Manchester United (England) defeated Real Sociedad (Spain) in the first leg of the European Football Federation UEFA Europa League round of 32, increasing the likelihood of advancing to the round of 16.
Manchester United won 4-0 in the first leg of the Europa League round of 32 against Real Sociedad at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, Italy.
Bruno Fernandez scored multiple goals, and Marcus Rashford and Daniel James scored and led the victory.
Manchester United, who won four goals in the away, was able to play comfortably in the second game to be held at home on the 26th.
Manchester United have taken the lead since the beginning of the game.
Scott Mactomini’s shot in the 16th minute and Rashford’s right-footed shot 3 minutes later were both blocked by the opposing goalkeeper, but he continued to hit the goal and scored the opening goal in the 27th minute.
When Rashford stabbed a long pass towards Fernandes, the opposing defender and goalkeeper collided to stop it, and Fernandez grabbed the ball and shook the net with a right foot shot.
Fernandes added a goal in the 12th minute of the second half.
James passed and shook the net with a quick shot.
At this time, the assistant referee raised the offside flag, but scored as a result of video reading (VAR).
Manchester United widened the gap to 3-0 with Rashford’s goal given Fred’s forward pass in a counterattack seven minutes later, and James scored a fourth goal in the 45th minute to finish the win.
According to statistics website Opta, this is the first time the England team has won a four-goal away game against Spain in the Europa League (including the entire UEFA Cup).
Previously, the biggest win was Newcastle United’s 3-0 victory over Mallorca in March 2004.
Another England team, Arsenal, drew 1-1 after an offense against Benfica (Portugal).
Benfica took the lead with Fiji’s opening goal in the 10th minute of the second half, but Arsenal equalized Bukayo Saka’s goal after 2 minutes.
Young Boys (Switzerland) won Leverkusen (Germany) and Rangers (Scotland) won the Royal Antwerp (Belgium) 4-3.
Goals scored in 16 matches in the first leg of the round of 32 held that day were 59 goals in total.
(Photo = Getty Image Korea)