Celta de Vigo came agonizingly close to scoring a vital second away goal that would've seen them advance to the Europa League Final. In the sixth minute of extra time, striker John Guidetti mishit a bouncing cross from ten yards out, and United cleared the ball out of the box before hearing a long awaited final whistle. Any shot on goal would've beaten United keeper Sergio Romero, who was out of position defending against the last-minute surge from Celta.
This is how close Celta Vigo came to snatching victory from Man United in the final seconds. Unreal! #UEL #MUNCEL https://t.co/mVKlvtSKEM
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) May 11, 2017
Tempers flared late in the match, leading to straight red cards issued to Eric Bailly and Roncaglia. Moments after he headed home a cross to pull Celta within one goal of United, Roncaglia punched Bailly in a scrum that resulted from a foul on United's scrappy midfielder Ander Herrera. Bailly retaliated by striking back at Roncaglia, and he will ultimately miss the final against Ajax on May 24.
Celta's failure to finish at the end embodied their lack of quality in the box throughout the match. They had a fewl good chances, but simply didn't execute well enough. Guidetti failed to put a header on goal in the 75th minute, and his half volley from 12 yards in the 58th minute went well wide of goal. When called called upon, Romero looked comfortable making a few decent saves on long strikes from Iago Aspas and Pione Sisto.
Jose Mourinho relied on a younger starting XI than we have seen from United this season, as Wayne Rooney came on as a late substitute and leading goal scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic is out for the season after injuring his knee. Marcus Rashford had a few impactful moments, most notably his pinpoint cross that assisted Marouane Fellaini's decisive first half goal. Paul Pogba also played well, sniffing out Celta attacks and making several skillful plays in the midfield.
Mourinho can only feel delighted to be one win away from Champions League qualification, but the last ten minutes did not go according to script. He'll likely replace Bailly with Chris Smalling in the final, and it wouldn't be suprising to see Rooney and keeper David de Gea start as well.
Celta's valiant effort made for an exciting finish, but United found a way to survive and advance to its first ever Europa League Final.
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