Manchester United vs. Saint-Etienne: Score, Reaction to 2017 Europa League Match
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a hat-trick for Manchester United on Thursday, as the Red Devils grabbed a 3-0 win over Saint-Etienne during the first leg of their 2016-17 UEFA Europa League tie.
Ibrahimovic opened the scoring via a deflected free-kick in the first half, and he added a second goal after the break. Saint-Etienne more than held their own for large stretches of the match, but the hosts showed their quality as time wore on. A third goal followed, all but ending the tie as a contest.
As shared by Bleacher Report UK, brothers Paul and Florentin Pogba, the former for United, started on Thursday:
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Sergio Romero and Marouane Fellaini came into the United team, replacing David De Gea and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The Red Devils had a shaky start to the match, with two big mistakes in quick succession. First, Eric Bailly had to recover after giving the ball away cheaply before Romain Hamouma caught the defence napping and almost opened the scoring from a tight angle.
Juan Mata played a clever ball into the path of Fellaini, who thought he had scored after seven minutes but had the goal negated by an offside call. Just two minutes later, Anthony Martial put compatriot Stephane Ruffier to work for the first time with a shot from long range.
United didn't show much in terms of attacking early, but Ibrahimovic gave his side the lead after 14 minutes with a free-kick that took a major deflection off the wall. Per ESPN FC's Jonathan Johnson, Les Verts must be growing tired of seeing the Swede:
Saint-Etienne improved after the setback, and as the half wore on, the visitors started creating more and more danger. Ander Herrera was kept busy, while Fellaini too often didn't feature in the midfield battles at all.
Mata went very close to doubling the lead after 25 minutes, but Ruffier made a great diving save to keep out his volley. On the other side of the pitch, Bailly took the sting out of a dangerous attack with a powerful header.
Henri Saivet went close for the visitors, poking the ball on the wrong side of the post, and Martial and Ibrahimovic both failed to put the ball away after a great counter, with Ruffier again intervening.
Vincent Pajot tested Romero and Hamouma had another shot blocked by Bailly, as Saint-Etienne finished the half on top but couldn't break through United's defence.
Per OptaJoe, the stats showed just how little Les Verts did with their chances:
Martial started the second half by getting carded for striking with a loose arm, and Ibrahimovic thought he had bagged a second goal, only to see the linesman raise his flag.
Paul Pogba fired a volley over the crossbar and Martial nearly scored a beauty, surging past several defenders before finding Ruffier in his path. Antonio Valencia was the next man to go close, with United grabbing all the momentum, and Ruffier made yet another save on Pogba.
Things got more physical as the half wore on, and a number of players were booked in quick succession. The chances kept piling up as well, and Paul Pogba hit the crossbar, as he got unlucky with his finishing.
On the other side of the pitch, substitute Nolan Roux nearly shocked Old Trafford, as he tried to chip Romero and came very close to equalising. Sports writer Andrew Gibney couldn't help himself:
And just two minutes later, Saint-Etienne rued the miss even more. Marcus Rashford did the hard work, creating a chance with his dribbling and serving a perfect pass up for Ibrahimovic, who doubled his tally.
United continued their momentum, with Jesse Lingard firing narrowly wide. Saivet couldn't beat Romero on back-to-back free-kicks, and Kevin Theophile-Catherine completed Les Verts' dreadful match by fouling Ibrahimovic inside the penalty area.
The Swede converted the spot-kick himself, giving him a hat-trick. Per OptaJoe, it was his first for the Red Devils:
Per the club's official Twitter account, Ibrahimovic told MUTV he was mainly happy to get a good result in the first leg:
United's next outing will be an FA Cup match against Blackburn on Sunday, while Saint-Etienne play Montpellier in Ligue 1 on Sunday.
