MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) -Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes scored a last-gasp winner to secure a 2-1 victory over Rangers in the Europa League group stage at Old Trafford on Thursday.
The win lifted United to fourth in the standings on 15 points going into the last round of matches and in a strong position to reach the knockout phase.
United dominated the early stages with Argentine striker Alejandro Garnacho firing in a couple of good shots and the hosts thought they had taken the lead when Matthijs de Ligt headed home from a corner, but the goal was disallowed due to a foul by Leny Yoro on Rangers defender Davy Propper.
Rangers also posed a threat and a long-range attempt from Hamza Igamane was brilliantly saved by United goalkeeper Altay Bayındır.
The deadlock was broken early in the second half when Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland misjudged Christian Eriksen’s corner and sent the ball into his own net.
Substitute Cyril Dessers gave the visitors real hope of a point two minutes from time when he latched onto James Tavernier’s superb through ball and unleashed an unstoppable left-footed shot into the far corner of the net.
Rangers joy was short-lived, however, as Fernandes struck in stoppage time to seal his side’s fourth successive victory in the competition, with former manager Alex Ferguson celebrating in the stands.
“I think we started well and then we lost control of the game because of some bad decisions but the lads did well,” United manager Ruben Amorim told TNT Sports.
“We are not playing our best but we regrouped from the last game. I know the opponent is different. It wasn’t as fast. You can see the connections. I think we need to be more clinical in the right moments because that can help us a lot,” he added.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico, editing by Ed Osmond)
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