Manchester United had to work hard before reaching the Europa
League semi-finals after Bruno Fernandes scored from the
penalty spot in the 95th minute to lead his team to a 1-0 victory
over Copenhagen after extra time.
United, who won the tournament in 2017, are meeting the
winner of the Sevilla match and Wolverhampton Wanderers
to reserve a place in the final after overtaking their stubborn
Danish opponent in a fun match in the quarter-finals.
Sevilla, who have claimed a record five European League titles,
will play Wolverhampton on Tuesday while Shakhtar Donetsk,
who won the title in 2009, will meet Basel.
Inter Milan also secured qualification for the semi-finals after
beating Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 in another quarter-final match,
all of whose competitions are held in a one-match fashion in Germany.
Copenhagen dominated the first half and missed several
opportunities in light of the struggles of the United defense
in dealing with Mohamed Drami and Jonas Wind.
United thought they had scored before the break after a powerful
shot from Mason Greenwood, but the referee canceled the goal
after resorting to the VAR referee for offside.
United improved a lot in the second half, and created a lot of
chances, although Wind almost scored for the Danish team.
The goal frame returned the ball twice from Fernandez and
Greenwood, Marcus Rashford scored a goal that was canceled
by the referee due to offside and Carl-Johan Johnson, the Danish
goalkeeper, shone, bringing the two teams to extra time.
Fernandes decided the match with a penalty kick awarded by
the referee in favor of Anthony Martial, who was denied several
chances by the goalkeeper, after he fell into the area after
interference from defender Andreas Beland.
Copenhagen tried to equalize in the last quarter of an hour
of extra time, but United’s defense, which seemed shaken
throughout the match, held together to secure the team’s place
in the semi-final.
