62 2GM Thursday August 6 2020 | the times
SportEuropa League
disappointed if he was happy coming
off. He’s growing in confidence... and
I’m happy for him to score.”
It was only when Martial came off
the bench that United looked danger-
ous and he won the game with his 23rd
goal of the season.
Earlier, Lingard’s shot had brushed
off Philipp Wiesinger’s boot en route to
the back of the LASK net to equalise
after United were left facing their first
home defeat since January.
Wiesinger will not be disappointed
with his night’s work, however. The
LASK defender scored with a rocket of
a shot that flew into the top corner from
25 yards to give the Austrian team a
shock lead.
United had little to play for. They
were already effectively in the last
eight, where they will meet FC Copen-
hagen, before last night’s match thanks
to their 5-0 win in Linz five months ago.
But if United want to win the knock-
out tournament in Germany, Solskjaer
will have to recall the likes of Martial,
Rashford, Fernandes and Greenwood.
LASK arrived in Manchester some
363 days after their European cam-Manchester United (4-2-3-1): S Romero 7 —
T Fosu-Mensah 5 (T Mengi 84min), E Bailly 6,
H Maguire 6, B Williams 6 (T Chong 72) — Fred 5
(A Pereira 64, 6), S McTominay 6 — J Mata 7,
J Lingard 7 (P Pogba 63, 6), D James 5
(A Martial 84) — O Ighalo 5.
Booked McTominay.
LASK (3-4-3): A Schlager 7 — P Wiesinger 8
(T Sabitzer 73), G Trauner 6, A Andrade 7
(P Filipovic 80) — R Ranftl 5, P Michorl 6,
J Holland 5, R Renner 6 — D Frieser 6, M Raguz 6,
H Balic 7 (D Reiter 66, 6). Booked Michorl.
Referee A Sidiropoulos (Gr).United lack depth
and quality again
in uninspiring win
Paul Hirst
0
21
Man United
Lingard 57, Martial 88LASK
Wiesinger 552
1
paign began with a Champions League
qualifier against Basle. They had little
to play for too, but the Austrians started
with far more fluency than their hosts.
“We need some tempo up there,”
Solskjaer yelled from the touchline and
he was right. Too often, his players took
the easy option. There was no zip to
their play, no penetration.
Then United were caught on the hop.
Husein Balic stole in ahead of Timothy
Fosu-Mensah, but sliced his shot.
Peter Michorl whipped in another cross
that Balic glanced wide. Then Marko
Raguz tested Sergio Romero. Solskjaer
must have wondered how many lives
his team had left.
United finally registered their first
shot on target in the 50th minute, but
Alexander Schlager easily collected
Odion Ighalo’s shot. Brandon Williams
then broke forward but Lingard could
not convert his cross.
Then came the goal of the night.
Fosu-Mensah headed clear a corner
straight to Wiesinger. The defender put
the full weight of his right boot through
the ball and it flew past Romero. The
few Austrian dignitaries in the direct-
ors’ box rose to their feet and cheered.
United were in danger of falling to
defeat, but LASK handed them a way
back into the game.
Reinhold Rantfl gave the ball away in
midfield and Mata released Lingard
with an incisive pass. Lingard com-
posed himself and tucked the ball in off
the boot of Wiesinger, who was at-
tempting a last-ditch tackle. To his dis-
appointment, Lingard was withdrawn
five minutes later for Paul Pogba.
Speaking on BT Sport, Paul Scholes
thinks Lingard’s days at United are
numbered. “To bring him off after an
hour when he definitely won’t start on
Monday, that was a little sign ... that
[Solskjaer] might be getting rid of
them.” he said.
Martial’s introduction ultimately
proved telling. Four minutes after he
came on, he collected Mata’s pass,
drove into the box and squeezed the
ball past Schlager.How Europa League stands
Tonight’s round-of-16 matches
Olympiacos (1) v Wolves (1)
Rangers (1) v Bayer Leverkusen (3)
Seville v Roma
First leg not played, one-off tie
Eintracht Frankfurt (0) v Basle (3)Quarter-finals
Matches to be played in Cologne,
Duisburg, Düsseldorf and
Gelsenkirchen
Monday, August 10
QF2 Man Utd v Copenhagen
QF3 Inter Milan v Rangers/Bayer
Leverkusen
Tuesday, August 11
QF1 Shakhtar Donetsk v Eintracht
Frankfurt/Basle
QF4 Olympiacos/Wolves v Seville/
RomaSemi-finals
Matches to be played in Cologne
and Düsseldorf
Sunday, August 16
Winner QF3 v Winner QF1
Monday, August 17
Winner QF4 v Winner QF2Final
Friday, August 21 CologneNuno Espírito Santo fears that his
Wolverhampton Wanderers side will
not have a long enough break to recov-
er for next season should they progress
to the Europa League’s latter stages.
