Manchester United survived an embarrassing outing again as they managed to overcome an early deficit to beat Omonia Nicosia 3-2 in the Europa League on Thursday.
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At half-time, United fell behind to a goal on the counterattack by Iran striker Karim Ansarifard in the 34th minute.
Job done in Nicosia! ✔#MUFC || #UEL
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 6, 2022
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Ansarifard delivered a muted celebration after his goal. It appeared to be in line with silent protests by Iranian players at a recent World Cup warmup game in Austria, amid weeks of demonstrations and a violent crackdown by state authorities back home in Iran following the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of the morality police.
However, manager Erik ten Hag’s double substitution in the second half saved the humiliation for the Manchester United. Marcus Rashford equalized in the 53rd with a curling shot from just inside the area before he produced a deft flick to fellow replacement Anthony Martial, who cut inside and shot low inside the near post in the 63rd.
💭 How can United avoid repeating the first-half mistakes from tonight’s win?
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Erik has the answer 👇#MUFC || #UEL
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 6, 2022
Cristiano Ronaldo, who had a rare start for United and struck the post from close range before driving in a cross that Rashford converted for his second goal in the 84th.
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Aresenal cruise past Bodø/Glimt
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Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal registered a second a straight win after producing a complete perfromance against Norwegian team Bodø/Glimt 3-0 at home. Eddie Nketiah and Rob Holding scored in the opening half hour.
💪 Big team performance
😍 COME ON ARSENAL!
🔴 3-0 🟡 (FT) pic.twitter.com/OCjGTgOU2G
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 6, 2022
Arsenal took the lead game after 23 minutes when Kieran Tierney’s shot from the left rebounded off the post back into the box, where Eddie Nketiah tapped it in.
Arsenal doubled the lead five minutes later when Rob Holding coolly headed Fabio Vieira’s cross into the net. Glimt had more of the game in the second half, creating half-chances with Amahl Pellegrino seeing his low shot superbly saved by keeper Matt Turner in the 57th minute.
Substitute Gabriel Jesus then set up the third by dancing his way through defenders along the byline before feeding Fabio Vieira for a simple finish in the 85th.
UECL: West Ham beat Anderlecht
Gianluca Scamacca’s 79th minute goal gave West Ham an 1-0 win over Anderlecht in the Europa Conference League. It was West Ham’s third straight win.
Victory in Brussels! ⚒️ pic.twitter.com/5tMxgLLSc6
— West Ham United (@WestHam) October 6, 2022
The win also took West Ham a step nearer to qualifying for the Europa Conference League knockouts.
The match was evenly-poised and was looking to go towards goalless draw. With 20 minutes to go, David Moyes made triple substitution. He introduced captain Declan Rice, as well as recent new signings Paqueta and Scamacca in attack.
And it took Paqueta and Scamacca less than 10 minutes to team up for the winning goal as the Brazil international’s clever flick released Scamacca on goal and from a tight angle, the Italian found the bottom left-hand corner of the net with pinpoint accuracy.
But the Hammers owed their victory to a sensational reflex save from Alphonse Areola, who somehow managed to keep out Fabio Silva’s 84th-minute close-range header when it seemed certain the on-loan Wolverhampton Wanderers striker would level matters.
