Europa League: Ronaldo scores in Man Utd victory as Lazio are thrashed

Sheriff Tiraspol - Manchester United 0-2

Manchester United put their UEFA Europa League opening defeat behind them with a comfortable 2-0 away victory over Sheriff Tiraspol.

Having won each of their last three matches ‘to nil’ - including a 3-0 UEL victory over Omonia Nicosia - Sheriff fans were hopeful of a rather unlikely win over Manchester United.

However, those hopes were quickly dashed when the heavy favourites took an early lead.

Christian Eriksen produced assists home and away the last time he faced the Zholto-chornyye with Tottenham Hotspur in 2013, and he was at it again here, popping the ball into Jadon Sancho, who cut back before firing past Maksym Koval.

That goal marks the third time Sancho has opened the scoring in his last six matches, each coming within the first 25 minutes.

After being omitted from the latest England squad, Sancho clearly had something to prove, and he almost doubled his tally for the night but for a sliding goal-line clearance from Sheriff captain Stjepan Radeljic.

Yet, just minutes later, United had a penalty following a clumsy challenge from Patrick Kpozo on Diogo Dalot, allowing Cristiano Ronaldo to fire his first goal of the campaign from the spot.

The Red Devils looked firmly in control of the game, coming close to a third when Dalot picked out Bruno Fernandes’ late run into the box, but Koval was equal to the low effort. A couple of half-chances from Iyayi Atiemwen in the first half was as close as the hosts had come to finding the net until Rasheed Akanbi attempted to loft the ball over an advanced David de Gea.

The Moldovan side remained in the contest as the final whistle drew closer, but despite a solid showing, rarely troubled Erik ten Hag’s rearguard.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Jadon Sancho (Manchester United)

See all the match stats on Flashscore.

Monaco - Ferencvaros 0-1

Ferencvaros made a slice of history, winning their first-ever meeting with a French club by defeating AS Monaco 1-0 at the Stade Louis II. A sixth win in succession for Stanislav Cherchesov’s men inflicted a first UEFA Europa League defeat in five for the Monegasques. 

A run of three straight wins had revitalised Monaco’s season after a shaky start, but the hosts were firmly on the back foot in the early going.

The Hungarian outfit certainly appeared more threatening going forward, with the pace and direct running of their forward line causing problems.

A rapid counter attack saw the visitors find the net after 20 minutes, with Adama Traore releasing Tokmac Nguen to slot home. However, after a ludicrous VAR delay that spanned several minutes, the goal was chalked off for offside.

Philippe Clement’s men desperately struggled to break down Ferencvaros, with only one real chance of note before the break.

Wissam Ben Yedder slotted in Aleksandr Golovin, but the midfielder’s shot was poor and easily saved. Alexander Nubel was busy in the Monaco goal, scrambling to save long-range efforts from Traore and Aissa Laidounii to maintain parity at the interval.

Clearly dismayed by their first-half showing, Clement made a double change at the break and Monaco instantly slipped into a higher gear, but remained blocked by a stubborn Ferencvaros resistance. A rare moment of lazy defending from the visitors saw Samy Mmaee make a mess of a clearance, leaving the ball to drop to Ismail Jakobs inside the area, but the German’s close-range shot was crucially blocked.

With momentum now with Monaco, the visitors struck on the break to take the lead in the closing stages.

Franck Boli speared his way into the area before finding Traore, who floated a cross to the edge of the box where Bálint Vécsei was waiting to strike on the volley.

Rather fortuitously, his volley took a series of deflections to deceive Nubel and secure a historic win for Ferencváros. A first UEL away win in their last five road trips moves them three points clear atop Group H.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Adama Traore (Ferencváros)

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Midtjylland - Lazio 5-1

Despite coming into the match on the back of their first consecutive wins of the season, Lazio couldn’t avoid an extraordinary upset at the hands of FC Midtjylland, who registered their first-ever win against an Italian opponent with a brave 5-1 victory in the Europa League.

Having started their second successive UEL campaign with a disappointing 1-0 defeat to SK Sturm Graz, Midtjylland began surprisingly comfortably in the face of a stern Lazio, who arrived in Denmark in search of a maiden away victory this season.

The hosts kept the Biancocelesti at bay for the majority of the opening half, before capitalising with a pair of goals at the other end in the space of a few minutes.

Much to the elation of the home crowd, Paulinho struck first blood by striking a low drive past Ivan Provedel following an inch-perfect pass in the box, before Sory Kaba took full advantage of an unfortunate slip by new Lazio signing Mario Gila to drill the ball into the back of the net.

Then arrived a flurry of exceptional saves by the two guardians between the posts, with Provedel first thwarting Henrik Dalsgaard’s headed effort towards the underside of the crossbar.

The Italian’s praiseworthy save was matched by Midtjylland keeper Jonas Lossl, whose lightning reaction to Pedro’s left-footed effort left the entire stadium gasping. With the scoreline in his team’s favour, Albert Capellas went into the break certainly confident of garnering a first home win this season.

Six minutes is all it took for Midtjylland to add to their lead once the match restarted.

A gentle foul in the box by Danilo Cataldi prompted referee Nikola Dabanović to point to the penalty spot without hesitation, after which Evander made no mistake and lodged the ball into the bottom left corner.

However, that goal was immediately cancelled by substitute Sergej Milinkovic-Savic before the hour mark, as his shot from outside the box was completely misjudged by Lossl due to a deflection despite him getting a hand on it.

Having conceded four on each occasion an Italian team has visited the MCH Arena, Midtjylland went against the odds to register an astonishing fourth following yet another penalty call after Adam Marusic brought Gustav Isaksen down.

Evander once again stepped up, only to see his shot brilliantly saved by Provedel, but the penalty-winning Dane was present at the right time to send the rebound in.

Shortly after, Erik Sviatchenko found himself on the end of Evander’s accurate cross towards the far post, deftly sliding it in to make it 5-1.

The manner of the victory – one of their greatest ever European results – leaves the Ulvene high on morale as they seek to carry the momentum. Meanwhile, Maurizio Sarri will have a lot to ponder before resuming Lazio’s domestic season against Cremonese.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Evander (FC Midtjylland)

See all the match stats on Flashscore.

In Other fixtures:

Elsewhere, Feyenoord got back to winning ways after their 4-2 loss to Lazio in Matchday One with a stunning 6-0 victory over Sturm Graz. Dominant throughout, the Dutch side were 4-0 up at half time with former Brighton forward Alireza Jahanbakhsh netting a brace. They added a fifth just after the hour mark and Oussama Idrissi rounded off the scoring on a superb night for Feyernoord.

In Greece, Freiburg ran out 3-0 winners over Olympiakos. Two goals up at break, Austrian Michael Gregoritsch added his second and his side's third after 53 minutes leaving the German side sitting pretty atop Group G. The other game in that group saw Qarabag ease past Nantes by a comfortable three goals.

In Manchester United's group, Real Sociedad edged out Omonia by the odd goal in a 2-1 win, goals coming from Ander Guevara and Alexander Sorloth. Finally, Trabzonspor overcame 10-man Red Star Belgrade by two goals to one with Marek Hamsik and Trezeguet on target for the hosts.