Wolves face Olympiacos
tonight in the second leg of
their round-of-16 tie,
having drawn 1-1 in
Athens in March, in what
will be their 58th match
of the season.
Nuno’s side began the
campaign 378 days ago
and could still be playing
until August 21, when the
final is scheduled to be held
in Cologne, Germany.
The Premier League plans to al-
low a delayed start to the 2020-21
season for teams still competing in
European competitions, but Nuno
believes his players require a minimum
of three weeks away from football.
“They will not get a proper break,”
the Portuguese coach, 46, said. “WeNuno: Players need a real
cannot stop and start, we must con-
tinue and that’s why we have to adjust
the way we approach it. We are expect-
ing to be involved in the final game.
“To regain motivation to start a new
cycle, that requires time. You need time
to get away from all that is involved in
football. Being back home, that’s a
basic aspect of our life — to go
back home and feel that
love, if you want, for
people that you care for.
It’s very, very important.
“I’m hopeful the
Premier League will
look at that and allow
the teams involved a little
bit more time. Mainly
because of the players, they
need time. We know we have a
tight schedule next season and they
must be aware of the health of the
players and must take care of them.
“If you look back at previous years,
previous seasons, three weeks is good.
But I don’t think it’s going to be possible.
Let’s wait and see.”
Daniel Podence, who signed forTom RoddyWolves v
Olympiacos
Europa League, round of
16, second leg (1-1 on agg)
Molineux, 8pm
TV: BT Sport 1. Radio:
Alexis Sánchez’s costly, underachieving talkSPORT
spell at Manchester United has finally
come to an end after he completed a
free transfer to Inter Milan.
Sánchez’s arrival from Arsenal in
January 2018 was billed as a game-
changer for the Old Trafford side, but
the Chile international was so poor that
United were happy to cut him loose
after a series of dreadful performances.
Sánchez’s Old Trafford nightmare ends
Sánchez leaves United after scoring
only five goals in 45 appearances for the
club, only three of which came in the
Premier League.
Last summer, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer,
the Manchester United manager, sent
Sánchez on a season-long loan to Inter,
where he performed reasonably well in
the second half of the season after over-
coming a series of injuries.
Sánchez had two years left on his
£391,000-per-week deal, so had heremained at Old Trafford for the re-
mainder of his contract, he would have
cost the club in excess of £40 million.
For that reason, United have decided
to effectively rip up Sánchez’s contract
and let him join Inter on a free transfer.
The deal was agreed last night and is
expected to be announced today.
It is unclear at this stage whether
United have given him a pay off as Inter
cannot afford to pay him his £391,000-
per-week wages.Paul Hirst
Round of 16, second leg
Man United win 7-1 on agg
Those who were at Old Trafford last
night had to wait until after 10pm to
witness something like a decent per-
formance from a group of Manchester
United players.
In a training session that took place
on the pitch after the final whistle, a
number of United’s stars who were left
out of the starting XI gathered and
indulged in some shooting practice.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka raced down the
right, crossed to the back post and
Mason Greenwood fired a first-time
volley past Lee Grant and into the roof
of the net. Marcus Rashford then drove
a low shot into the far corner, Anthony
Martial scored with a stunning over-
head kick, and Bruno Fernandes tried a
couple of curlers from 20 yards too.
This was United’s A-team doing what
they do best — scoring stunning goals
for fun.
Granted, there were no defenders
challenging them, but the finishing was
exceptional and it was far more enter-
taining than the match that had taken
place on the same pitch earlier.
Last night, United’s fab four were
rested from the starting XI and those
who took their place reminded Ed
Woodward why he must get his
chequebook out if Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer is to have a team capable of
challenging for the title.
The United manager made nine
changes to his team and his squad put
on a performance that was of Europa
League standard. It was largely devoid
of spark and imagination, save for the
occasional flashes of quality from Juan
Mata and Jesse Lingard, who was justi-
fiably unhappy at being substituted.
“I felt like I could score more today
but obviously it’s the manager’s deci-
sion and I stand by that,” Lingard said.
When asked about Lingard’s future at
the club, Solskjaer commented: “I’ve
known Jesse since he was a kid, there’s
a good player, a great personality, he
knows what we want from him.
“He has to stand by the manager
whatever decision he makes. I’d be
Martial, an 84th-minute substitute, bundles home a late winner for Solskjaer’s