Manchester United booked their place in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League with a 1-0 win away to AC Milan earlier tonight.
The Red Devils were held to a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in the first leg and they were under pressure heading into this game. The game was finely balanced after the first leg and either side could have won the tie.
Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer made a couple of important tactical decisions before and during the game as he chose to go into the game without the likes of Martial and Cavani despite his side needing goals here.
The Manchester United manager wanted more control of the game and he decided to start his best midfielders here.
Paul Pogba made a return to the lineup and scored the winning goal of the game in the 48th minute. The Frenchman was brought on in place of Marcus Rashford in the second half to change the dynamics of the game.
The Red Devils managed to defend their advantage after taking the lead and the lights of Lindelof and Maguire were sensational at the back for the away side.
The Manchester United defence have been criticised quite often this season but they managed to step up and deliver tonight.
Goalkeeper Dean Henderson also produced a flawless performance and it will be interesting to see if David De Gea can regain his first-team berth in the coming weeks. Henderson pulled off a great save from Alexis Saelemaekers towards the end of the game.
The likes of McTominay, Pogba, Fernandes and Fred were disciplined and organised at the centre of the park and AC Milan struggled to create any meaningful chances.
The likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned from injury to feature in this game and the Swedish striker will be disappointed to have come away empty-handed.
Manchester United will be one of the favourites to win the competition now and it remains to be seen whether they can go all the way.
We’ve missed Paul. He’s been out for almost two months and any team would miss a player like Paul Pogba. He is very important for us and he’s going to give us a big boost. He makes a very, very big difference to us.
Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer, Manchester United Manager
We weren’t good at all first half we were awful,” he told BT Sport. “Second half a bit better, it always helps when you’ve got a world class player like Paul to come on and make a difference, he did that and it’s brilliant to have him back.
Luke Shaw, Manchester United
Line-ups
AC Milan
Gianluigi Donnarumma, Fikayo Tomori, Simon Kjaer, Theo Hernández, Pierre Kalulu, Hakan Calhanoglu, Franck Kessié, Souahilo Meïté, Samu Castillejo, Rade Krunic, Alexis Saelemaekers.
Substitutes
Ciprian Tatarusanu, Antonio Donnarumma, Ismaël Bennacer, Matteo Gabbia, Sandro Tonali, Riccardo Tonin, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Brahim Díaz, Diogo Dalot
Manchester United
Dean Henderson, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Bruno Fernandes, Fred, Scott McTominay, Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford, Daniel James.
Substitutes
David de Gea, Nemanja Matic, Lee Grant, Alex Telles, Donny van de Beek, Axel Tuanzebe, Brandon Williams, Amad Diallo, Paul Pogba.
