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A penalty from Bruno Fernandes in extra-time capped off a taxing 1-0 victory for Manchester United as they sealed a spot in the Europa League semifinals. They had to grind out the win against a well-drilled Copenhagen side, who assembled their share of chances but ran short of ideas towards the end.
Copenhagen were the team piling pressure on their opponent early on, even though it was expected to be one-way traffic in favour of Manchester United.
They were the side in ascendancy, having managed to pounce on errors made by Manchester United players and create clear-cut opportunities.
The Danish giants mustered a slew of good chances in the opening exchanges of the game, hurrying the Red Devils and surprising them with how well they kept hold of the ball.
While fingers were being pointed at Fred for his lack of concentration, Manchester United fans expressed how much they were missing Nemanja Matic in the middle.
Manchester United are often at their brutal best when the front three gel and operate together, and that was not the case as until the 40th minute, only Sergio Romero had fewer touches (9) than Greenwood. (12)
The youngster got on the scoresheet emphatically just before the half-time whistle, only for his strike to be chalked off by a VAR intervention.
Solskjaer's troops sprung to life in the second-half and began to work spaces easily as compared to the first phase of the game, but somehow failed to add to the score line.
Fernandes tested Karl-Johan Johnsson many a time in this period, even smashing the left post with an absolute pile-driver that had the keeper beaten all ends up. Copenhagen did not shy away either, turning the match-up into an end-to-end affair.
Despite all the attempts to break the deadlock, neither side came up with the all-important strike.
Bruno Fernandes finally broke Copenhagen's bubble with a well-taken penalty, after Martial was hauled down by Andreas Bjelland. It was yet another spot-kick for the English giants this season, but little did they care.
In what ended as a gritty, closely contested match, Manchester United's quality and ability to drive into the box stood out. One of the favourites to win the title, the Red Devils will now prepare for the semifinals against either Sevilla or fellow EPL side Wolves.
A lot of credit went to Copenhagen shot-stopper Johnsson, who was arguably the man of the match for saves one could run out of objectives to describe.
