MANCHESTER: Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes scored a last-gasp winner to secure a 2-1 victory over Rangers in the Europa League group stage on Thursday and Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min struck twice in his team’s 3-2 win at Hoffenheim.
United climbed to fourth in the standings on 15 points going into the last round of matches, in a strong position to reach the knockout phase along with Spurs who are sixth with 14 points.
The top eight will qualify directly for the last 16, which may now be beyond Rangers who slip to 13th.
The English side broke the deadlock early in the second half when Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland misjudged a Christian Eriksen corner, sending the ball into his own net.
Rangers fought back with an equaliser from substitute Cyril Dessers two minutes from time before Fernandes struck in added time to give United all three points.
United were earlier controversially denied a goal when Matthijs de Ligt’s towering header was ruled out for a foul on Robin Propper and VAR did not intervene.
If United got a point away to Romanian side FCSB next week, they will secure a top-eight finish and avoid the playoff round.
“Today was important to get the win because we want to get through in the Europa League, we want to go to the final,” said Fernandes.“We want to be in the first eight so we avoid playing two more games.”
In Germany, James Maddison opened the scoring for Spurs in the third minute and Son doubled the lead in a first half the visitors dominated.
Hoffenheim pulled one back in the 68th minute through Anton Stachs counter-attack goal. Son restored Spurs two-goal lead in the 77th minute before the hosts’ David Mokwa scored to give his side late hope but the game ended in a narrow win for the English side.
Tottenham coach Ange Postecoglou had pledged to win silverware for the first time for the London side since 2008 in his second season as boss.
With Spurs struggling in 15th behind Liverpool at home that leaves the Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup to fulfil his promise.
A win against Swedish outfit Elfsborg in their closing league phase game at home next week will give them an automatic ticket to the next round as one of the top eight finishers.
“I told them to enjoy it,” Postecoglou told TNT Sports. “Winning away in Europe, it’s a significant victory for us and gives us a good foothold to get into those top eight spots which will give us a week off,” the Australian added.
Meanwhile, Lazio stayed top of the standings with a commanding 3-1 home victory over Real Sociedad to become the first team to qualify for the round of 16.
Mario Gila struck after five minutes and when Sociedad’s Aihen Munoz was shown a second yellow card on the half-hour mark, Lazio immediately seized the advantage.
Mattia Zaccagni quickly doubled the lead and Taty Castellanos effectively ended the match with a third for the hosts. Ander Barrenetxea scored a late consolation goal for Sociedad.
Two Real Sociedad fans were taken to hospital after their group was apparently attacked by hardcore Lazio supporters ahead of the match at the Olympic stadium in Rome, the Spanish club said.
Former Europa League champions Eintracht Frankfurt moved closer to securing a top-eight spot with a 2-0 home win over Hungarian side Ferencvaros thanks to second-half goals from Can Uzun and Hugo Ekitike.
They are second in the standings with 16 points, three ahead of ninth-placed Galatasaray.
A late goal from Troy Parrott gave AZ Alkmaar a 1-0 home win over AS Roma and Olympiacos earned a 1-0 victory at Porto thanks to a late goal from Ayoub El Kaabi.
Dutch side Alkmaar can still reach the top eight with 11 points sitting in 14th place while Roma’s nine points place them 21st, close to the bottom of the playoff section.
Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce and Olympique Lyonnais played out an intense goalless draw in Istanbul, leaving the French side in a strong position to progress in fifth place in the group on 14 points.
There was a bizarre moment before the match as Mourinho appeared to mistake the Lyon’s physiotherapist for coach Pierre Sage.
Mourinho walked toward Abdeljelil Redissi, shook hands and hugged him before the physiotherapist pointed the bemused Portuguese to Sage, who was a few metres away.
Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2025
