Key events
29 min: Lyon are bossing possession right now. And staying patient. After that shaky start, they’re now properly in this game.
27 min: Maitland-Niles advances down the right by nutmegging Casemiro, then shimmying past another couple of challenges into space. It looks promising for Lyon, but he gives Cherki too much to do with a pass down the channel. Yoro turns on the jets to get back and cover. That’s fine defending.
26 min: Maguire competes for the corner and wins a header on the penalty spot. His effort is deflected inches wide of the right-hand post by Tolisso. Not sure Perri was getting to that had it been on target. But it wouldn’t matter anyway, because the referee blows for a foul on a Lyon defender.
25 min: Garnacho accelerates down the middle at speed. He reaches the right-hand edge of the Lyon D, where his shot is blocked by Niakhaté and deflected out for a corner on the right.
23 min: Lyon have woken up. Specifically their star man Cherki, who bustles in from the right and sets up Almada, whose shot is blocked by Maguire. From the set piece, Akouokou bashes a header straight at Onana, who tips over. The retake leads to Mata blazing wildly over the bar.
21 min: Mazraoui stands on Tagliafico’s foot in the United box. Tagliafico goes down theatrically but doesn’t get the penalty he’s after.
20 min: Cherki one-twos his way down the right with Veretout, and he’s clear of Yoro. He opens his body to shoot, but Maguire comes across to block. United clear the corner, but that’s the first flash of Lyon’s attacking quality this evening.
18 min: Veretout is booked for a cynical tug on an in-flight Fernandes. Nothing going right for Lyon at the moment.
17 min: United don’t do anything with the corner, and Lyon counter. Cherki attempts a stepover that doesn’t come off. Tolisso competes for a high ball but is beaten to the punch, literally, by Onana who biffs clear. Plenty of support for the United keeper as he does that.
16 min: Tolisso faffs around on the edge of his own box, allowing Casemiro to nip off with the ball and aim a low curler towards the bottom left. It’s going in, and Perri needs to extend all of his fingers to turn it around the post. So close to a second that would have gone some way to settling this tie already.
15 min: Mikautadze attempts … what? A trap? A pass? Either way, the ball pings straight out for a throw. Lyon haven’t got going at all.
14 min: Fernandes is down, having taken a whack in his Special Area. Mata hitting the target with an accidental knee. But he’s back up and again quickly enough.
12 min: That was a really smooth sequence. Onana, who copped plenty of flak in France last week, goes over to celebrate the goal in front of the Lyon fans.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Lyon (Ugarte 10); agg 3-2
This is a glorious team move. Mazraoui finds Fernandes down the right. Fernandes pulls back for Garnacho, who takes a first-time touch forward to spin past two defenders down the inside-right channel. Another cutback, and Ugarte can’t miss from ten yards. A powerful sidefoot and United take the lead!
9 min: Hojlund drops deep and releases Fernandes into a lot of space down the inside-right channel. Fernandes has options to pass and shoot, but takes too long sizing them up and is dispossessed by Tolisso. That was a very promising situation.
8 min: Before the corner can be taken, the referee gives Maguire and Akouokou the what-for after some childish wrestling. Then Fernandes delivers, and it’s a non-event. Lyon clear their lines easily.
7 min: Maguire launches long for Garnacho down the left. Veretout refuses to let the winger pass. United try again down the other flank, and Fernandes wins the first corner of the evening off Akouokou. United’s captain will take it himself.
6 min: It’s fast-paced but scrappy. Both sets of fans continue to give it plenty.
4 min: Mikautadze tries to release Almada into the United box down the left, but Mazraoui isn’t having any of it.
3 min: Maguire bangs into Cherki in the old-fashioned you-now-know-I’m-here style. The crowd enjoyed that.
2 min: A little smoke from the pre-match pyro party still floating about. A couple of early touches for Onana. Casemiro has the opportunity to send Dorgu into space down the left but overcooks the pass and clanks it out for a throw.
