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The night Mkhitaryan became hero for Manchester United

By Michael Abayateye
Mkhitaryan scored for Manchester United
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On a night when Jose Mourinho became The Frozen One, it was Henrikh Mkhitaryan who provided a moment of magic to smooth Manchester United's passage into the last 32 of the Europa League.

Mkhitaryan has spent much of his short time at United in the cold, surrounded by doubt about the club's decision to pay Borussia Dortmund £26.3million for his services in the summer.

But the former Shakhtar Donetsk star has grown in confidence of late and returned to Ukraine on Thursday night to score his first goal for the club on his 11th appearance. 

Quite a goal it was too, coming early in the second half with United's Europa League hopes still hanging in the balance.

Mkhitaryan, who scored a hat-trick on his last visit to Odessa with Shakhtar, received the ball just over the halfway line and did well to keep control of it on a difficult playing surface as he ran at the Zorya defence.

Rafael Forster tried to stop his run but was left looking rather silly as Mkhitaryan played the ball between his legs and then steered it beyond goalkeeper Igor Levchenko into the bottom corner.

It was a quality solo goal but one that made little difference to the bigger picture, which can also be said of Zlatan Ibrahimovic's late strike.

Fenerbahce's win over Feyenoord in Rotterdam meant the Turks go through as winners of Group A and United would have finished second even if they had lost here on Thursday night.

But Mourinho, who was wrapped up in a scarf and gloves against the bitter cold, will just be happy to make the long trip home on Friday with a win under his belt after a frustrating time in the Premier League —not to mention a miserable away record in Europe. 

United had lost their last five ties away from Old Trafford and this was a first victory in eight attempts.

It is fair to say that when the Europa League draw was made in August, they did not expect to be landing on the northern shores of the Black Sea still needing a point to be sure of progressing.

A frozen pitch at the Chornomorets Stadium had added to their worries on the eve of this game. Marginally higher temperatures on Wednesday in Odessa meant that it had thawed enough for the game to go ahead, and the fact that United enjoyed 71 per cent of the possession showed how well they coped on a difficult surfa

However, it was goalkeeper Sergio Romero who was called into action first, in the ninth minute. Ihor Kharatin rifled a shot that was bound for the bottom corner until Romero lunged to his right to turn it away, with Ivan Petryak sending his follow-up effort into the side-netting. 

The Argentina keeper also had to be on his toes to stamp out a firework thrown into his box from the Zorya fans in the first half, while Daley Blind complained to the fourth official about having a laser aimed at his face.

United were patient in their build-up play as they got a feel for the pitch and it almost paid off in the 18th minute when Paul Pogba had the time and space to fire a 20-yard shot just past the post as Levchenko was scrambling across his goal. 

Eric Bailly, who impressed on his return after seven games out with a knee injury, also came close with an acrobatic overhead kick before Wayne Rooney saw a blistering 25-yard shot tipped over on the stroke of half-time. 

But the United captain was having one of those nights when he looked chronically short of sharpness and he was replaced by Marouane Fellaini with 20 minutes to play. 

By then, Mkhitaryan had put United in the driving seat. Zorya came close to an equaliser when Mikhail Sivakov met an inswinging free-kick from Dmytro Grechyshkin with a flick of his head, but it was directed straight at Romero, who palmed the ball away. 

Ibrahimovic made sure of victory in the 88th minute when he was sent through on goal by Pogba's excellent long pass and the Swede drew Levchenko before coolly guiding the ball home for his seventh goal in the last six games.

So Mourinho goes through to the last 32 of a competition which has not always held much of a place in his affections.

The problem, of course, is that it will further hamper United's Premier League efforts in the second half of the season.

By then, it might also represent their best chance of a trophy — and qualification for Champions League football. Mail Online

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