Mainoo & Moore make history as Man United & Spurs shine in Europa League | OneFootball

Manchester United locked down a place in the Europa League round of 16 with a landslide 2-0 victory at Romanian outfit FCSB last night.

Although the Red Devils’ embarrassing Premier League campaign teeters on the edge of disaster, they are making strides in Europe’s second-tier competition.

Like United, Tottenham Hotspur cannot catch a break in the domestic competition but are through to the last-16 after demolishing Elfsborg 3-0 at home.

Despite struggles in the Premier League, both English giants found relief in Europa League results, living up to their tag as one of the tournament’s top favourites.

Mainoo follows in Rooney’s footsteps

Man Utd created several decent scoring chances in the first half of their first-ever meeting with FCSB but couldn’t find the net before half-time.

Kobbie Mainoo wasted two promising opportunities in the opening 45 minutes but atoned for his blunders after the break.

The 19-year-old sent the ball across the face of goal, with Diogo Dalot pouncing on the back post to fire the visitors in front on the hour mark.

Only eight minutes later, Mainoo went from a provider to a finisher, turning home Alejandro Garnacho’s cutback to put the game to bed.

In doing so, he became the first Man Utd start to score and assist on his first major European start for the club since Wayne Rooney in 2005.

FCSB never recovered from a two-goal deficit as Ruben Amorim’s side left Bucharest unscathed, sealing a place in the round of 16.

United finished the inaugural edition of the newly formatted league phase as the only unbeaten team, considering Lazio slipped to a narrow 1-0 loss at Braga.

After drawing their opening three Europa League games this term, the Red Devils have won their last five in a row, including four under the ex-Sporting CP boss.

Amorim has become the first Man Utd manager to win their first four European fixtures in charge of the club since Sir Alex Ferguson in the 1990/91 Cup Winners’ Cup.

Already out of the League Cup and miles off the Premier League title pace, winning their first Europa League title since 2017 could be United’s best chance to avoid a trophyless season.

Moore for history

Spurs’ home match against Swedish side Elfsborg was a carbon copy of Man Utd’s game at the Arena Nationala.

A catalogue of squandered opportunities saw Ange Postecoglou’s team enter the half-time interval on level terms, only to demolish their below-par opposition in the second half.

Keen to bounce back from a morale-damaging 2-1 league defeat to relegation-battling Leicester City last weekend, under-pressure Postecoglou fielded his strongest starting line-up.

However, Tottenham couldn’t find a way past Elfsborg’s low defensive block despite Heung-min Son’s persistent efforts to ignite their attacking play.

The superstar forward made history in the first half, becoming the first player to complete ten dribbles in the opening 45 minutes of a Europa League game.

But it wasn’t enough for Postecoglou to leave him on the pitch as the former Celtic tactician made a triple change at the start of the second half in pursuit of a well-deserved opener.

Dejan Kulusveski, who took Son’s place, set Dane Scarlett for Spurs’ first in the 70th minute before Oyindamola Ajayi doubled the home side’s lead in the 84th minute.

As the match approached the final whistle, Mikey Moore put the icing on the cake with a record-breaking goal.

The talented youngster shattered Jimmy Greaves’ record dating back to 1957 to become the youngster Englishman to score in a major European competition at 17 years and 172 days.

Spurs’ emphatic second-half performance threw Postecoglou a lifeline while extending their unbeaten Europa League record on home turf to 11 games.