A blast of John Denver, then Lyon get the ball rolling, with the aggregate score 2-2 after the first leg. The hosts are kicking towards the Stretford End in this first half.
The teams are out! Manchester United – the Red Devils – in their famous red shirts; Olympique Lyonnais – the Kids – in white with tricolour-completing trim. The Lyon fans have been making plenty of ear-splitting noise, and United’s home support are responding in kind with some bedlam of their own. A glorious racket. And a new tifo – NEVER GONNA STOP – featuring legends various lifting European trophies for United. Rio, Peter, Bryan, Wayne and Sir Bobby, seeing you asked. We’ll be off once pennants have been exchanged, hands clasped and coins tossed.
Ruben Amorim speaks to TNT Sports. “We did well in France … we also can do better … we have some players that cannot start … so you need to think about every possibility … extra time … every situation of the game … Onana just needs to focus on doing a good game … he is professional … our player and in our starting XI … they will change something … more or less the same approach but we’ll see … we need to be really smart … we have to be patient … cope with pressure … do a good game.”
… and if that doesn’t augur well enough … United have made it through on 14 of the 20 occasions they’ve drawn the first leg of a European knockout tie away. Furthermore, on the one occasion they’ve drawn the first leg away 2-2, in the 2022-23 Europa League against Barcelona, they went on to win the second leg 2-1. So, a 100% record in this exact situation then, which compares very favourably with Lyon’s own 100% record: the French club have lost on all nine of the previous occasions they’ve drawn the first leg of a European tie at home. History firmly on United’s side all right.
History is firmly on Manchester United’s side tonight. Lyon have visited Old Trafford on two previous occasions, and lost both times. In the Champions League groups in 2004-05, Ruud van Nistelrooy scored the winner in a 2-1 win, after Gary Neville’s opening goal had been cancelled out by Mahamadou Diarra. Three seasons later, in the 2007-08 Champions League round of 16, Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal was enough. Why not relive those matches with ye olde reports?
The first leg. Here’s a reminder of what happened this time last week, in both MBM and match-report form. Oh André.
Both sides name exactly the same starting XIs as they did last week at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais. United’s bench is the same, as well, save the absence of the hamstrung Joshua Zirkzee.
The teams
Manchester United: Onana, Mazraoui, Maguire, Yoro, Dalot, Ugarte, Casemiro, Dorgu, Garnacho, Fernandes, Hojlund.
Subs: Bayindir, Heaton, Lindelof, Mount, Eriksen, Shaw, Mainoo, Amass, Moorhouse, Kamason, Kukonki.
Lyon: Lucas Perri, Maitland-Niles, Mata, Niakhate, Tagliafico, Tolisso, Akouokou, Veretout, Cherki, Almada, Mikautadze.
Subs: Descamps, Diarra, Lacazette, Fofana, Tessmann, Abner Vinicius, Kumbedi, Omari, Matic, Caleta-Car.
Referee: Sandro Scharer (Switzerland).
Preamble
In a calm and rational world, all that’s up for grabs for Manchester United tonight is a place in the Europa League semi-final against either Athletic Club of Bilbao or Rangers. But that’s not the reality of the situation, and so the quarter-final, first-leg visit of Lyon could have big repercussions going forward for under-fire goalkeeper André Onana, under-pressure manager Ruben Amorim, and under-performing … well, you get the gist, we could be here all night. Should United get knocked out this evening, expect plenty of external brouhaha for the next few hours/days/weeks/months; United are the second-biggest soap opera based in Manchester, after all.
Look at it the other way, though. United played well in patches in Lyon, and that knowledge should stand them in good stead this evening. And if they get through, they’ll be just three matches from glory, more European silverware, and a place in next season’s Champions League. Game-changers all, and that’s before we’d get to vindication for goalkeeper, manager, etc., and so on. So yes, OK, perhaps there is more up for grabs for Manchester United tonight than just a place in the Europa League semi-final against either Athletic Club of Bilbao or Rangers. It’s a big one tonight. Kick-off is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
