Odion Ighalo’s record of scoring in every start for Manchester United came to an end as he drew a blank in their Europa League last-16 second-leg come-from-behind victory over LASK Linz in an empty Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Ighalo had scored five times in four previous starts including in the 5-0 thrashing of the Austrians in the first leg but couldn’t continue his streak as goals from Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial cancelled out Phillip Wiesinger shock opener to help the Red Devils to a 7-1 aggregate victory.
United will play FC Copenhagen in the last eight in Cologne on 10 August after the Danish side beat Turkish champions Istanbul Basaksehir 3-0 in the early kickoff to progress 3-1 on aggregate.
A lacklustre and lethargic United struggled to string meaningful passes together or create any chance of note, failing to hit a shot on target in a poor first half.
But the home side were stung into action after the visitors took the lead when Wiesinger curled a beautiful effort past the despairing dive of Sergio Romero from outside the box in the 55th minute.
Ighalo had spurned an excellent chance to put the Red Devils ahead moments earlier but he could only hit a tame effort straight at the goalie following lovely inter-play with Juan Mata.
LASK’s lead lasted just two minutes though before Lingard levelled matters from a Mata through ball. It was the Englishman’s second goal in as many games after he scored in the last league game of the season against Leicester.
Substitute Anthony Martial then secured victory for the Red Devils two minutes from time, squeezing an effort past the goalkeeper after he’d bamboozled two defenders with fancy footwork.
Having already secured Champions League football with a third-place finish in the league, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would hope to round off the season by lifting the trophy.
Elsewhere, Shakhtar Donetsk also progressed with a 3-0 win over Wolfsburg in Kyiv, confirming a 5-1 aggregate win.
The Ukrainian champions will now play either Basel or Eintracht Frankfurt in their quarter-final tie in Gelsenkirchen on 11 August.
Romelu Lukaku scored his 30th goal of the season and Christian Eriksen was also on target as Inter Milan beat Getafe 2-0 in their last-16 one-off tie in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, after the first leg was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Inter will face either Bayer Leverkusen or Rangers in the final eight, with the German side leading 3-1 on aggregate.
Inter have reached the quarter-final of a major European competition for the first time since the 2010-11 Champions League and Lukaku’s strike means the Belgian has now scored in his last eight Europa League matches, equalling former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer’s record in the competition formerly known as the Uefa Cup.
