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Manchester United, Arsenal cruise into Europa League semi finals

Man U rout Granada 4-0; Arsenal thrash Slavia Prague 5-1

Manchester (UK), April 15, 2021

Manchester United reached the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday after Edinson Cavani’s early strike and a Jesus Vallejo own goal secured a 2-0 home win over Granada.
The win helped them to complete a 4-0 aggregate rout of the Spanish side.
Manchester United will face AS Roma for a place in the May 26 final in Gdansk.
This was after the Italian side ground out a 3-2 aggregate win over Ajax Amsterdam with a 1-1 home draw in the second leg of their quarter-final encounter.
Cavani netted his 50th goal in European competition with a clinical sixth-minute finish as Manchester United made a bright start.
He volleyed past goalkeeper Rui Silva after Paul Pogba flicked a header into the Uruguayan’s stride.
Granada came to life after falling behind and their forward Yangel Herrera twice headed inches wide as the home side appeared content to sit back.
Bruno Fernandes fired narrowly over the bar with a rasping first-time volley in the 34th minute.
Cavani headed wide of the far post before Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea denied Herrera with a fine save.
Vallejo scored at the wrong end of the pitch in the 90th minute.
This was when Alex Telles swung in a cross from the left and the centre-back gave Silva no chance with a misdirected header which ended up in the bottom corner.
Fernandes said he was confident Manchester United, beaten by eventual winners Sevilla in last season’s semi-finals, could overcome Roma.
“Every team will give you problems,” the Portugal midfielder told reporters.
“They have a good organisation defensively, they can create problems offensively. Some of their players have played in England.
“We know what we have to do. If we do the right things, we will have our chances to win the game.”
The last four opens up the prospect of an all-English final as Villarreal face Arsenal in the other semi-final.
This was after the Gunners thrashed Slavia Prague 4-0 away to complete a 5-1 aggregate victory.

Prague, April 15, 2021

Arsenal cruised past Slavia Prague 4-0 to book a Europa League semi-final spot on Thursday, with three quick-fire goals in seven first-half minutes to advance 5-1 on aggregate.
Alexandre Lacazette struck twice, including a penalty, while Nicolas Pepe and Bukayo Saka also found the net in the quarter-final second leg to set up a last-four clash with Villarreal.
Arsenal, who were surprisingly held to a 1-1 home draw by the Czech champions, signalled their intent from the start as they pressed forward to create chances, while Slavia struggled to move the ball out of their own half.
The visitors opened scoring in the 18th minute when Pepe drove a shot home following a pass from Emile Smith-Rowe, who had a goal disallowed for offside minutes earlier after a VAR review.
Lacazette then coolly slotted home a spot-kick in the 21st minute after a Czech midfielder had bundled over Saka. Arsenal struck again three minutes later when Saka cut inside his defender and fired a low shot past keeper Ondrej Kolar.
In the 77th minute, Lacazette netted his second of the night when he latched onto Pepe’s cross before jinking away from two defenders to create some space to beat the Czech keeper.
Arsenal, who ended Slavia’s 21-match unbeaten streak at home in all competitions this season, face their former manager Unai Emery’s Villarreal in the semis.

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