Manchester United and Tottenham both qualified for the round of 16 in the Europa League with respective victories of 0-2 and 3-0 over their rivals on Thursday.
Manchester United Secured Their Direct Qualification In The Round Of 16 Europa League With A 0-2 Win Over Football Club Fcsb, Tottenham Follows The Way Of Their League Rival
Ruben Amorim’s team defeated the Romanian side Football Club FCSB in National Arena, home stadium of FCSB with 2 goals to nil to pull Manchester United in 3rd position to secure direct qualification. Tottenham also won over Elfsborg at home 3-0 with three academy players' names on the scoresheet.
Mainoo become the best attacking threat from the Manchester United side
Manchester vs FSCB was very dull till the first half as there was less productivity from both sides despite having higher control by Man U. The deadlock was broken by Dalot in the 60th minute of the game with a finish of Kobie Mainoo's sharp pass. Surprisingly, Amorim put Garnacho as a substitute in the 46th minute who had one foot outside the club due to the coach’s ignorance, and today this move might make the winger think about his decision on the deadline day.
The Argentinian gave an assist to Mainoo similar to the Englishman given to Dalot showing the quality that he could put in the match. The contribution of Garnacho could influence Amorim to reconsider his decision to leave him. Similarly, the Portuguese coach can further put Mainoo in a more attacking role to unleash the creative quality of the teenager.
Junior Team Player Secured the Win for Tottenham Letting them Enter in Round of 16
Three academy graduates helped Ange Postcoglou to reach the round of 16 without competing in the Playoffs. Tottenham had sheer domination and left Elfsborg with no chance to shoot on target making it a holiday for Spurs goalkeeper Austin. Despite having 21 shots of which 11 were on target, Tottenham failed to break the deadlock. In the 70th minute, substitute Dane Scarlett scored the first goal.
The Academy player assisted another substitute player Damola Ajayi for the second goal of Spurs who made no mistake to make it 2-0. In the final minute another junior team player Moore made it 3 with a nice bottom corner finish. The win secured 17 points for Spurs in the league and helped to acquire 4th position for a swift entrance to the round of 16. Both Manchester and Tottenham will get their opponent's name after the draw on 21st February until then, domestic league and cup are the only competitions to focus on.
Credit- The Independent
