Villareal braved a tough second half to give coach Unai Emery a record fourth Europa league title on Thursday, leaving United without a trophy since 2017. The game took place at the Stadion Miejski in Gdansk and was the first European final to be played in front of a crowd in two years amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gerard Moreno opened the scoring in the 29th minute by taking advantage of erroneous defending by the Reds. In the 55th minute, Edinson Cavani equalised for Man Utd after the ball got deflected by a defender.
The score stood 1-1 at the end of extra time, leading to penalties. Geronimo Rulli, the Villareal goalkeeper, scored from the spot and successfully denied his United counterpart, David De Gea, to secure the win for the Spanish outfit.
This defeat re-emphasizes the responsibilty on Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Manchester’s manager, of rebuilding a great team that has hit a low point.
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