It turns out that the Europa League isn’t the damp squib that both Manchester clubs might have expected as both earned decent away wins on their first outing in the competition.
Europa League results:
Ajax 0-2 Manchester United
Porto 1-2 Manchester City
Stoke 0-1 Valencia
First up were United, who didn’t exactly wipe the floor with Ajax in Amsterdam, but turned in a decent second half display to come out on top with Ashley Young (see his effort below) and Javier Hernandez getting on the scoresheet.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson wasn’t exactly thrilled with his side’s performance and his face would have become even redder than usual after learning that Antonio Valencia, who has probably been United’s best player in the last two months, is set to be sidelined for a month with a hamstring injury.
Later in the evening, Manchester City travelled for what could have been an extremely tricky tie against Porto, but Roberto Mancini’s side overcame a difficult start to prevail on a 2-1 scoreline.
Silvestre Varela put the hosts in front just short of the half hour mark after a barnstorming run from (the incredible) Hulk, but an own goal from Alvaro Pereira and a late effort from Sergio Aguero (see below) means that City carry a healthy advantage into the home leg next week.
Stoke, meanwhile, will have it all to do if they are to make the last 16 after falling to a 1-0 home defeat to Valencia. Andy Gray and others might have questioned the ability of fancy foreigners to prosper on a cold night at the Britannia, but Valencia had little difficulty and ended up prevailing thanks to Mehmet Topal’s cracking strike, which I think you’ll agree, was the best of the lot on the night.
Mehmet Topal’?n muhte?em golü. by ftw1905
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