Saint-Etienne vs. Manchester United: Score, Reaction from Europa League Leg 2

Manchester United cruised to the round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League on Wednesday, beating AS Saint-Etienne 1-0 in the second leg of their tie to take the aggregate score to 4-0.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored early to all but end the tie as a contest, but the Armenian exited the pitch with an injury. Eric Bailly was sent off, meaning he'll be suspended for the first leg of United's next Europa League match in the round of 16.

As shared by the club's official Twitter account, United manager Jose Mourinho didn't take any risks with his starting XI, including stars like Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic:

The 3-0 result in the first leg meant Saint-Etienne were unlikely to pull off a miracle upset, but Les Verts still started on a positive note, with Sergio Romero forced to undercut a dangerous cross from Kevin Malcuit.

Jordan Veretout did just enough to deny Pogba the chance to shoot, and he made a similar intervention on Mkhitaryan after another smart move.

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The Red Devils dominated possession in the opening stages, with Pogba and Mkhitaryan being very involved. Saint-Etienne clung on, but the resistance only lasted 16 minutes. Juan Mata cut inside before playing a fine cross into the box, and Mkhitaryan was there to turn it home.

Sports writer Liam Canning loved how the two and Anthony Martial have progressed as a unit:

Saint-Etienne now had to score five goals in order to progress to the next round—virtually an impossible task. To their credit, the hosts didn't lie down, and instead they started attacking in search of a consolation goal.

That in turn created even more space for the visitors. Stephane Ruffier had to be alert to keep the ball out after a dangerous attempt from Mata bounced off several players.

There was some bad news for the Red Devils after 26 minutes when scorer Mkhitaryan left the pitch with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, per Goal's Kris Voakes:

With the EFL Cup final against Southampton on the schedule for Sunday, the last thing United needed was to lose a top contributor in a tie they already seemed to have won.

Pogba clumsily had the ball stolen and Romain Hamouma almost turned the opportunity into some real danger, but United's defence dealt with the problem well. At the other end of the pitch, Ashley Young nearly teed up both Mata and Marcus Rashford.

Laurent Cipriani/Associated Press

Veretout had a shot blocked, and Robert Beric just couldn't get on the end of a good cross. Loic Perrin perhaps should have scored when United forgot to mark him during a free-kick, but his header was aimed straight at Sergio Romero.

Ibrahimovic powered a shot over the crossbar, and Romero left his line quickly enough to deny a counter, before the official whistled for half-time in France. During the break, WhoScored.com took a look at the challenge for Les Verts:

Saint-Etienne attacked with crosses and set pieces to start the second half, and United responded with counters. Malcuit did well to stop Rashford during one of those breaks, but more goals seemed to be coming.

Hamouma slipped just as he tried to launch a free-kick, blasting over, and Pogba too struggled with the pitch. Marouane Fellaini didn't seem to have such issues, and the Belgian hit a shot into the side netting from a promising position.

United were in full control, but in the span of three minutes, things changed. Bailly completely lost his head, running into two yellow cards in quick succession. Sports writer Liam Canning didn't understand why he kept lunging into tackles:

"

Eric Bailly's first bad game for Manchester United when it was completely unnecessary. Needs to cut out those silly lunges.

— Liam Canning (@LiamPaulCanning) February 22, 2017"

Mourinho immediately took off Mata in favour of Marcos Rojo, hoping to preserve the clean sheet. Les Verts found renewed energy, and Hamouma immediately pushed the advantage, firing a shot straight at Romero.

Chris Smalling handled the ball to give away another free-kick, but the hosts couldn't turn the chance into a goal. Florentin Pogba tried his luck with a volley, pulling the ball wide, and his brother had a header cleared from a corner.

Rashford couldn't work the ball past Ruffier, who did a great job denying the youngster from close range, and Ibrahimovic couldn't find the target with a volley. Vincent Pajot didn't have better luck, as his strike also flew wide.

Bastian Schweinsteiger and Rashford both wasted more chances to add to the lead, but the score remained 1-0.

United's next outing will be the EFL Cup final against Southampton on Sunday.