Manchester dumped out of Europa League
Reuters - Thursday 15 March 2012, 23:48
The
Manchester clubs' wretched continental seasons ended on Thursday
as outclassed United and battling City suffered contrasting
Europa League last-16 exits to an exhilarating Athletic Bilbao
and a fortunate Sporting respectively.
While the failure of the Premier League title rivals to
progress means the end of English representation, Spain has
three sides in Friday's draw for the quarter and semi-finals
with Atletico Madrid and Valencia joining Bilbao.
United and City had parachuted into the second-tier
competition after group-stage exits from the Champions League
and boasted much bigger resources than their conquerors. But the
manner of the exits could not have been more different.
United, who this time last year were well on their way to
the Champions League final, were outplayed in both legs by
Bilbao, losing 2-1 in Spain and 5-3 overall.
City clawed their way back from 2-0 down on the night with
three goals in the last half-hour to win 3-2 at home to Sporting
but went out on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate result.
Their recovery was at Eastlands was breathtaking as two
goals by Sergio Aguero and a Mario Balotelli penalty put them on
the verge of a remarkable comeback.
A fairytale ending was millimetres away when goalkeeper Joe
Hart's header whizzed just wide in the last minute of stoppage-time after his opposite number Rui Patricio tipped it past the
far post.
In the end, first-half goals from Matias Fernandez and Ricky
van Wolfswinkel were enough for Sporting after their 1-0
first-leg win as City were left contemplating the two very
different performances they had given either side of the break.
"It was really a strange game," defender Kolo Toure told
ESPN. "I think we gave it [our] all. Joe had a great header at
the end and it's a very unlucky day for us."
Manager Roberto Mancini had been left angrily shaking his
head when Balotelli, the villain of City's departure at the same
stage last season when he was sent off against Dynamo Kiev,
needlessly gave away the free-kick that led to the opener.
But while Mancini said he was disappointed at yet another
example of the Italian striker's ill discipline, he did not
blame him for the defeat this time.
"It is not his fault we lost this game, I'm the manager,
it's my fault," he said.
City's verve was not mirrored by a poor United who were
undone by a stunning first-half volley from Fernando Llorente
and a deflected strike from Oscar de Marcos.
DAMAGE DONE
United forward Wayne Rooney scored a superb 80th-minute
consolation goal but the damage was already done as the
enthusiasm and skill of La Liga's seventh-placed side proved too
much for the English champions.
"I don't think we can complain," United manager Sir Alex
Ferguson told Channel Five television. "There are always lessons
in every football match whether you win or lose."
"It's the disappointment more than anything that we haven't
progressed in the Champions League and we're out of the Europa
League now."
While the two English clubs are left to give their undivided
attention to domestic matters, the European adventure continues
for others including Germany's Hannover 96 who beat Standard
Liege 4-0 for a 6-2 aggregate win.
AZ Alkmaar also progressed despite being reduced to 10 men
after two minutes when Nick Viergever was sent off and going two
goals behind in the first quarter-of-an-hour at Udinese.
The Dutch side pulled a goal back on the half-hour through
Erik Falkenburg and missed a second-half penalty before losing
2-1 on the night and squeezing through 3-2 on aggregate.
Schalke 04 also made the quarter-finals having overhauled a
first-leg deficit to beat Twente Enschede 4-1 on Thursday and
4-2 overall thanks to a hat-trick from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
It was also an exciting night in Greece where Metalist
Kharkiv beat Olympiakos 2-1 to go through on away goals with a
2-2 aggregate draw.
Metalist's Marko Devic had missed a 78th-minute penalty that
looked like costing them the tie before making amends eight
minutes later to grab the goal that put them through.
Atletico Madrid had a much smoother ride in a 6-1 aggregate
win over Besiktas after a 3-0 win in Turkey courtesy of goals
from Adrian, Radamel Falcao and Eduardo Salvio.
Fellow La Liga side Valencia drew 1-1 at PSV Eindhoven to go
through 5-3 overall.