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Villarreal beat Manchester United (11-10) in a thrilling penalty shootout to claim the Europa League trophy. Unai Emery's men were on the right side of a nervy penalty shootout that went all the way as all 11 players from Villarreal managed to score past David de Gea.
10 Manchester United players dispatched their penalties. Unfortunately, David de Gea's penalty was saved by Geronimo Rulli as Villarreal claimed their first ever Europa League title.
The game started off with Manchester United on the front foot. The Red Devils expectedly dominated the ball but they failed to create any clear cut chances. Against the run of play, Villarreal took the lead through talisman Gerard Moreno after he made a brilliant run to get on the end of a Dani Parejo freekick.
The second half started in similar fashion as Manchester United dominated the ball. Edinson Cavani finally scored in the 55th minute when a deflected shot from Marcus Rashord fell kindly to him.
Following the goal, Emery made some tactical changes as he made full use of his substitutes bench. Villarreal remained rigid and disciplined in their defensive shape as Manchester United once again struggled to find a way past the yellow wall.
The game went into extra time and followed a similar pattern right till the very end. Perhaps surprisingly, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made his first substitute only in the 100th minute as Manchester United started looking more and more leggy as the game progressed.
In an extraordinary penalty shootout which ended 11-10 in Villarreal's favor, all the spotkicks from outfield players found the back of the net with De Gea unfortunately seeing his spotkick saved by Ruilli.
Unai Emery once again proved to be the king of the Europa League as he masterminded the Villarreal team to glory. Speaking to reporters after the match, the Villarreal manager said:
"In the Europa League, we have been impeccable. From the very first moment. Some days we were coming at 6 am to the stadium to prepare a game for Sunday. All of this makes the journey (worthwhile),
"We were talking about enjoying these moments. In the end, you are proud to reach the title (decider), but if you don't win, you are sad. Winning is another step, an important step ahead. We do this profession for these moments. We have been able to give joy to many people."
Despite finishing second in the Premier League and reaching the Europa League final, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer refused to label the season a success. Speaking to reporters, he said:
“No, it’s not a successful season of course. That’s the fine margins in football. Sometimes one kick can decide if a season is successful or not. There has been improvement, yes, we were second in the league and nobody really expected that after the start we had and the lack of pre-season.
“The boys have been really good but just came up short tonight on penalties. Trophies matter and that’s what matters at this club, so no (it has not been a successful season).”
Without further ado, let us take a look at the:
Best Tweets from Villarreal 1 (11) -1 (10) Manchester United
