Ruben Amorim’s game plan for the Lyon game was thrown out of the window after Victor Lindelof and Noussair Mazraoui had to leave Old Trafford early to attend to unrelated personal issues. Manchester United staged a remarkable comeback to beat the French side 7-6 on aggregate and reach the Europa League semi finals – but two of their key defenders were not there to witness it.
Having been 2-0 up in the first half, thanks to goals from Manuel Ugarte and Diogo Dalot, United found themselves 4-2 down and staring at a hugely damaging defeat in extra time. But with Lyon down to 10 men after Corentin Tolisso’s dismissal, they roused themselves and produced a comeback for the ages.
Bruno Fernandes scored from the penalty spot, Kobbie Mainoo curled into the far corner and Harry Maguire delivered the winner with a late header to keep their season alive. It was a chaotic end to a memorable night at Old Trafford which was far from straightforward for Amorim.
Mazraoui was replaced by Luke Shaw at half-time, leaving the stadium according to the Manchester Evening News and Amorim confirmed Lindelof would have been his replacement if not for an issue of his own. “We had a problem with Nouss at half-time and Vic had a personal problem and he had to leave, so all this stuff happened during this game, but in the end it was a good game,” he told TNT Sports.
Lindelof was named on the substitutes’ bench and had been warming up at half-time but then disappeared. It is understood that both Mazraoui and Lindelof left Old Trafford to deal with separate personal issues.
Their unavailability plunged Shaw in at the deep end, with the left-back having to play considerably more minutes than the 30 Amorim wanted for him on the return from yet another injury. The United boss was forced to think on his feet and, although it was Shaw who conceded the penalty which allowed Alexandre Lacazette to make it 4-2 to Lyon, it all came good in the end.
Amorim threw Maguire up front in extra time to utilise his ability in the air – and the England defender came up with the winner from Casemiro’s cross just moments after Mainoo had equalised.
“At half-time in extra-time we had to change the positions, to try to be really clear about the position of Harry Maguire,” Amorim explained.
“Try to put Casemiro near the goal, Kobbie Mainoo near the goal, Mason Mount to cross balls and try to explain that we need to score one goal and anything can change, so it is pushing on with the team. Of course, it is a difficult moment and then we have to be really lucky to change the game and this was the case today.”
Amorim’s options were particularly limited in defence, with Lisandro Martinez, Matthijs de Ligt, Ayden Heaven and Jonny Evans all unavailable. He is hoping to get players back from injury ahead of the semi final against Athletic Bilbao on May 1.
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