Manchester United reached the final of the Europa League on Thursday as expected. The team of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer started the return match against AS Roma with a 6-2 lead and did not get into trouble with two goals from Edinson Cavani: 3-2. The Romans appeared strikingly offensive in their own Stadio Olimpico, but too often found goalkeeper David de Gea in their path for a mega stunt. Roma does leave the tournament with a home win.
Donny van de Beek and Rick Karsdorp started in the base at United and Roma respectively. The first chances in the game were for the home team. Gianluca Mancini bumped into David de Gea with a bet from close by, although the defender seemed to be making hands. Henrikh Mkhitaryan headed into the side net from the ensuing corner. Moments later, Rick Karsdorp intercepted the ball deep in the half at Manchester United. The right back took advantage of the sleeping Luke Shaw, but saw his low cross ricochet on the feet of the alert De Gea.
In the following phase, the English also had opportunities. Fred sent a splitting pass to Cavani, who lifted the ball over Mirante and hit the crossbar. De Gea had to intervene in the short corner on a shooting opportunity for Lorenzo Pellegrini, who took advantage of a ricochet shot from teammate Edin Dzeko. On the other side, Cavani made the opening goal six minutes before half time. The Uruguayan striker broke through after a cross from Fred and found the bottom left corner from outside the penalty area: 0-1.
Roma therefore faced the almost impossible task of scoring five goals, but continued to believe in it after the break. The Romans were rewarded in the 57th minute for their urge to attack, when Pedro completed the ball hard in front of the goal, after which Dzeko headed in from close range: 1-1. Three minutes later it was again hit, when Fred stupidly lost the ball and offered a free shooting opportunity to Bryan Cristante, who shot in from fifteen meters: 2-1.
Faith among the Italians therefore increased visibly. Within two minutes, two huge chances followed, but Dzeko and Pedro both failed to tap the ball from close range for De Gea. United kept a wide margin and put an end to all uncertainty in the 68th minute. Bruno Fernandes brought the ball high in the box, after which Cavani put his head against it: 2-2. Roma continued to seek the attack and hit the post via Mkhitaryan. In the 83rd minute, Nicola Zalewski hit hard at the far post from a high cross by Davide Santon: 3-2.