Man Utd Finish Second in Europa League Group E Despite 1-0 Win Over Real Sociedad
Manchester United could only secure a 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad when they needed to beat the Spanish outfit by at least two clear goals to finish as Group E winners in Europa League.
The Red Devils took Sociedad on in their final Europa League 22/23 group stage match at the latter’s home ground.
Manchester United took the lead 17 minutes into the game, courtesy of an emphatic finish from Alejandro Garnacho. Cristiano Ronaldo slipped the Argentine youngster in, and the 18-year-old took two touches before firing the ball past Alex Remiro and into the Real Sociedad net.
Real Sociedad then came close to restoring the parity in the 43rd minute, and they would have if not for David de Gea’s double save. The Spaniard sprang into action when Andoni Gorosabel struck a shot from outside the box. De Gea parried the ball away, and he pulled off another save to deny Pablo Marin from the rebound.
Despite Man Utd being the side that needed to win by a margin of at least two goals, it looked Real Sociedad were the likelier side to score the next goal of the game.
Manchester United desperately looked for a second goal that never came. Erik ten Hag brought Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay in the 58th minute, replacing Donny van de Beek and Victor Lindelof.
But the Red Devils failed to find the goal that would have directly taken them to the Europa League round of 16.
Ten Hag threw the kitchen sink at it, bringing Harry Maguire on to play as a forward in the 82nd minute. But Man Utd could not even produce a clear-cut chance, let alone a goal.
The result sees Real Sociedad progress to Europa League round-of-16 as Group E winners. The Spanish outfit have 15 points from six matches in the group. The Old Trafford outfit finished second, also with 15 points.
Man Utd, meanwhile, will play a two-legged playoff against a Champions League dropout to book their place in the round of 16.
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