Man United move onto next round of UEFA Cup

An early Henrikh Mkhitaryan goal was enough to send high-flying Manchester United through to the next round of the UEFA Cup. On the back of a sturdy 3-0 result at Old Trafford last week, United rotated their squad somewhat, with an eye toward the end of the week’s cup final against Southampton. While Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba — substitutes on Sunday — started tonight’s game at Stade Geoffrey-Guichard, Valencia, De Gea, Martial, Darmian and Rashford were missing from the starting lineup. As was the suspended Ander Herrera.

Although a second half red-card to Eric Bailly looked like it may complicate things, United were quite comfortable even with 10-men; arguably more comfortable than they were last week at Old Trafford. The game ended 1-0 to United, and really, aside from Bailly, the real worry is Mkhitaryan’s injury. Jose Mourinho will hope the in-form Armenian recovers in-time for Sunday’s final. [Update: Mourinho revealed in his post-match press conference that Mkhitaryan and Carrick are both unlikely to feature on Sunday].

Ratings (out of 10):

1. Romero – 6. Birthday boy didn’t need to do much.
2. Young – 6. Defensively solid and is proving to be a good rotation option for fellow winger-turned-fullback, Tony Valencia.
3. Bailly – 5. Was having a good game, until some rash decision-making lead to two rapid yellow cards. Is currently relying on his pace to get him out of trouble. Needs to improve reading of the game.
4. Smalling – 7. Looked assured and had a crucial interception in 1st half.
5. Blind – 7. Got forward and stretched the play on the left.
6. Pogba – 5. Struggled to assert himself in the game.
7. Mata – 7. Excellent assist for Mkhitaryan. But disappeared from the game soon after.
8. Mkhitaryan – 8. Looked lively before and after his goal, until his substitution due to injury.
9. Fellaini – 7. Kept it simple. Had a good chance on goal.
10. Carrick – 7. Kept it simple. Moved the ball around and played it into channels for Ibra and other players.
11. Ibrahimovic – 7. Final ball was poor at times, but held up play well. Surprised to see him go 90′ tonight.
12. Rashford – 7. Lively when he came on.
13. Rojo – 6. Didn’t really do anything remarkable.
14. Schweinsteiger – 6. Played ~25′ as a substitute. Was tidy in possession.

United go into Sunday’s final having conceded only one goal in over 10 hours of football, and with just one loss in their last 20-odd games.

Likely starting XI for Sunday: De Gea-Valencia-Smalling-Bailly-Blind-Herrera-Fellaini-Pogba-Mata-Ibra-Martial. The Cup final will be shown on beIN Sports at 11:30 AM ET.

You can follow Nipun on Twitter at @NipunChopra7.