Manchester United is seeking its first trophy under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, while Villarreal is in search of its first major European trophy ever as the two sides meet in the UEFA Europa League final in Gdańsk, Poland.
Aftera series of semifinal failures in cup competition under Solskjaer, Man United arrived at Wednesday's final in sensational fashion by routing Roma 8–5 on aggregate in the previous round. Villarreal, coached by three-time Europa League-winning manager Unai Emery, held off Arsenal in a more finely poised semifinal, emerging as a 2–1 aggregate winner.
After a series of semifinal failures in cup competition under Solskjaer, Man United arrived at Wednesday's final in sensational fashion by routing Roma 8–5 on aggregate in the previous round. Villarreal, coached by three-time Europa League-winning manager Unai Emery, held off Arsenal in a more finely poised semifinal, emerging as a 2–1 aggregate winner.
Tottenham loanee Juan Foyth took a nasty blow to the head when he rolled over the ball and fell into Paul Pogba's knee in the 10th minute. The stretcher came out in fear of a head injury, but Foyth re-entered the game with a bandaged head and bloody nose minutes later.
Luke Shaw gave United a sterling chance in the 20th minute with a scintillating low cross into the box that simply needed a redirect to log the first goal, but it fizzled just out of reach of two United attackers and out of play.
Carlos Bacca looked to give the Yellow Submarine the lead in style in the 23rd minute with a Rabona cross to an open Manu Trigueros, but the ball was just behind enough to throw off the midfielder's balance as his header soared over the bar. But Villarreal struck the first blow just before the half-hour mark, courtesy of talisman Gerard Moreno. The Spaniard equaled the club's goalscoring record with his 82nd goal and 30th of the season, latching onto a free-kick cross from Dani Parejo at the back post and turning it past David De Gea for the 1-0 lead. The goal gives Moreno the joint-lead in Europa League scoring this season with seven goals. United worked frantically to find an equalizer before the end of the half, but the Villarreal defense consistently swarmed the United attack, doubling Edinson Cavani on any movement in the box after his four goals in the semifinal legs against Roma.
Cavani appeared to have his moment in first-half stoppage time as Mason Greenwood sent a dangerous cross into the box, but Raúl Albiol somehow reached across for it, awkwardly deflecting it back to the keeper to avert the danger and go into halftime with the 1-0 lead.
In the 48th minute, Villarreal nearly doubled its lead when Alfonso Pedraza sent a cross into the box that Eric Bailly made a mess of clearing. What ensued was a mad scramble as Bacca tried to get the deflection past a wall of United bodies that somehow got the chance away in time. United's efforts paid off in the 55th minute when Cavani found a way through against a harried Villarreal defense. The Uruguayan international found himself in the right place at the right time, pouncing on a couple of deflections following a long Rashford shot before scoring his fifth goal in his last three Europa League games. Cavani nearly put United ahead in the 72nd minute when Shaw located him with a pinpoint cross. The striker leapt and headed the ball on target, but Villarreal defender Pau Torres astutely read the chance and blocked the effort before it reached the goal.
The final 20 minutes appeared to be all United, and Pogba nearly gave the Red Devils a 90th minute winner thanks to another dangerous Shaw cross. But the French star's header cleared the crossbar despite the open chance as the game crawled to extra time.
Former Liverpool defender Alberto Moreno had a chance to break the tie against United in the 99th minute. But the fullback opted for a hasty shot that went awry instead a cross to his teammates crashing down on goal, much to their dismay. Despite the early action, the two sides only recorded a combined three shots on target throughout the match, with none coming in extra time. In the end, the final required penalties after 120 minutes.
Gerard Moreno opened the penalty-kick shootout by sending De Gea the wrong way for the opener, but extra-time substitute Juan Mata curled in his chance with a stunning effort. Dani Raba and Alex Telles continued the streak of late subs converting penalties. Paco Alcacer and Bruno Fernandes followed up by barely sneaking under the keepers' glove in the third round. Alberto Moreno followed up with a steady penalty of his own that was soon cancelled out by Rashford's stutter-step run-up. Parejo beat De Gea as Villarreal stuck to the keeper's right, but Cavani stepped up once again with a rocket of a shot. Moi Gomez and Fred traded penalties while Albiol coolly finished before celebrating in front of the Villarreal faithful. With the pressure on, Daniel James scored in the seventh round to keep things going for United. But Francis Coquelin's perfect penalty into the top corner highlighted the Yellow's Submarine's prowess from the spot. uke Shaw's chance somehow got past Villarreal keeper Gerónimo Rulli despite getting a hand to the effort to keep the shootout alive.
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