{"id":29811,"date":"2023-02-24T06:48:47","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T06:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/?p=29811"},"modified":"2023-02-24T06:48:48","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T06:48:48","slug":"europa-league-manchester-united-2-1-barcelona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/2023\/02\/24\/europa-league-manchester-united-2-1-barcelona\/","title":{"rendered":"Europa League: Manchester United 2-1 Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is probably fair to say that the jury has been out on Antony since Manchester United paid \u20ac100m to take him from Ajax last summer. The most insistent criticism of the winger has been that he is too predictable. Defenders know that he wants to come in from the right and curl for the far corner with his favoured left foot. It will not be out for much longer if he gets the trick to work like this and to settle matches like these.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

United had battled back from a 1-0 half-time deficit against Barcelona, the runaway La Liga leaders, Fred lashing home to cancel out Robert Lewandowski\u2019s penalty, and a meeting that always crackles was in search of its latest goalscoring hero. United have had a few over the years, taking in Bryan Robson, Mark Hughes and Paul Scholes. Now Antony, on as a half-time substitute, added his name to the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal was sparked by a Luke Shaw backheel by the corner flag and Bruno Fernandes simply wanting the loose ball more than Raphinha. Fernandes was a symbol of United\u2019s character; poor in the first half, he refused to hide, to stop making his runs and passes. There were others, namely Lisandro Mart\u00ednez \u2013 a tower of strength in central defence \u2013 and Fred and Casemiro in midfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fernandes looked up and pulled the ball back for Alejandro Garnacho, another substitute who caught the eye, all pace and direct running, and his shot was blocked. Then Fred tried his luck; another block. Enter Antony, who knew what he had to do mainly because it is what he always does. He got his body into its familiar shape and steered the left-footed curler into the far corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was his sixth goal for United and they were on their way to a stirring victory which felt like more than the ideal tonic before Sunday\u2019s Carabao Cup final against Newcastle. It was yet more evidence of what the manager, Erik ten Hag, is building: the identity and the never-say-die spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the playoff for the last 16 of Europe\u2019s second-tier competition and yet it had the trappings of a blockbuster, Old Trafford gleaming under the lights, two of the continent\u2019s genuine superpowers present and renascent. If United believed they were on their way to restoring a bit of the old fear factor for visitors, Barcelona had arrived on a stunning run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since they lost 3-0 at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on 26 October, Xavi\u2019s team had won 16 of 18 in all competitions, drawing the other two \u2013 one of them the first-leg thriller against United.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the biggest game of Ten Hag\u2019s United tenure and his players brought the intensity at the outset, feeding off the crowd, pressing high and making it uncomfortable for Barcelona. As such, the concession on 18 minutes was a shuddering setback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Robert<\/a>
Robert Lewandowski scores from the penalty spot to put Barcelona 1-0 up in the 18th minute. Photograph: Quality Sport Images\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The thing to say is that Fernandes gave the referee, Cl\u00e9ment Turpin, a decision to make. The United captain chased a loose ball with Alejandro Balde following Raphinha\u2019s cross from the right and his priority seemed to be to break quickly. He was caught out when Balde got there first and spun sharply, Fernandes grabbing the left-back\u2019s arm, albeit not particularly firmly. Balde felt the contact, went down and Lewandowski was not bothered about the softness of the award. David de Gea got a hand to his kick but it was not enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Fernandes, it capped a wretched start because he should have put United in front with the tie\u2019s first move. Casemiro made an interception, gave the ball away and won it straight back before releasing his teammate with a