Five things we learned as Manchester United comfortably beat Ajax in the final of the Europa League
Paul Pogba deserves a huge amount of praise for his determined performance, Henrikh Mkhitaryan excels in Europe again and Ajax's youngsters fail to live up to the hype
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Your support makes all the difference.Goals from Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan won Manchester United the Europa League in Stockholm, as Jose Mourinho's side defeated Ajax 2-0 to book themselves a spot in next year's Champions League.
It took Pogba just eighteen minutes to open the scoring, with his 25-yard shot taking a large deflection over Davinson Sanchez and looping in over the head of Andre Onana.
After the break, Mkhitaryan acrobatically flicked home Chris Smalling's header, to give United a two goal lead which they preserved for the rest of the match.
The result means Manchester United have qualified for next year's Champions League despite finishing sixth in the Premier League this season.
Paul Pogba so worthy of praise
Every Manchester United player will have struggled with their emotions both in the hours after Monday night’s horrific terrorist attack in their home city, as well as in the hours ahead of this final. Paul Pogba would have been forgiven for struggling even more than most, considering that he is also still grieving the death of his father, Fassou Antoine, who died a fortnight ago and was buried last week.
So it was especially heartening to see the Frenchman – frequently castigated this season – perform so well here, opening the scoring after 18-minutes and dictating the tempo of the game from the middle of the park. He was superb against Crystal Palace on the weekend too, and his maturity and determination deserves so much credit.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan proves his European pedigree
The Armenian international may have blown hot and cold in the Premier League this season, scoring just four goals in some 24 appearances, but he has frequently come up with the goods in European competition this season. He poked home United’s second goal: five of his last six goals for the club have now come in the Europa League.
The winger was similarly influential in Dortmund’s run to the quarter-finals of the competition last season, netting seven times in 15 matches – only four goals less than he managed in the Bundesliga in double the number of matches. Now he will get his chance to shine in the Champions League for the first time in three years, and United will desperately hope he can maintain his fine form on the big occasion.
Jose Mourinho’s gamble pays off
For a manager known for frequently playing it safe out on the pitch, far more content to conserve a one-goal lead than pile on the pressure, Jose Mourinho gambled an awful lot on this tournament. The United manager essentially wrote off his team’s hopes of finishing in the top-four to instead focus almost exclusively on winning the Europa League.
His high-risk gamble paid off. United have hardly thrilled in this tournament, but now they have won it, and their reward is a place in next season’s Champions League. For now they can celebrate their success, but if the rumours are true and Antoine Griezmann does arrive this summer, even more will be demanded of Mourinho’s team next season.
Kasper Dolberg struggles to impress
A statistic to summarise Kasper Dolberg’s performance in this European final: his first touch of the ball was from the restart after Ajax conceded to United in the 18th minute. It didn’t get much better for the 19-year-old. He went on to touch the ball only 15 more times, and was hauled off mid-way through the second-half.
It was a very disappointing performance for the teenager, who has lit up the Eredivisie with 16 goals for Ajax this season. Matthijs de Ligt, two years younger than Dolberg, was another to have a difficult night at the office in Stockholm. But this Ajax team is exceptionally young and they will be all the better for this experience come next season.
United’s experience comes to the fore
Ajax’s inexperience at this level was shown up in ruthless fashion by Manchester United, whose big-name players – the likes of Paul Pogba, Marouane Fellaini and Daley Blind – all delivered when it mattered.
Perhaps surprisingly, for most of this match United enjoyed just 32% possession, with Ajax moving the ball around nicely at times. But they had absolutely no penetrative edge and so United were more than content for them to make sideways pass after sideways pass without ever truly threatening. In the end, United were simply too shrewd and pragmatic for their opponents.
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