Key events
Former Rochdale player Thompson died at 36
The former Rochdale player Joe Thompson has died at the age of 36. Thompson, who retired at the age of 29 in 2019, was diagnosed with cancer for a third time last year.
His former club said in a statement: “Rochdale Football Club is devastated to learn of the passing of Joe Thompson.
“Joe, who had been bravely battling cancer for a third time, passed away peacefully at home on Thursday, with his family by his side.”
More details soon …
Ange Postecoglou is another Premier League manager who has been under pressure this season but he insisted after last night’s victory he never lost faith in his Tottenham players.
We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. We’re in the semi-final and will play a difficult opponent in the semi, but it’s not about my belief in the team.
What’s more important is the belief the team has had because after a season like ours, it would be very easy for the players and staff, they could have left me in a pretty vulnerable place in terms of them splintering. But I’ve never felt that [even] with all the noise around our season.
Could we get a Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur final in Europe this season? We’re one step closer after last night.
We will bring more Manchester United reaction as it comes but let’s turn to the other British teams in Europe last night.
Spurs impressively got it over the line against Eintracht Frankfurt, keeping a clean sheet in Germany to go through 2-1 on aggregate. The win means Tottenham have won two of their last four quarter-final matches in European competitions, as many as their last 14 attempts between 1982 to 2013.
Ed Aarons was at Deutsche Bank Park as Dominic Solanke kept his cool from the penalty spot.
A disciplined Tottenham side showed they are still playing for their manager. Solanke had not scored since 4 January – a run of 12 matches – but there were unbridled celebrations in the away end when he stroked home the decisive spot kick just before half-time and at the full-time whistle after almost eight nerve-racking minutes of injury-time.
The loss will be a tough one for Lyon to take. L’Equipe’s called it a “cruel” defeat, opting to go for a photo of a crestfallen Alexandre Lacazette, who scored a penalty in the 109th minute, being comforted by his manager, Paulo Fonseca on their front page.
Here’s what the Portuguese said after his side’s loss:
It’s hard to understand what happened. We have done magnificent things; we led 4-2 with one fewer player on the pitch. But we celebrated a lot at 4-2 when the match was not over. We thought we had won when we should have continued to think about our game management. We lacked experience at that moment. After the penalty to make it 4-3, Manchester United put a lot of pressure on us and put in a lot of crosses, and we gave in.
I am sad because I thought we deserved more but I don’t regret my changes at the end, because Manchester United started playing long balls, so I had to respond to that. But tonight, in the heat of the moment, I must above all remember that I am proud of my team and my players, of what they did with 10 against 11.
Lyon are still fighting for a spot in next season’s Champions League. They are currently fourth in Ligue 1 but fifth-placed LOSC and sixth-placed Strasbourg are only a point behind.
Maguire has come up with quite a few goals for United when needed, but last night’s header certainly has to be up there:
If you looked madness up in the dictionary you would probably describe it as that game. A crazy game and unbelievable to be on the right side of the result, and yet we’ve created great memories for a lot of our fans. We’ve made them happy and given them lots to talk about, good and bad.
We made really hard work of it, I must say. We don’t do things easily! Half-time at 2-0 up, we had full control. I think even in the second half, I feel like we had chances to score a third. Then they score a third out of nowhere, bit of a pinball goal which put us on the back foot and they manage to get that equaliser.
To go 4-2 down against ten men in extra time is nowhere near good enough, we opened ourselves up too much. They are a good team, have some good forwards, play great football. But we dug in, showed great spirit, and that is what this stadium does and to come back like that is an incredible performance from everyone in the final minutes.
I felt like the fourth goal for them was a real suckerpunch. Even going 3-2 down I felt like we were gonna get chances.
Obviously [the chance] fell to myself and I put it in the back of the net, which was an amazing feeling.
Any stats nerds around? Because United accomplished a few feats that no ever side has done before. Commit these to memory because I reckon they will be asked at a few pub quizzes around the country this weekend.
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Harry Maguire’s goal was the first 120th-minute winning goal scored in Europa League history and the first in a major European tie since Atlético Madrid beat Liverpool at Anfield in March 2020.
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It was only the second 5-4 win in Manchester United’s history, along with their 5-4 victory over Arsenal in the top-flight in February 1958.
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Manchester United’s 5-4 win over Lyon was also the first game in major European football history to see five goals scored in extra-time.
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Manchester United have lost only one of their last 30 Europa League matches at Old Trafford. They have also won their last five home Europa League matches.
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This was the first nine-goal game in Europa League history. Ten previous matches had involved eight goals.
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Lyon have been defeated in their last four two-legged European ties against English teams. The French side were unbeaten in ten away European games before this one.
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This was Manchester United’s 28th Uefa competition quarter-final, a new English club record.
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Manchester United have won eight of their last nine two-legged European ties against French teams.
Amorim, who has been under quite some pressure, would have faced quite a bit more had United not gotten it over the line yesterday. His side threw a two-goal lead and let a 10-man Lyon back into the game. But the head coach must be hailed for how they got through it in the end. His inspiration? Fergie time, of course.
I was watching the 1999 [Treble] documentary to have some inspiration for these moments. It was a great night, the team were tired, 4-2 with one more player, we think it’s over, but here it’s never over. Here everything is possible, you feel the environment. At 4-3, after the Bruno Fernandes penalty, we felt we could change the game.
We tried to put Harry Maguire up front because he is the only one who can score a goal with a header. Kobbie Mainoo has a lack of pace in this moment because of injury, but he’s really good in short spaces,” said Amorim.
The sound of the two last goals were amazing. It is something we can keep for the future. But in the end you go to the semi-finals but you need to win it. We just need to focus on the next stage and try and win the competition.
Jamie Jackson was at Old Trafford to witness the mayhem. He writes:
This is Manchester United and their proud DNA of Fergie-time and that 2-1 triumph over Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou. So: enter Harry Maguire to head the winner 34 seconds into added time, put United in dreamland and take the roof off the stadium – Casemiro again the provider, to make it three involvements in the three crucial strikes.
United, then, head to Spain for a semi-final first leg at Athletic Bilbao and after this who will wager against them reaching the showpiece at the same venue, after what was, too, a night of redemption for André Onana.
Preamble
All of the talk from the Spanish capital leading up to this week of European football was “Remontada this, remontada that”. Los Blancos were all talk and no action and it was ultimately Manchester United who managed the unthinkable comeback of the week.
Against Lyon, Ruben Amorim’s side scored three goals in the final six minutes of the match to seal a memorable 5-4 win over Lyon and book their berth in the Europa League last-four. For the first time in the history of a major European competition, a club had scored two goals in the 120th minute. Cue pandemonium at Old Trafford and on the Guardian sports desk.
There is bound to be a load of reaction from Manchester alone, which we will be bringing you right here. Spurs and Chelsea also booked their spot in the semi-finals of their respective European competitions and we will cast an eye towards a big weekend including Premier League, WSL and Football League action.
As always, if you have any thoughts, questions, complaints or musings (football related or otherwise), feel free to send me an email.