pass up the inside right. Fernandes had all the time he needed \u2013 perhaps too much \u2013 and the finish was blasted low at Marc-Andr\u00e9 ter Stegen, who saved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lewandowski goal completely changed the energy around the ground and for the remainder of the first half, it was United who looked edgy and imprecise; Barcelona who found their passing rhythms, with Frenkie de Jong the conductor. He did not need to play like this \u2013 also racing back at times to provide defensive cover \u2013 to show why Ten Hag had been desperate to sign him last summer. But he did anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fernandes failed to muster power in a volley and, with the home fans growing increasingly exasperated at Turpin\u2019s decisions, it was Barcelona who almost extended their lead before the interval. Mart\u00ednez made a saving challenge on Franck Kessi\u00e9 and, on the stroke of half-time, Casemiro bailed out De Gea after the goalkeeper had passed straight to Sergi Roberto. First Casemiro jumped into a slide tackle on the Barcelona winger and then, lying on the ground, he blocked Kessi\u00e9\u2019s follow-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Fred<\/a>
Fred lets fly with his left foot to draw Manchester United level just after the break. Photograph: Robbie Jay Barratt\/AMA\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ten Hag had started with Wout Weghorst up front, Jadon Sancho as the No 10, Fernandes right and Marcus Rashford left. It did not work. But when he rejigged for the second half, there was an instant dividend. Off went the ineffective Weghorst and on came Antony, with Fernandes \u2013 crucially \u2013 switched to No 10 and Sancho moved out left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Rashford who put a foot in on Kessi\u00e9, freeing the ball for Sancho, who went square for Fernandes and he fizzed it along the edge of the box to Fred, whose first touch was excellent, setting up the low right-footed blast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The electricity surged back through United with Antony almost getting away from Andreas Christensen. Fernandes did overstep when he blasted the ball at De Jong after the Barcelona playmaker had been fouled. Cue an angry bout of pushing and shoving. Fernandes was booked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barcelona thought that they had found a counter-punch when Jules Kound\u00e9 ran off Sancho to meet De Jong\u2019s cross. His header was tipped over by De Gea; a fine save, although Kound\u00e9 had to score. The scene was set for Antony.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is probably fair to say that the jury has been out on Antony since Manchester United paid \u20ac100m to take him from Ajax last summer. The most insistent criticism of the winger has been that he is too predictable. Defenders know that he wants to come in from the right and curl for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":29812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_source_name":"","_post_source_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3295],"tags":[1351,5873,4231,7273,641,1172,8952,12741,7452,8496,1911,4037,9171,167,84,2220,10505,5800,5494,5557,8240,6621,8123,9026,8057,7470,3355,6361,4773,803,2702,1560,6580,10560,2626,3874,10634,7436,12791,11252,115,507,9833,10481,6657,1717,12865,170,11973,3586,13256,10917,5646,5278,114,2148,2219,5965,1116,11259,5324,7333,10885,3954,10415,594,9359,9369],"class_list":["post-29811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-sport","tag-ajax","tag-alex-ferguson","tag-ama","tag-anthony","tag-barcelona","tag-bayern-munich","tag-blast","tag-bout","tag-bruno-fernandes","tag-carabao-cup","tag-champions-league","tag-christensen","tag-crowd","tag-david-de-gea","tag-de-gea","tag-de-jong","tag-die","tag-electricity","tag-energy","tag-erik-ten-hag","tag-europa-league","tag-europe","tag-eye","tag-fans","tag-fear","tag-fernandes","tag-fred","tag-frenkie-de-jong","tag-gea","tag-goalkeeper","tag-identity","tag-jadon-sancho","tag-jury","tag-la","tag-la-liga","tag-lead","tag-lost","tag-luke-shaw","tag-manager","tag-manchester","tag-manchester-united","tag-marcus-rashford","tag-meeting","tag-midfield","tag-munich","tag-newcastle","tag-old-fear","tag-old-trafford","tag-one","tag-paul-scholes","tag-players","tag-poor","tag-priority","tag-quality","tag-rashford","tag-robert-lewandowski","tag-roberto","tag-sancho","tag-sergi-roberto","tag-shot","tag-stroke","tag-summer","tag-victory","tag-will","tag-work","tag-who","tag-wout-weghorst","tag-xavi"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}