Manchester United on Thursday night in the UEFA Europa League, continued their superb form, as they thrashed AZ Alkmaar 4-0 to qualify for the round of 32. The game saw 18-year-old, Mason Greenwood netting twice to help United into the Knockout stages.
Manchester United who though were not impressive especially on the ball, were up early in the game, as their counter attacking style of football saw Ashley Young putting the host in front from Juan Mata’s cross for his first goal since February.
Greenwood also fired home from the edge of the box before producing a fine left-footed finish to score his brace on the night and six this season.
Mata converted a penalty to cap a memorable night at the Old Trafford.
The victory was United’s biggest in Europe since 2016 when they beat another Dutch side, Feyenoord, by the same score.
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had this to say after the game when he spoke with BT Sport:
“I told them to be more us [at half-time], be more Man United. I know it’s difficult for players when you change but in the second half we just found a rhythm, made more passes forward, more runs forward, were pressing and got our goals.”
On Mason Greenwood:
“He’s different class as a finisher, if there’s anything around the box you expect him to get a shot off and on target, he’s good at creating space for himself and right foot, left foot it doesn’t matter. I’m very pleased with his performance.
“He’s a different type to Wazza [Wayne Rooney] and the good thing about Mason is he is just going to look forward to Sunday. It’s natural for him to score goals, it doesn’t matter what level it is.”
The Thursday night result at Old Trafford means Manchester United tops group L ahead of AZ Alkmaar with 13points, and Alkmaar second with 9points. But given the teams remaining in the competition, and those coming to join from Champions League, winning the Europa League will be a very tough task for United.
The draws will hold on Monday, as United will hope for a favourable draw going forward in the competition.