Solid defensive performance heralds Manchester United’s elimination of AC Milan

Manchester United have qualified for the quarter-finals of the Europa League after beating AC Milan 2-1 on aggregate. Following a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, the Red Devils had to do it the hard way by defeating the Rossoneri 1-0 at the San Siro.

Thursday’s second-leg encounter was a game that could have gone either way. AC Milan completely dominated the first half but just couldn’t find the net.

Much of the second half, however, belonged to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side following the introduction of Paul Pogba. The French midfielder has been out for over six weeks due to injury but he proved key on his return.

Introduced into the game at half-time, Pogba made an immediate impact and prodded home the only goal of the game after a goalmouth scramble in the Milan box.

🗣️ "Man of the Match... LINDELOF!" More reaction from @VLindelof, featuring a voice cameo from @LukeShaw23 😅#MUFC #UEL https://t.co/8rfNRg1k1y pic.twitter.com/gYjp3ac7j3

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 18, 2021

Yet another impressive clean sheet for Ole’s Red Devils

Manchester United’s elimination of AC Milan was heralded by yet another solid defensive performance. The Red Devils have often been criticized for letting in cheap goals, but they were right on top this time.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw guarded the flanks well, while Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire repelled everything that the Italian side threw at them.

Scott McTominay and Fred put in another impressive shift in midfield and Dean Henderson made several important saves to deny Milan, including a powerful header from Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the second half.

“You give yourself a chance to win a game of football [with clean sheets]. Dean [Henderson] had a fantastic save towards the end from the big lad [Zlatan Ibrahimovic] and I’m very pleased with everyone’s defending,” Solskjaer said after the game, as quoted by Manutd.com.

“From the front you see Dan James, Mason [Greenwood], Marcus [Rashford] and Bruno [Fernandes] – the front four all pressing like they did. We always know that the back six, with Scott [McTominay] and Fred and the back four, always give everything.”

United have now kept six clean sheets in their last seven games in all competitions and their defensive performances keep getting better.

11 - Dean Henderson has kept 11 clean sheets in just 18 appearances for Man Utd in all competitions this season, one more than David de Gea has registered in 29 games (10). Opportunity. pic.twitter.com/wSpt0vinaX

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 18, 2021

Manchester United in position to win Europa League

Having eliminated the threat of AC Milan, Manchester United now have no excuse but to go all the way to win the Europa League.

There are still some strong clubs in the competition like Arsenal, AS Roma and Ajax, but the Old Trafford outfit have enough quality to cut through all these teams.

It’s been almost four years since Manchester United won a major trophy and the Europa League presents the perfect opportunity for the club to end its trophy drought.

If all goes right, it could be Manchester United's first major trophy of the Solskjaer era.