Europa League, Manchester United thrash Real Sociedad 4-0: Records broken
Manchester United claimed a comprehensive victory over Real Sociedad in their Europa League round of 32 (first leg) on Thursday. With a 4-0 win away from home, United have virtually booked their spot in the round of 16. Due to travel restrictions in Spain, the match took place in Turin, which meant Sociedad lost the home advantage. Here is more.
United opened the scoring in the 27th minute as defender Robin Le Normand set it up for Fernandes, who tapped into an empty net. Fernandes made it 2-0 in the second half (57th minute). The goal was initially ruled out for offside, but a VAR review overruled the original decision. While Rashford handed United a third goal, Daniel James scored the winner for them.
As per Opta, Manchester United recorded the biggest away victory by an English side against a Spanish opponent in the UEFA Cup/Europa League. The win surpassed Newcastle United's 3-0 victory at Mallorca back in March 2004.
Bruno Fernandes, who opened the scoring for United, has scored more Europa League goals (10) than Benfica's Pizzi (9) since the start of last season. Seven of them have come in the ongoing campaign. He has been directly involved in 52 goals across all competitions for United (33 goals, 19 assists), 10 more than any other PL player since his debut (February 2020).
Fernandes has now scored eight goals across all European competitions for United, since his European debut for the club. Only Romelu Lukaku (11) has netted more. Meanwhile, Rashford has scored seven goals in European competition this season for United (excluding qualifiers). This is the most by an Englishman in a season for the Red Devils since Bobby Charlton (eight in the 1964/65 Fairs Cup).
