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As it happenedended

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Manchester United vs Anderlecht - as it happened: Marcus Rashford strikes in extra-time to end Belgian's resistance

Relive all of the action from the Europa League quarter-final

Luke Brown,Adam Theofilatos

Thursday 20 April 2017 18:44 BST

Rashford leaps clear of Ruben — Rashford leaps clear of Ruben (Getty)

Manchester United progressed to the semi-finals of the Europa League with an extra-time win over a dogged Anderlecht.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan gave the home side the lead within the first ten minutes and United looked to be on course for an easy win.

But Sofiane Hanni leveled the scores, leaving United to require an extra-time goal from Marcus Rashford to progress to the last four.

Relive all of the action below.

What time is kick-off?

The match starts will begin at 8.05pm.

Where can I watch it?

The game will be shown on BT Sport 2.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Show all 22

1/22Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

David de Gea - 6 out of 10

Rarely tested. Impressive under the high balls and in his distribution.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Antonio Valencia - 7

Solid all round performance from him. Strong going forward and assured on the back foot. Physically impressive too.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Eric Bailly - 7

COmposed under pressure, read the game brilliantly and made all the right decisions. Excellent defensive display.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Marcos Rojo - 6

A gritty and fiesty display. Battled hard against Costa and largely kept his cool while the Spaniard repeatedly lost his.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Matteo Darmian - 6

Kept Pedro under wraps and limited the wingers' influence for much of the game.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Ander Herrera - 8

Demonstrated fantastic vision to play in Rashford for United's goal. Hard-working as ever. Shame about the yellow card but completely ran the game today.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Marouane Fellaini - 7

United's battering ram. Strong in the air, firm in his challenges and excellent at breaking up play. Dominated against Kante too.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Paul Pogba - 7

A rounded, mature performance from the Frenchman. May not have threatened as others did but kept the United midfield ticking over with his constant passing and movement. Still missing that 'wow' factor though.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Ashley Young - 7

Another hard worker who dug deep to give 100 per cent today. Made some encouraging runs going forward and was vital in the build-up to United's second.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Marcus Rashford - 8

FUll of confidence and energy. Used his pace to devasting effect and proved to be too much for the visiting defence at times. Showed today what he's truly capable of.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Jesse Lingard - 7

Complimented Rashford to a tee. Excelled at getting in behind United's backline and provided a reliable outlet throughout.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Asmir Begović - 6

Could have maybe done more for the first goal but unlucky about the second. Made some important saves to keep the score down.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Kurt Zouma - 5

Stepped in to replace Marcos Alonso which subsequently disrupted the balance to Antonio Conte's team. Looked out of place.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

David Luiz - 5

Guilty of costly mistakes and, rather surprisingly, was overpowered at times by Rashford. A shadow of the player he has been this season.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Gary Cahill - 4

Completely dropped his guard for United's second. Struggled to match Rashford for his pace and made multiple sloppy mistakes. An afternoon to forget for him.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Victor Moses - 4

Anonymous and largely ineffective. Hauled off around the hour mark for Cesc Fabregas.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

N'Golo Kanté - 6

Showcased his ability to drive into space on a number of occasions but was overwhelmed physically throughout the match by Fellaini.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Nemanja Matic - 5

Struggled defensively and seemed out of his depth. Couldn't deal with the United set-up.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Cesar Azpilicueta - 6

Pushed forward down the flank and provided his team-mates with a reliable source of deliveries. Defensively, he enjoyed a better display than the rest of the Chelsea back line.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Pedro - 5

Enjoyed a few half-chances but was subdued and lacked any real dynamism.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Eden Hazard - 6

Missed that magic touch today. Was played out of the game by Herrera. Occasionally threatened with his quick feet but it wasn't to be.

Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0 player ratings

Diego Costa - 5

Bullish but another disappointing performance. His quality on the ball and in front of goal deteriorated as his composure faded throughout the game.

Preview

Jose Mourinho decided to rest his star men Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan for their Premier League clash with Chelsea on Sunday, in a huge risk that happened to pay off. With a crucial mid-week tie at home to Belgian side Anderlecht lurking and with Zlatan's game-time requiring careful management (he has already appeared 45 times for the club this season), a rest could only be a good thing.

United will be without Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Juan Mata, who all miss out due to injury. But Wayne Rooney will likely return to the bench, after the striker recovered from an ankle injury. United will be in a jubilant mood following their 2-0 win over Chelsea and we can expect them to come down hard on the Belgian side as seek a spot in the semi-finals.

Anderlecht currently sit top of the Jupiler League and have not lost in their past seven matches. A win over United would give them their first semi-finals in a European competition since 1990. At first glance it looks a tall ask for the Belgian side, who don’t boast the class or big names that United possess, but having forced a 1-1 draw at home in the first leg, the tie remains open.

It’s a big game for…

Mourinho has repeatedly criticised his young full-back in the press — Mourinho has repeatedly criticised his young full-back in the press (Getty)

Luke Shaw. The defender may be given a chance to finally prove himself under Jose Mourinho. He wasn’t in Mourinho’s starting eleven against Chelsea on Sunday and could well be given a chance this evening, Shaw will have a lot of work to do to counter the recent criticism of him by the United boss.

Remember when...

Tomasz Radzinski scored both goals for the Belgians in a famous 2-1 win?

Player to watch…

The forward was in superb form against Chelsea (Getty)

Marcus Rashford. The young striker may have big shoes to fill next season. It has yet to be decided where Zlatan will be next season and Rashford may be next in line for the throne should the Swede choose not to remain at United.

Rashford had a cracking game against Chelsea where he stunned the Premier League leaders with the opening goal. He is a man in form and will pose a stern test to the Anderlecht defence.

Form…

Manchester United: WDWDDW
Anderlecht: WDDWWW

Odds…

Manchester United to win: 11/50
Draw: 5/1
Anderlecht to win: 12/1

And, finally, our Chief Sports Writer Ian Herbert has filed his match report from Old Trafford:

Marcus Rashford to the rescue as Manchester United squeeze past Anderlecht in extra-timeWhat a game! Thanks very much for joining me for it. Until next time.

Vithushan Ehantharajah20 April 2017 22:57

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