Manchester United defeated Omonia Nicosia 1-0 in the Europa League on Thursday after more than 90 minutes of battling.
Despite fielding a strong lineup, manager Erik ten Hag’s substitute, Scott McTominay, scored the game-winning goal in stoppage time.
In addition to being embarrassing, a draw against Omonia Nicosia at home would have almost assured Manchester United of placing second in Group E of the Europa League. After that, they would have played a team advancing from the Champions League, either Barcelona, Milan, or Juventus, in a round of the final 32.
Scott McTominay’s victory in the last seconds of stoppage time will therefore be appreciated by Erik ten Hag.
One of Ten Hag’s replacement players entered the game and scored for the fourth straight game. This time, it was McTominay who scored the goal from 6 yards out despite only entering the game nine minutes before the end.
In addition to sparing United’s face, it also gives Ten Hag’s team a chance to win their group and advance directly to the round of 16 in the coming season. Real Sociedad currently leads the group with a three-point advantage thanks to their victory at Old Trafford in September, but United must still travel to San Sebastian for the group’s final match.
Considering that United had 34 shots on goal against Omonia, it should have been much easier, but in the end, the only thing that counted was the outcome, and McTominay was in the right spot at the right time.
In his pregame press conference, the Dutchman promised that his team will fight “all out” to defeat Omonia, and the manager delivered.
With Newcastle, Tottenham, and Chelsea coming up for United starting on Sunday, Ten Hag resisted the need to rotate his team and instead chose David De Gea, Lisandro Martinez, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, and Cristiano Ronaldo to face the Cypriot team. McTominay, who was suspended against Newcastle for receiving five Premier League yellow cards, appeared destined to start, but Ten Hag chose to start Casemiro instead. Casemiro is expected to play again on Sunday.
When it would have been simple to keep one eye on a challenging stretch of league games, Ten Hag supported his message against Omonia that United are not yet good enough to look beyond the next game with his side selection.
Even though Ten Hag made United work harder than they would have wanted, they still managed to earn three points in the end. Ten Hag isn’t taking the Europa League lightly. Rashford in particular could have been more effective, but he might believe that missing opportunities against Omonia are preferable to failing to convert against Newcastle on Sunday.
Omonia’s top player, Fabiano, was sidelined due to a chest injury, but Francis Uzoho filled in well. Uzoho hasn’t had an easy year; he was held accountable for Nigeria’s loss in the World Cup after allowing a goal when playing for Nigeria against Ghana in March. That was a bad point, but his performance at Old Trafford was the complete opposite.
Rushing out to stop Rashford, the 23-year-old made an early save, but that was only the beginning. Just 12 seconds into the second half, he made a stunning double save to stop Rashford and Antony from scoring. He had already pushed a Casemiro piledriver into the crossbar.
13 of the 34 shots Uzoho faced on goal were on goal, yet it took until the 93rd minute after a scramble in the penalty area for Uzoho to be defeated. He didn’t deserve to be on the losing team, and after the game ended, he was so disappointed that Omonia’s coaching staff had to help him up off the ground. Even so, playing in front of a sold-out Old Trafford crowd and a boisterous traveling fan base was a night he won’t soon forget.
