At Old Trafford, Bruno Fernandes scored a thrilling goal in injury time to defeat Rangers and put Manchester United in danger of earning automatic passage to the Europa League round of 16.
A point against FCSB in Bucharest next week should be sufficient to secure a top-eight finish and save a two-leg play-off after United’s 2-1 success in the Battle of Britain match moved them up to fourth place in the standings.
After his passionate response to Sunday’s loss to Brighton, in which he called his team possibly the worst in United’s history, it also provided much-needed respite for head coach Ruben Amorim.
After United rallied from giving up an equalizer in the 88th minute to win, Amorim acknowledged, “It was a victory that we truly needed in this moment.”
We had a strong start, but for seven minutes we lost control. They bounced back even after Rangers gave us the goal. Although we are far from performing at our best, we did become better from the previous game.
“It is crucial to automatically qualify because there are two weeks to get ready for the Premier League.”
After Rangers keeper Jack Butland’s own goal was countered by Cyriel Dessers, United captain Fernandes scored in the 92nd minute.
“Our goal is to advance to the final in Bilbao,” Fernandes stated. In order to avoid having to play two more games, we would like to finish in the top eight.
“You have to win every game at this club.” You are aware that it will be challenging if you don’t win any games here. I hope that our supporters never grow accustomed to losing games. I’m hoping they think this club can win games.The’strongest possible punishments’ have been threatened for any registered ticket holders who may have assisted in the sale of Rangers tickets, and United will begin a probe after several Rangers supporters were able to obtain seats in sections of Old Trafford reserved for home supporters.
Marcus Rashford may yet have a chance to leave Borussia Dortmund if United is willing to reduce their expectations and give the uneasy sensation more of his £350,000 weekly salary while he is on loan. Rashford sat in a box in the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand to watch Thursday’s game.