Man Utd thrash LASK behind closed doors in Europa League

Odion Ighalo slammed home the opener via the underside of the bar from 20 yards just before the half-hour after a first half which saw Solskjaer's men dominate proceedings. Bruno Fernandes started the move with a run from the halfway line, he got a bit of luck off the defender before passing to Ighalo who scored after four touches between his left and right foot.

LASK did next to nothing going forward and the closest they came was four minutes before half-time when Frieser's effort as cleared off the line by Bailly. They were deservedly trailing at the break. 

The Austrians started the second half promisingly, but then Daniel James added a second for Manchester United with a sharp run and finish just before the hour mark. That knocked the stuffing out of the home side and Ighalo nearly made it 0-3 in 62nd minute when McTominay's pass was flicked on by Fernandes to the Nigerian who struck the upright. LASK had the odd promising attack including one from Michorl, but there was an evident lack of quality in the final third.

The final ten minutes then saw United kill off the tie completely. Juan Mata bagged a third eight minutes from the end after playing a lovely one-two with Fred and then Mason Greenwood and Andreas Pereira struck in injury time. On neither occasion Schlager in the Linz goal covered himself in glory. For Greenwood's goal, Chong passed to Greenwood and he beat Schlager at the near post with the help of both uprights. 

 

March 12, 2020

Then, Schlager was even worse in the 0-5 goal. United had a free-kick, the ball was played to Pereira and his speculative effort from 30 yards saw the ball go under the keeper's weak hand. United extended their unbeaten run to 11 matches, with nine clean sheets in that time and fully deserved the victory. 

The game was played without fans in line with the guidance of the Austrian government  and you have to feel the match would have been more competitive had they had the support of their fans. It was men against boys in the end and the second leg will be played next Thursday pending the outcome of a UEFA meeting next Tuesday. In any case, the match at Old Trafford will be academic. 

In the other early kick-offs, Istanbul Basaksehir won 1-0 at home to FC Copenhagen in Turkey courtesy of a late Edin Visca penalty, in one of just two first-leg matches allowed to take place before a crowd. Rangers against Bayer Leverkusen at Ibrox will also be open to fans.

Basel also secured a surprise 3-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt with Samuele Campo, Kevin Bua and Fabian Frei all on target for the visitors. Germany's financial capital will also host next week's return leg, due to coronavirus-related restrictions imposed by Swiss authorities.