Manchester United came from behind to beat Barcelona 2-1 and book their place in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals. Second-half strikes from Fred and Antony were enough to overturn Robert Lewandowski’s early penalty to seal an impressive comeback and a 4-3 aggregate victory.Barcelona have been fantastic in defence this season. They conceded just seven goals in 22 La Liga games, but they let in four goals in just a week when pitted against the rejuvenated Red Devils. Xavi’s team is now out of European competition!United seemed to have lacked the energy to repeat the kind of performance they had delivered a week earlier at Camp Nou. Despite an encouraging start, the game quickly started to unravel for Erik Ten Hag’s side.With 15 minutes gone, United’s captain Bruno Fernandes needlessly pulled Balde to the ground and French referee Clement Turpin pointed to the spot. Despite strong protests, the decision stood.Head and shoulders above the competition! Harambee Star’s brace puts Al-Duhail into the AFC Champions League semisLewandowski did his usual dance during the run-up and fired a penalty to David De Gea’s left. The Spaniard guessed well and even got his hand to the ball, but the shot was too strong to keep out and the Catalans were 3-2 ahead on aggregate.The second half brought a significant turn in momentum in favour of the home team and it took them no time at all to level. Ten Hag brought Antony on, but it was another Brazilian who found the net. Midfielder Fred beat Marc-Andre Ter Stegen with a slightly miskicked first-time shot from the edge of the area. It ended up in the net so Fred didn’t care – we were back at the beginning.MANCHESTER UNITED KNOCK BARCELONA OUT OF THE EUROPA LEAGUE 💥 pic.twitter.com/3DzC3Xa5ny— GOAL (@goal) February 23, 2023 With 20 minutes to go, Luke Shaw started a move on the left that saw United players try two shots – and both of them were blocked. However, the ball bounced kindly for Antony to steer a lovely left-footed volley into the far corner to give the Red Devils the lead. Old Trafford erupted!Ten Hag’s men held on until the end to seal a win that will be remembered a long time in Manchester.UEFA EUROPA LEAGUEPlay-off – second legThursdayNantes – Juventus 0-3 (0-2) (first leg: 1-1)/Di Maria 5, 20 pen, 78/Monaco – Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 (1-2) (first leg: 3-2)/Ben Yedder 19 pen, Embolo 84 – Wirtz 13, Palacios 21, Adli 58/Midrjylland – Sporting 0-4 (0-1) (first leg: 1-1)/Coates 21, Goncalves 50, 77, Gartenmann 85 og/PSV – Sevilla 2-0 (0-0) (first leg: 0-3)/De Jong 77, Silva 90+5/Roma – Salzburg 2-0 (2-0)/Belotti 33, Dybala 40/Manchester United – Barcelona 2-1 (0-1)/Fred 47, Antony 73 – Lewandowski 18 pen/Rennes – Shakhtar 1-0 (0-0)/Toko Ekambi 52/Union Berlin – Ajax 3-1 (2-0)/Knoche 20 pen, Juranovic 44, Doekhi 50 – Kudus 47/
