Thursday 06 March 2025 19:45
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Manchester United were made to settle for a 1-1 draw from the first leg of our UEFA Europa League last-16 tie away to Real Sociedad, despite a largely dominant display in Spain.
United created plenty of good opportunities at the Reale Arena and were fully deserving of the opener, when Joshua Zirkzee fired us into a 57th-minute lead.
But the Reds were unable to score a second goal that our performance would have warranted, before Mikel Oyarzabal drew our La Liga opponents level from the penalty spot, after the Video Assistant Referee had spotted a handball from Bruno Fernandes inside the 18-yard area.
The hosts came closest to a go-ahead strike in the time that remained after Oyarzabal's 70th-minute spot-kick, but the clash finished 1-1 ahead of next week's second leg at Old Trafford.
Hojlund was a beneficiary of the hosts' aggressive style in the first half.
**FIRST HALF - UNITED ON FRONT FOOT**
The Reds were encouraged by the space our high-pressing hosts afforded us throughout the first half, and were twice able to spring numbers forward inside the opening 20 minutes, after playing around the home side's efforts to win the ball back in our defensive third.
First, it was Zirkzee who occupied a vacant area in the centre of the wet field - due to the heavy rain as the game got under way - and received the ball well on the half-turn before driving forward and playing Rasmus Hojlund in, who saw his cross from the left eventually come to nothing after a good piece of skill worked some space for a delivery.
Shortly after, it was Hojlund's turn to find the space in the middle of the park and, after some tidy work under pressure from former La Liga stalwart Casemiro, our no.9 was the one running at La Real's backline before feeding Alejandro Garnacho, who cut inside from the left and registered United's first attempt on target with a curler into the arms of goalkeeper Alex Remiro.
Garnacho scored his first professional goal at the very same end on our last visit to the Reale Arena in 2022, and was looking lively as one of three returnees to Ruben Amorim's XI for the teatime kick-off in the Basque Country.
The young Argentina international was involved again in our next big attack, laying the ball off to Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu who shot high and wide on his weaker right foot, at which point Hojlund voiced his view that his run should have been found by Diogo Dalot earlier in the move.
Dalot hesitated to play an early cross on that occasion, but it was the full-back's smart grounded ball from the right that carved out our best opening of the half just minutes later. Diogo found Fernandes arriving in the penalty box, and our skipper would have scored but for a goalline diversion from defender Aritz Elustondo, who was on hand to get in the way of Zirkzee's follow-up strike, before the United forward acrobatically placed our third attempt of the sequence narrowly wide.
Fernandes and Dalot were then able to link up again before the opening 45 minutes was out, but this time it was roles reversed as the former's long diagonal ball over the top of the hosts' defence found the latter's searching run forward, but Dalot's subsequent glancing header was grasped by a grateful Remiro in goal.
Our persistence appeared to have paid off, but Fernandes was denied by an impressive piece of defending.
**SECOND HALF - PENALTY PEGS UNITED BACK**
There was a hope that Amorim's men wouldn't rue those missed first-half chances as the players re-emerged for the second period, and Leny Yoro's almost-immediate clearance to make sure Oyarzabal didn't get on the end of Takefusa Kubo's dangerous cross from the right was a reminder of the need to keep our performance levels high.
What followed was more promising play going the other way, as United continued to search out a deserved opening goal. Garnacho twice went close to providing it, striking the outside of the netting after getting on the end of a low ball across the face of goal from Dorgu, shortly before having another low first-time effort tamed by Remiro.
Alejandro may not have been able to find the breakthrough himself, but it was the 20-year-old who set up the United opener when it did arrive in the 57th minute. Casemiro and Dalot both played their part in getting the ball out to Garna on the right flank, who rolled the ball to the edge of the penalty area where Zirkzee met it with a low, firm strike that had enough power on it to beat Remiro centrally.
When Garnacho hit the side-netting in an attempt to double the advantage almost straight after, it looked as if the Reds' grip on the game had only got firmer with the goal, but Brais Mendez kept us honest with a long-range curler which had Onana scrambling before it whistled past his posts.
Garnacho admirably picked out Zirkzee for the opening goal.
The Reds responded by foraying forward again, but it was not long before our lead was wiped out at the end of a somewhat bizarre sequence. United had appeared to clear a corner from the right successfully, but referee Ivan Kruzliak soon paused the game and it became apparent that a check with the Video Assistant Referee was ongoing.
Kruzliak was recommended to visit the pitchside VAR monitor and, after being shown footage of Fernandes unintentionally diverting the corner delivery away with his arm, awarded a penalty which La Real skipper Oyarzabal stepped up to convert.
Amorim's side never fully rediscovered the control we had on the contest before the equaliser and, despite all of the opportunities, were probably somewhat fortunate not to go behind late on. Substitutes Sheraldo Becker and Orri Oskarsson combined, with the latter - the La Liga outfit's top scorer in Europe this season - somehow unable to finish the former's centre from close range.
A strong left glove from Onana was then required to stop Oskarsson's fierce goalbound go at a stoppage-time winner, before the first half of the tie was brought to a close at 1-1, meaning it's all to play in next Thursday's rematch at Old Trafford.
Oyarzabal's penalty was a kick in the teeth, but United can take confidence from our first-leg showing.
**MATCH DETAILS**
**Real Sociedad:** Remiro; Elustondo (Aramburu 63), Aguerd, Zubeldia, Munoz; Sucic (Olasagasti 88), Turrientes (Marin 63), Mendez; Kubo (Becker 81), Oyarzabal (c), Barrenetxea (Oskarsson 63).
**Unused subs:** Marrero, Javi Lopez, Sergio Gomez, Traore, Martin, Beitia, Mariezkurrena.
**Booked:** Zubeldia.
**Goal:** Oyarzabal (pen) 70.
**United:** Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Yoro (Lindelof 88); Dalot, Casemiro, Fernandes (c), Dorgu; Zirkzee (Collyer 88), Garnacho (Eriksen 78); Hojlund.
**Unused subs:** Harrison, Mee, Amass, Heaven.
**Booked:** Fernandes.
**Goal:** Zirkzee 57.
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Thursday 06 March 2025 19:45
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