Manchester United took on french outfit Saint Etienne in the Europa League round of 32 first leg at Old Trafford on Thursday night. United hoping to wrap up the tie in first leg were in for a surprise as St Etienne started strong and carved open United defense time and again in first 45 minutes. Fortunately, United got a lucky goal thanks to Ibrahimovic deflected freekick while St Etienne missed all sorts of chances having open up United number of times. However United took control after break and Ibrahimovic scored twice to complete his hattrick and pretty much putting the tie to bed.
Match Highlights (English)
Manchester United 1-0 Saint Etienne Highlights
[ UEFA Europa League 2017 Match ]
15′ 1 – 0 Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored with a low freekick from edge of the box but it had massive element of luck as it got deflection on its way to the net.
[ UEFA Europa League 2017 Match ]
15′ 1 – 0 Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored with a low freekick from edge of the box but it had massive element of luck as it got deflection on its way to the net.
Manchester United made their way to knockout stages after difficult group stage where they were beaten by Feynoord and Fenerbahce in away games. Mourinho will be hoping to take a commanding lead in the first leg to make things lets difficult for the second leg which takes place on Wednesday next week. St Etienne is very good side who are currently sitting 5th in the French league with 39 points off 25 games. However they have only won 3 of the 13 away games so far this season while their home form has been imperious to say the least having lost just once in the league so far.
Team News & Lineups: That goes to show how important is the leg at Old Trafford where United must take a healthy lead and something to defend against back to France. Mourinho do have a full squad to choose from and it will be interesting to see what kind of lineup he starts with. Ibrahimovic is likely to start upfront with Mikhitaryan, Mata and Martial set to keep their places in starting lineup after superb display over the weekend.
This is how I expect both teams to lineup in the Europa League first leg tie on thursday.
Match Predictions: Hard to see this going any other result than a win for United. However Saint Etienne will be happy with a 1-0 or even 2-1 defeat in the first leg which will keep them in the tie. If United play to their full potential they do have a chance to kill the tie off in first leg and Mourinho will have his team give it a right go at Old Trafford. But I just think, St Etienne will try to frustrate United and hope to catch them on counter. I am going with a narrow 1-0 win for United in this one.
