Manchester United 5-4 Olympique Lyon (agg 7-6): Red Devils mount incredible fightback to keep European dream alive | OneFootball

Manchester United booked their place in the semi-final of the Europa League thanks to an incredible 5-4 victory over Olympique Lyon on Thursday.

United made it 3-2 on aggregate in the 10th minute after some lovely work from Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho, with the latter setting up Manuel Ugarte to finish from close range.

Evidently rattled by the concession of an early goal, Lyon almost let in another five minutes later when Casemiro drew a fine stop out of Lucas Perri.

Back in the starting line-up after his horror show in the first leg, Andre Onana dealt with his first test of the contest with relative ease, tipping over Paul Akoukou’s header from a corner.

Lyon starlet Rayan Cherki made a dazzling run into the United area before unleashing a strike at Onana, who was up to the task once again.

Akoukou called Onana into action for the second time in the space of 11 minutes with a long-range effort that was easily gathered by the Cameroonian.

Fernandes played a key part in United’s opening goal and nearly doubled his side’s advantage in spectacular fashion with a stunning volley which cannoned off the crossbar.

The midfielder unleashed a fierce drive from miles out six minutes from the interval, albeit without posing any significant threat to Perri’s goal.

United would have been content to go into the interval with their narrow lead, but things got even better for the Red Devils, who made it two just before the break.

Dalot showed good strength from a Harry Maguire long-range pass to ease off Nicolas Tagliafico before finishing beyond the reach of Perri via the left-hand post.

Garnacho had United’s first chance of the second period as he raced through on goal and showed great composure to leave Clinton Mata in his wake, only to hit his effort straight at Perri.

Corentin Tolisso produced a lovely strike on the swivel at the other end, forcing Onana into action for the first time in the second period.

However, United remained in control of things and looked the likelier of the two teams to get the next goal, but Lyon grabbed a much-needed goal 19 minutes from time.

In keeping with one of their biggest Achilles heels of the season, United were undone from a set-piece once again, with Tolisso the beneficiary.

Lyon continued to up the ante in search of an equaliser and git their reward in the 77th minute courtesy of Tagliafico as he got on the end of a cross-cum-shot from Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

With the tie now back where it began, both teams adopted a relatively cautious approach in the final 10 minutes.

However, things swung back in United’s favour in the penultimate minute of normal time when Tolisso was dismissed for a second bookable offence.

Despite their numerical advantage, United struggled to create any clear-cut opportunity in the first half of extra time.

The home side were stunned just before the interval as Cherki got on the end of a loose ball in the area and fired beyond Onana.

Lyon’s goal just before the interval stunned Old Trafford, and things went from bad to worse for United four minutes after the restart when Malick Fofana won a penalty off Luke Shaw.

Alexander Lacazette made no mistake from the spot and United looked doomed.

They were handed a lifeline shortly afterwards with a penalty of their own, and Fernandes got the better of Perri and set up a frenetic finale.

As their hopes of a comeback evaporated with each passing minute, United grabbed a late equaliser through Kobbie Mainoo as the game headed into five additional minutes.

United continued to press forward in search of a winner and were duly rewarded. Harry Maguire got on the end of a Casemiro delivery to send the Theatre of Dreams into delirium.

That turned out to be the decisive moment in one of the craziest European ties in history as United held on to get the job done, booking a last-four clash against Athletic Bilbao.