from the penalty spot.
Ivan Rakitic, making the second Sevilla debut of his career, won the spot kick.
Jesus Navas had overlapped Suso down the right but checked back on to his left foot before crossing for Luuk de Jong. The big target man headed the ball down to Rakitic who took it on his chest but was barged sideways by David Alaba. English referee Anthony Taylor booked the Austrian and Ocampos rolled in the kick.
Nervous minutes followed for the Spanish. Keeper Bono slipped as he tried to clear and Fernando had to clean things up in a hurry.
Then Rakitic went in late on Robert Lewandowski but De Jong made sure Niklas Sule’s header went out for a corner.
Manchester City target Jules Kounde added a few more euros to his value with a goalsaving block that prevented Thomas Muller scoring.
Bayern were swarming forward and when Benjamin Pavard and Serge Gnabry doubled up down the right with no Sevilla defender in attendance Pavard had a free shot that he pulled wide.
Sane was next to shoot and this time it was Diego Carlos who blocked. Bono then saved at close-range from Lewandowski.
On 34 minutes finally Bayern’s pressure finally paid off. Muller found Lewandowski who laid off to Goretzka who sidefooted the ball past Bono.
Sevilla stayed on terms until half time and refreshed at the restart Ocampos’ flick allowed Sergio Escudero to cross and De Jong’s shot forced a corner.
Lucas Hernandez then teed-up Sane who crossed to Lewandowski. The Pole nodded to Muller who gave it back to him on the edge of the six-yard box. He scored and Bayern celebrated but VAR ruled that Lewandowski had been just offside.
Sane then had the ball in the net but the goal was harshly ruled out for a foul from Lewandowski on Escudero in the build-up. Sevilla’s cup luck was still in.
By now a tired Rakitic had made way for Oliver Torres in a break in play brought about by Kounde’s impeccable block on Lewandowski. The Bayern forward needed treatment but there had been no foul.
The next time Kounde took a risk, this time on Muller, the foul was given but Alaba curled the kick over. Bono then got down well to his right to save from Muller, unsighted he did well to hold the shot.
With three minutes left Sevilla almost nicked it on the break when Navas played substitute Youssef En-Nesyri in. He was through for glory and he did nothing wrong but Neuer did what Neuer does getting down to his right to push the shot clear and force extra time.
En-Nesyri had the first chance of extra time, which this time Neuer blocked on to his post. VAR would have been required if the ball had gone in because the striker looked offside.
Bayern brought on Alphonso Davies, the injection of pace looked cruel on Sevilla’s exhausted players. But it was another sub who won it.
The Spanish side were tired mentally as well as physically. Diego Carlos cleared for a corner when he had Bono behind him to gather. And from the kick Martinez scored to win the game and the Super Cup.
-Daily Mail
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim defended under-fire goalkeeper Andre Onana following the Cameroonian’s costly mistakes in his side’s 2-2 draw at Olympique Lyonnais in their Europa League quarter-final first leg on Thursday.
Onana allowed Thiago Almada’s free kick to squirm past him in the Groupama Stadium and was also at fault for Rayan Cherki’s last-gasp equaliser that denied United victory.
Since the start of last season, no Premier League club’s goalkeeper has made more errors leading to goals being conceded in all competitions than Onana.
“It can happen, if you play football, you play a lot of games, you can make mistakes,” Amorim said. “If you look at the season, I make more mistakes than them during these last games and these last months.
“The other thing is we have one more game to change everything and that should be our focus.
“The best thing is to look at the goals, all the actions that Andre had in the game, this is the best way to help any player, it’s to focus on the game, what happened, what we need to improve.”
United nonetheless remain unbeaten in this season’s Europa League — the only side to do so this term — after goals from Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee put them on course for a potential victory.
The team, who are 13th in the English Premier League standings, still go into next week’s second leg in Manchester as favourites to book a spot in the last four.
“It was an entertaining game,” Amorim added. “We had some difficulty in the first half trying to press, because Lyon played in a different way. Then, in the middle of the first half and especially the second, we controlled the game.
“The second leg will be a different game. At home, our fans want us to press all the time.”
-Reuters
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Manchester United will be without defender Harry Maguire and midfielder Manuel Ugarte for Thursday’s Europa League last-16 clash with Real Sociedad, coach Ruben Amorim said, as he seeks to salvage an otherwise dire season.
The pair were left out of an already depleted squad after picking up injuries in last weekend’s penalty shootout defeat to Fulham that dumped them out of the FA Cup to compound the misery of lying 14th in the Premier League.
“We are being careful with them because at the moment we cannot afford to lose any more players for a long time,” Amorim told a press conference on Wednesday before the Europa League first leg game in Spain.
“We are taking care of them at Carrington (training ground) and they cannot play this game because it will be a greater risk.”
The coach, who joined United in November, stressed the importance of balancing youth development with the needs of the squad during a worsening injury crisis.
“I’m trying to cope with everything. When I do my squad, I’m trying to think about every aspect, of the formation of the (new) kids, of the squad and not if it will look really well with the fans and the media,” Amorim said.
Altay Bayindir, Tom Heaton, Jonny Evans, Kobbie Mainoo, Luke Shaw and Mason Mount remain on individual rehabilitation programmes.
Lisandro Martinez, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament, and Amad Diallo, who suffered an ankle ligament injury in training, are also sidelined.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes scored a last-gasp winner to secure a 2-1 victory over Rangers in the Europa League group stage on Thursday and Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min struck twice in his team’s 3-2 win at Hoffenheim.
United climbed to fourth in the standings on 15 points going into the last round of matches, in a strong position to reach the knockout phase along with Spurs who are sixth with 14 points.
The English side broke the deadlock early in the second half when Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland misjudged a Christian Eriksen corner, sending the ball into his own net.
Rangers fought back with an equaliser from substitute Cyril Dessers two minutes from time before Fernandes struck in added time to give United all three points.
In Germany, James Maddison opened the scoring for Spurs in the third minute and Son doubled the lead in a first half the visitors dominated.
Hoffenheim pulled one back in the 68th minute through Anton Stach’s counter-attack goal. Son restored Spurs’ two-goal lead in the 77th minute before the hosts’ David Mokwa scored to give his side late hope but the game ended in a narrow win for the English side.
Lazio stayed top of the standings with a commanding 3-1 home victory over Real Sociedad to become the first team to qualify for the round of 16.
Mario Gila struck after five minutes and when Sociedad’s Aihen Munoz was shown a second yellow card on the half-hour mark, Lazio immediately seized the advantage.
Mattia Zaccagni quickly doubled the lead and Taty Castellanos effectively ended the match with a third for the hosts. Ander Barrenetxea scored a late consolation goal for Sociedad.
Eintracht Frankfurt moved closer to securing a top-eight spot with a 2-0 home win over Hungarian side Ferencvaros thanks to second-half goals from Can Uzun and Hugo Ekitike. They are second in the standings with 16 points, three ahead of ninth-placed Galatasaray.
A late goal from Troy Parrott gave AZ Alkmaar a 1-0 home win over AS Roma and Olympiacos earned a 1-0 victory at Porto thanks to a late goal from Ayoub El Kaabi.
Dutch side Alkmaar can still reach the top eight with 11 points sitting in 14th place while Roma’s nine points place them 21st, close to the bottom of the playoff section.
Fenerbahce and Olympique Lyonnais played out an intense goalless draw in Istanbul, leaving the French side in a strong position to progress to fifth place in the group on 14 points.
-Reuters
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