Dubai: Manchester United beat Spanish Grenada 2-0 in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals in Spain on Thursday, while Arsenal awarded a 1–1 home draw to Czech champion Slavia Prague.
Marcus Rashford ran with a long ball pulverized upstream through Victor Lindelof to shoot United in front of los Cármenes in the 31st minute against a team in a brilliant first European campaign.
Bruno Fernandes changed an expired penalty after being overtaken by Yan Eteki, the Portuguese midfielder’s kick slipped atrociously into Rui Silva’s hands.
Yangel Herrera flew opposite Granada’s post while Spanish foreigner David de Gea kept a blank sheet in his first appearance with United since late February.
However, United technician Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will not feature the suspended trio of Captain Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Scott McTominay for next week’s return at Old Trafford.
Arsenal’s poor league form with Mikel Arteta has left the Gunners with the Europa League as silver hope this year, but the 2019 finalists were denied victory in the Emirates after a shot by Tomas Holes in the 94th minute.
Nicolas Pepe came from the bench to give Arsenal the lead 4 minutes from the end, so holes could enter a corner and expand Slavia’s undefeated streak to 22 games, having eliminated Leicester City and Rangers.
Roma, the only remaining Italian club in Europe this season, came to defeat Ajax, four-time European champions, 2–1 in Amsterdam.
Davy Klaassen gave Ajax the lead a while before half-time, but dusan Tadic’s missed penalty marked the turning point, as Roma goalkeeper Pau Lopez turned down the Serbian effort moments before visitors tied again.
Lorenzo Pellegrini’s 57th-minute free kick eluded Ajax goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen and Roger Ibáñez won the match for Roma in the end, scoring a very good volley.
Unai Emery’s Villarreal ahead of Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, while Gerard Moreno’s penalty just before halftime secured a 1-0 win.
Emery has been in the Europa League with Sevilla for three years in a row and has led Arsenal to the 2019 final.
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