Glory, glory, semi-final
Hoodoo? What hoodoo? Our thoughts on yet another United comeback, and a masterclass in charisma
FIVE ASIDES Europa League semi-final, first leg: United 6, Roma 2
Now that’s how to end a hoodoo. United scored enough goals to win two semi-finals, never mind one. While it could still go wrong – just ask QPR fans – there is a 99.9 per cent chance that United will be in the Europa League final on May 26. They made the basic error of scoring first, but atoned for it by going 2-1 down at half-time. That enabled them to enter Comeback Mode, and the second half become a joyous exorcism. It was the 11th time this season that United have come from behind to win. Even the Treble winners of 1998-99, the most thrillingly defiant, unbeatable squad in English football history, did it only eight times.
Of all Edinson Cavani’s qualities, the most compelling is the hardest to define: charisma. It’s telling that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer keeps talking about how much he wants to see Cavani celebrate a goal at a packed Old Trafford, and it looks like he will get his wish. If boffins were creating a fan favourite in a laboratory, Cavani is what they would come up with: a magnetic, almost unique fusion of primal energy and subtle excellence. His equaliser, slammed into the top corner on the bounce, was typical of his Roy-of-the-Rovers appeal. It was so emphatic, so majestic, that it deserved its own speech bubble: pick that one out.
United are a left-leaning side, at least in attack. Luke Shaw offers much more than Aaron Wan-Bissaka, while Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford are both much better cutting inside from the left. Pogba’s glorious run there has meant that Rashford is being shoehorned in on the right wing, a role that he is only just starting to learn. With Mason Greenwood in form and a natural on that side, Rashford’s place could even be under threat for the final.
In Italian football, they love talking about the immutable law of the ex, the idea that players always perform well against their old clubs. Henrikh Mkhitaryan was a case in point with his piercing passes, especially for Roma’s second goal. For Chris Smalling, it was more like sod’s law of the ex. His return to Old Trafford turned into a nightmare: he was rolled by Pogba for the first goal, played everyone onside for the third and gave away the penalty for the fourth. That decision, one of the most ludicrous of even this season, summed up his night.
The PE teacher has done it again. As well as building the most exciting United side since 2013, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer keeps racking up the achievements: a 15-month unbeaten run away from home in the Premier League, a 9-0 and two 6-2s at home, four victories over Pep Guardiola, and even getting the best out of Paul Pogba. Last night United became the first team to score six in a European semi-final since Real Madrid 57 years ago. And yet, afterwards, #OleOut was still trending, hanging around from half-time like a bad smell. It’s probably always going to be this way, such is the deep-rooted prejudice against Solskjaer in the media, both traditional and social. All he can do is keep breaking records and start winning trophies. Barring a collapse for the ages in Rome, he will soon get the chance.