Manchester United came from behind to defeat Omonia in Europa League play, with goals from replacements Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial. The former scored twice and the latter scored a crucial goal to take the Red Devils to victory.
United dominated the first 20 minutes, with 82% possession, eight shots on goal, and 220 passes completed compared to Omonia’s 51.
Despite all of their pressure in and around Omonia’s box, they couldn’t reach the back of the net, with Ronaldo and Antony both coming the closest to scoring in the first 45 minutes, only to be denied by goalkeeper Fabinho with outstanding saves.
Tyrell Malacia was substituted at halftime in the weekend’s 6-3 loss to Manchester City and was replaced again tonight after losing the ball in Omonia’s half, resulting in a fantastic counter-attacking goal from the home side. With United outnumbered, Bruno Felipe scooped up the ball and raced, playing the perfect pass to Karim Ansarifard, who took a touch and rifled his shot past De Get.
Ten Hag made his own substitutions in the second half, bringing in Rashford and Martial, both of whom had an immediate effect.
Rashford finished the night with two goals and an assist, while Martial achieved what Ronaldo couldn’t all night and scored with a stunning finish on 63 minutes.
Omonia mounted a late comeback of their own with five minutes to go through Nikolas Panayiotou after his instant reply to Rashford’s second a minute earlier. But the Red Devils held on to take a vital three points and put themselves on course for the knockout stages.
Ronaldo’s pursuit of his 700th goal continues.
This week, Ten Hag said Ronaldo is “p*ssed off when he’s not playing.” Well, you could argue he’ll be even more p*ssed off after tonight having failed to find the back of the net. The Portuguese is one goal short of reaching a ridiculous 700 club goal milestone but tonight, against what was supposed to be easy opposition, it just wasn’t going to happen.
The 37-year-old looked lively throughout the first half but was denied by Fabinho with a strong save from a powerful shot at a tight angle and as the game went on Ronaldo saw more opportunities go begging.
Cristiano Ronaldo's shooting against Omonia:
— Squawka (@Squawka) October 6, 2022
◉ 8 shots attempted
◉ 1.16 xG
◉ 1 shot on target
He just couldn't find that 700th club goal. 😩 pic.twitter.com/4xgRo6qL7C
He hit the post from six yards out when it seemed harder to miss, he blasted a free-kick over the bar, found the side netting and curled one a few inches wide of the post in the dying minutes. Diogo Dalot set up the chance, although it appeared the Portuguese full-back had a big chance to score himself, passing up the chance to slide into an open net to instead find Ronaldo on the doorstep.
Ronaldo did create a neat assist, though some could say he was going for goal himself, to set up Rashford for his second. It saw the former Real Madrid man all smiles (cheeky ones, it appeared) but deep down he’ll be frustrated he didn’t reach that 700 mark and prove a point to Ten Hag that he should never have been left out of facing City.
