Europa League news – Paul Pogba launches to send Manchester United to AC Milan

Paul Pogba made a sensational comeback from injury when he sent Manchester United to the Europa League quarter-finals with a 1-0 win at AC Milan.

The French international scored just three minutes after coming in as a substitute at halftime to mark his first appearance since February 6 in style.

It was Pogba’s fifth goal of the season and completely transformed the complexion of the tie as the Red Devils produced a greatly improved second half to progress 2-1 on aggregate.

United had started brilliantly, but faded away when a cautious first half ended on an equal footing. Milan had the best starts with Dean Henderson making a good save to avoid a good blow from Alexis Saelemaekers.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer responded by bringing Pogba in for a first outing since suffering a thigh problem six weeks ago, and it paid dividends when the visitors took over.

Milan turned to former United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic to try to salvage the tie, but the substitute saw a brilliantly blocked header by Henderson.

United will now await the final draw of eight on Friday before focusing on FA Cup service and the sixth-round clash in Leicester City on Sunday.

TALKING POINT – Pogba’s magic holds together in the hunt

The headlines will all be about Pogba and perhaps rightly so. The midfielder is truly world-class when he’s at it and he provided a true moment of genius with his goal of fighting Milan. United lacked intensity prior to his arrival on the field and speaks volumes about his presence that he gave everyone the momentum that helped them cross the line. The way he faked the shot to get past Gianluigi Donnarumma before hitting the net with a lethal shot was quite sublime.

There is a feeling that the Red Devils are making genuine progress now, but they will always be judged by trophies. This is still a great goal for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, as is finishing in the top two in the Premier League. They haven’t raised silverware since 2016-17, but are still on the hunt in both Europe and the FA Cup. They would have to overcome their semi-final bad luck to realize their ambitions further down the line, but with Pogba now lucky to be back for the match, they appear to be in pretty good shape.

MAN OF THE MATCH – Paul Pogba (Manchester United)

The hour is coming, the man is coming. The midfielder’s moment of inspiration helped turn what seemed like a frustrating night into an euphoric one for the visitors. His quality was clear in a 45-minute cameo to win the match and he almost added a second later.

PLAYER RATINGS

KEY MOMENTS

13 ‘- MAN UNITED OPPORTUNITY! Fernandes shoots from 20 yards after an approach play from Shaw. Hopefully Bruno keeps that on target.

41 ‘- AC MILAN CHANCE! Milan creates room for Saelemaekers with a silky one-touch game, but Henderson pushes his 25-yard effort to safety.

45 ‘- AC MILAN OPPORTUNITY! Krunic is unable to direct his volley on goal after Milan opened the visitors on the right.

48 ‘- GOAL! – AC Milan 0-1 Man United. Pogba makes an immediate impact from the bench with a sleek finish after a scandalous mannequin to fool the goalkeeper! The Frenchman threw the ball from the left edge of the six-yard box after Milan made a real mess clearing their lines. – (Man United leads 2-1 on aggregate).

75 ‘- AC MILAN OPPORTUNITY! Zlatan rises above Shaw to meet a left center, but Henderson is right to start him off.

88 ‘- MAN UNITED OPPORTUNITY! Pogba heads a header just over the bar from a deep cross from James.

KEY STATISTICS

Pogba has scored in his last two appearances for Giuseppe Meazza (both against AC Milan) after failing to find the net at the stadium in his previous eight games there.

Pogba scored only his second goal as a substitute for Man Utd, in his 31st appearance off the bench for the club (he also scored against Brighton in September 2020).

Man Utd has progressed in each of their last two qualifiers with Milan in European competition, having been eliminated in each of the four qualifiers beforehand (European Cup in 1957-58 / 1968-69 and Champions League in 2004- 05 / 2006-07).

Henderson has kept 11 clean sheets in just 18 appearances for Man Utd in all competitions this season, one more than David de Gea has recorded in 29 games (10).