Mkhitaryan shines as United cruise through but Austin is injured and Southampton crash out as the final round of Europa League group matches give and take in equal measure. Here’s how it all panned out…
Zorya Luhansk 0 Manchester United 2
Goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan (8.9) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (11.2) saw United safely through to the knock out stages of the Europa League.
Jose Mourinho’s men controlled the match but had to wait until the second half for the goals to come.
Mkhitaryan gave them the lead with a fine individual effort – his first for the club – before Paul Pogba (8.2) released Ibrahimovic to secure the victory.
Mourinho was fulsome in his praise of Mkhitaryan post-match.
“He has a strong mentality. He was very determined to fight against his difficult adaptation, and he’s doing that in the best way….He fought to improve tactically, he fought to improve physically, and now he is playing good in the Premier League, good in the Europa League and the EFL Cup, and now evolving a bit more happiness for him, so I’m very pleased.”
The midfielder is currently in just 1.7% of Fantasy Premier League squads. If his form is starting to make him a consistently likely starter, United’s fixtures will only add to his allure – after a Sunday match against Spurs, the Red Devils will host Sunderland and Middlesbrough and travel to Palace, West Brom and West Ham before the FA Cup third round in early January.
Mourinho made five changes from the team that drew with Everton, with defender Eric Bailly (5.3), making his first appearance since suffering a knee injury in October.
The Ivorian’s return was impressive, though his manager was quick to remind us that he’s set to depart for international duties with Ivory Coast next month:
“Phi Jones and Marcos Rojo did five great matches for us in a row playing well and solid. To have Eric back we know he goes to the Africa Cup of Nations in a couple of weeks, but in this busy period to have him is a good protection for us.”
Three starters against Everton – Michael Carrick (4.3), Antonio Valencia (5.4) and Matteo Darmian (5.0) – didn’t even make the trip to Ukraine.
United will play their Round of 32 tie between Gameweek 25 (home to Watford) and Gameweek 26’s Manchester derby. How Mourinho juggles
his squad for that latter match will be a particularly interesting issue further down the line.
Manchester United XI: Romero, Young, Bailly, Rojo, Blind, Herrera, Pogba, Mata (Lingard 65), Rooney (Fellaini 70), Mkhitaryan (Fosu-Mensah 84), Ibrahimovic.
Subs not used: De Gea, Jones, Martial, Rashford.
Southampton 1 Hapoel Be’er Sheva 1
Southampton bowed out of the Europa League with a whimper and an injury to leading scorer Charlie Austin (6.9).
The qualification equation was simple enough – stop their Israeli visitors from scoring and a place in the Round of 32 would be assured.
When Hapoel did score, from their one and only shot on target, the Saints suddenly needed to win the tie and were left just 12 minutes to do it.
A Virgil van Dijk (5.6) equaliser in the first minute of time added on gave them a brief flicker of hope, but the listless Saints were not up to the task.
An earlier injury to Austin added to the insult of defeat. The striker fell heavily following an aerial challenge and aggravated a long-standing shoulder issue. Despite telling the medical staff he was all right, Austin was clearly in pain and had to be replaced by Shane Long (6.1).
With Southampton embarking on a three-match run in seven days at the weekend, the historically fragile forward looks likely to struggle to play his part – a major blow to his 17.4% ownership base, and particularly those already having to react to the four-match ban for fellow striker Sergio Aguero (12.9).
Speaking post-match, coach Claude Puel confirmed that the striker would be ruled out of Sunday’s visit of Middlesbrough.
“Charlie has a shoulder injury and we will see this. I don’t know how many times he stays out but it’s important for us…I don’t know but he cannot play for the next game of course…We will assess him in the next few days.”
Austin’s shoulder is a known weak point, having been cursed by injuries in that area throughout his career. Given that record, the fear is that the striker could now be facing a prolonged period on the sidelines – certainly, Southampton are unlikely to take any risks regarding his return date.
Puel is set to face the press this morning at 11.30 when we are likely to get a fresh opinion on Austin’s situation.
Requiring just a 0-0 stalemate to progress, the Southampton boss fielded his strongest side of the European campaign, making only three changes from the team humbled by Crystal Palace on Saturday.
He must have been ruing that decision with Austin’s departure, although the second half return to action of Dusan Tadic (7.0) following a three-match lay-off sweetened an otherwise decidedly bitter pill.
Tadic will now challenge for a starting role against Middlesbrough, with Nathan Redmond potentially shifting to a central role. Shane Long (£6.1m) is perhaps the more natural replacement for Austin, however.
The Saints are not in the best of shape at the moment, with just one win and five points from their last six league matches.
A fine run of fixtures now awaits, but the potential loss of Austin and the morale-sapping nature of their European exit is hardly the ideal preparation.
Southampton XI: Forster, Cedric, van Dijk, Yoshida, Bertrand, Davis, Romeu, Højbjerg (Ward-Prowse 82), Redmond, Sims (Tadic 59), Austin (Long 39).
Subs not used: Lewis, Fonte, McQueen, Clasie.
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