Man Utd 4

Real Sociedad 1

Real Sociedad were sent crashing out of the Europa League by a much improved United, who, it must be said, got the rub of the green yesterday…more than once. The ABUs will of course claim that the ref was a homer and you know what, maybe he was – it is the universe trying to find some sort of equilibrium as everything that could go wrong this season has in fact gone wrong.

Back to the match, De Ligt gave away a pen early on  – at first I thought it was a tough one against us but maybe it was a pen. De Ligt does get into these situations, mainly because he is not the most agile of defenders. The balance was soon restored when Hojlund was brought down when he should have buried it, and Bruno stepped up and made it 1-1. United were the better team in the first half but the finishing touch was once again lacking. 1-1 at HT.

5 minutes into the second half Dorgu was brought down and the ref pointed to the spot for the 3rd time on the night. A bit soft I thought, but we’ll take it. Bruno again – 2-1. On 63 minutes Sociedad were given a fatal blow to their hopes of recovering the tie when the defender who had just came on was sent off for bringing down the busy Dorgu. Straight red – again a bit tough on Sociedad. United dominated the last 30 minutes but we had to wait till 3 minutes from normal time to seal it and it was that man again to make it 3-1. Bruno showed our strikers how it is done and sent OT wild when his shot found the bottom left corner. Game, set and match. Dalot added a fourth to round off a good night.

A result to savor after so many disappointments and some breathing space for Amorim. Bruno was the start but I thought Casemiro, Zirkzee and Dorgu also did well. Garnacho blew hot and cold but he creates problems to opponents, and not many of our players can claim to do that! A shoutout for Dorgu who pointed out to the ref that the pen he had awarded us (the third!) was not a pen after all and the decision was revoked.

Let us hope Amorim manages to recover some of the injured players as we now face Lyon in the QF – we have 2 legs to look forward to as the EPL fades into obscurity until the season opener of season 2025-2026…Numquam Moribimur!