Manchester United reached the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday and remained on their way to a possible all-English final with Arsenal after beating Granada 4-0 on aggregate.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men went into the second leg after a comfortable 2-0 win in Spain at an empty Old Trafford and knew they would almost certainly make progress, barring disaster.
An early goal by Edinson Cavani, his first for the club in Europe, practically sealed the tie and a late own goal made the home team more glamorous.
Granada had their own chances in both halves but lacked a killer touch.
United, who won the competition when Jose Mourinho led the way in 2017, are desperate to win their last four games against Roma after losing four semi-finals to Solskjaer.
“We’re looking forward to it,” said the Norwegian. “We’re in the semi-finals. It feels like a real European tie because Roma are a club with a lot of history. We did well against Italian teams before.”
“We hope we can make it to the final. If we can end the season with a trophy, that would be great.”
The home side opened the goal in the sixth minute when Paul Pogba shot a cross from Alex Telles at Cavani, who volleyed a left-footed volley into the far corner.
Yangel Herrera came close to equalizing that night and shot two headers past David de Gea’s goal. Bruno Fernandes shot past the other end.
Pogba was booked at the start of the game and committed another foul shortly afterwards. However, the referee decided that the challenge did not warrant a second yellow.
Solskjaer replaced the France international at halftime to avoid a red card and brought Donny van de Beek into midfield.
Granada’s Jorge Molina went just wide with a header shortly after the restart, and United also had a chance to advance through Mason Greenwood and Cavani.
German Sanchez had another chance to make United’s life uncomfortable after a free kick but failed to stop his left foot shot on goal.
The story goes on
The game became more and more open in the last few minutes. De Gea saved well before an own goal from Jesus Vallejo sealed a 2-0 second leg win for United.
On their way to finishing second in the Premier League, United are looking to take their first silver since triumphing in the Europa League four years ago. Last year they lost to Sevilla in the semi-finals.
Arsenal beat Slavia Prague 5-1 overall. Manager Mikel Arteta will next face his predecessor Unai Emery, now head of Villarreal, and maintain the prospect of a Premier League final.
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