MANCHESTER: Teenage striker Marcus Rashford enhanced his reputation by stepping up in the absence of the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic to steer Manchester United into the Europa League semifinals with an extra-time winner against Anderlecht.
Showing coolness beyond his years, Rashford deceived two defenders in the penalty area with a Cruyff turn and slotted home a shot in the 107th minute to give United a 2-1 win at Old Trafford.
United advanced 3-2 on aggregate to join Lyon, Ajax and Celta Vigo in the last four, after a tension-filled night of quarterfinal second legs in Europe's second-tier continental club competition.
The Europa League was the competition in which Rashford made his senior breakthrough last season, scoring twice on debut against FC Midtjylland as an 18-year-old unknown. He's now an England international and one of the hottest prospects in European soccer.
Rashford may have to take on the mantle of being United's chief striker for the last month of the season after Ibrahimovic hobbled off in the final minutes of normal time after hyperextending his right knee on landing, having chested down a long ball into the area.
The Swedish striker appeared to be in pain and held his head in his hands as he was being treated.
"Fairly negative," Mourinho said of injuries to Ibrahimovic and center back Marcos Rojo, who went off injured in the first half.
There is barely a month left in Ibrahimovic's first season at United, and he is yet to commit to another year.
With the teams level at 1-1 after the first leg in Belgium last week, Henrikh Mkhitaryan put United ahead on aggregate with a 10th-minute strike at Old Trafford only for Sofiane Hanni to equalize in the 31st.
The draw for the Europa League semifinals takes place Friday.
Here's a look at how the other quarterfinal matches turned out:
BESIKTAS 2, LYON 1 (3-3 on aggregate, Lyon advanced 7-6 on penalties):
Lyon's players held their nerve to beat Besiktas in a tense penalty shootout.
The first 12 spot kicks were clinically struck, before Dusko Tosic had a penalty saved for Besiktas and right back Christophe Jallet blazed over for Lyon.
Besiktas center back Matej Mitrovic then missed for the home side, and Lyon made no mistake with its second chance to go through when club captain Maxime Gonalons converted.
In an exciting game played at a relentless pace, Brazilian forward Talisca scored twice either side of striker Alexandre Lacazette's brilliant finish.
Last week's match was marred by widespread fighting among rival fans inside and outside the stadium, leading to both teams being given suspended one-season bans from European competition. There was no repeat of the trouble in Istanbul.
Lyon advanced to its third European semifinal, after reaching the last four of the Champions League in 2010 and the now-defunct European Cup Winners' Cup in 1964.
SCHALKE 3, AJAX 2 (Ajax advances 4-3 on aggregate):N This was the third quarterfinal to go to extra time, with Ajax advancing following late goals by Nick Viergever and Amin Younes and reaching it first European semifinal since 1997.
Trailing 2-0 after the first leg, Schalke scored twice in four minutes early in the second half through Leon Goretzka and Guido Burgstaller to take the game to extra time.
Daniel Caligiuri's header in the 101st put Schalke — the 1997 champion when the competition was called the UEFA Cup — in front, but Ajax finished stronger.
GENK 1, CELTA VIGO 1 (Celta advances 4-3 on aggregate):
Celta stayed on course to extend Spain's domination of this competition by advancing to a semifinal of a top European club competition for the first time.
Sisto completed a driving run with a stunning strike to put Celta 1-0 up on the night and leave Genk needing two goals to advance on away goals.
Leandro Trossard scored one of them in the 68th but Celta held on.
Sevilla and Atletico Madrid have won the Europa League or UEFA Cup seven times in the past 11 years.
Rashford steers Man United into Europa League semifinals
Rashford steers Man United into Europa League semifinals
Inoue, Nakatani aim to set up a showdown in Riyadh’s ‘Night of the Samurai’
TOKYO: Japanese boxing will be center-stage in Saudi Arabia on Dec. 27 when Riyadh hosts “The Ring V: Night of the Samurai,” with two undefeated champions – INOUE Naoya and NAKATANI Junto – likely to set up a Japanese blockbuster in 2026.
The Night of the Samurai will feature several Japanese boxers in world title fights, highlighted by the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Inoue, who will face off against Mexico’s Alan Picasso, 25, for the 32-year-old Inoue’s unified super-bantamweight belts. Both fighters are undefeated. Inoue has won 31 fights with 27 knockouts, while Picasso has 32 victories and one draw with 17 knockouts.
Nakatani (310, 24 KOs), the unified bantamweight champion, will make his super bantamweight debut against Mexico’s Sebastian Hernandez Reyes (200, 18 KOs), a 24yearold rising star. A win by Nakatani is likely to set up a showdown with Inoue at the Tokyo Dome in May next year.
On the undercard, Willibaldo Garcia will face former world flyweight champion TERAJI Kenshiro for the IBF super-flyweight title; IMANAGA Taiga will meet Armando Martinez in a lightweight bout; and TSUTSUMI Reito will fight Leobardo Quintana in a super-featherweight bout.
The WBA super-featherweight world title fight between TSUTSUMI Hayato and champion Jazza Dickens was canceled because Tsutsumi suffered a facial fracture during a sparring session.
The boxing event is part of the Riyadh Season of cultural, entertainment and sporting events, which is part of the larger Saudi Seasons initiative in support of Saudi Vision 2030.
Saudi Arabia has placed itself at the forefront of boxing promotion in recent years, staging massive title fights and non-title fights such as Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz, Tyson Fury vs. former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, Deontay Wilder against Zhilei Zhang, and Oleksandr Usyk vs.Joshua.
Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, has become the most visible boxing promoter in the world and is one of the most influential figures in boxing. The Night of the Samurai will enable him to make his mark in Japan, which has a strong boxing culture.
“Riyadh Season in Saudi Arabia is only going to grow in importance for boxing,” Inoue told Japanese media. The undefeated champion described Alalshikh as “a boxing fan who truly loves the sport.”
Inoue and Riyadh Season inked a $20 million sponsorship deal a year ago and the fight in Riyadh gives the promoter a massive boost in viewership in Japan.
“Fighting in Saudi Arabia for the first time is motivating for me,” Inoue was quoted as saying. “I’ll enter the fight with a fresh mindset. It’s a little different from fighting in Japan, and there are unknowns, but I’m excited.”
