Europa League wrap: Ronaldo keeps Manchester United top-16 hopes alive; Arsenal made to wait for top spot

Portugal star Ronaldo returned to the starting line-up at Old Trafford after being dropped for the draw at Chelsea following his refusal to appear as a late substitute against Tottenham.

A pair of headers from Diego Dalot and Marcus Rashford put United in control before Ronaldo wrapped up the points nine minutes from time and secured a top-two finish in Group E.

Ronaldo dropped by Man Utd for Chelsea clash after Spurs walkout

Erik ten Hag’s side must now beat leaders Real Sociedad by two goals next week to usurp the La Liga outfit at the group summit and avoid a trickier clash in the play-off knockout round.

United dominated the first half with over three-quarters of the possession while registering 13 shots on goal without reply.

Antony and Tyrell Malacia drew smart saves out of Maksym Koval, who also demonstrated brilliant reflexes to deny Ronaldo a tap-in from Bruno Fernandes’ knockdown.

The hosts were almost punished as Rasheed Ibrahim was whiskers away from connecting with Patrick Kpozo’s deep cross but they finally broke through in the dying moments of the opening period as Dalot powered home Christian Eriksen’s inviting corner.

Ronaldo went close to doubling the lead when he fired narrowly over in the 58th minute before his close-range volley was disallowed for offside.

United did establish breathing space seven minutes later as a patient build-up culminated in Rashford brilliantly heading home Luke Shaw’s centre to end a five-match scoreless streak.

Ronaldo was not to be denied and put the icing on the cake with nine minutes remaining, firing home at the second attempt after Koval had parried his initial header from Fernandes’ cross.

Earlier, Cody Gakpo and Xavi Simons both had first-half goals disallowed as Arsenal struggled, but PSV finally hit the front when Veerman picked out the top-right corner after the break.

De Jong was outstanding following his half-time introduction, and he got himself on the scoresheet by beating Aaron Ramsdale to a corner delivery as Arsenal crumbled.

The result saw PSV seal their own place in the knockout stage, also keeping alive their chances of usurping Arsenal for top spot.

Arsenal were warned of PSV’s intentions when Gakpo lifted a cool finish over Ramsdale 18 minutes in, only to be denied by the offside flag. The uninspired Gunners required another reprieve as half-time approached.

Simons somehow squirmed through several challenges before prodding past Ramsdale, but a VAR review spotted an offside in the build-up to halt the hosts’ celebrations.

However, Arsenal’s luck finally ran out nine minutes after the restart, when Veerman took advantage of De Jong’s excellent hold-up play to fire home left-footed.

Mikel Arteta’s men struggled to cope with De Jong throughout the second half, and he made sure of the points when he beat Ramsdale to Gakpo’s corner with a firm header shortly after the hour mark. Gakpo saw another goal chalked off for offside and De Jong went close with two more headers, but PSV still cruised to victory.

(With Agency inputs)

ICC T20 World Cup 2022 Predictions

Match 27 – October 29 2022, 01:30 PM

New Zealand

Sri Lanka

Predict Now