Super Eagles goalkeeper Francis Uzoho and his Cypriot club, Omonia Nicosia, have crashed out of the Europa League following a 2-0 defeat to table toppers, Real Sociedad.
Uzoho was retained in-between the sticks for Thursday’s encounter after his heroic performance against Manchester United at Old Trafford a fortnight ago. But the goalkeeper was unable to save his troubled club this time as their poor run in the Europa League extended to five games with no point.
Robert Navarro’s header from Asier Illarramendi’s cross went past Uzoho who was a bit slower to the pacy ball before the half time break.
Uzoho later conceded another goal from Brain Mendez at the hour mark.
In the other Group E tie, Cristiano Ronaldo sealed victory for Manchester United as they affirmed their qualification to the next round with a 3-0 victory over Sheriff.
Thursday’s victory meant United are through with a game to spare.
Erik Ten Hag’s men shot into the lead late in the first half through Diogo Dalot.
Second half goals from substitute Marcus Rashford and thereafter from Ronaldo helped the Red Devils narrow the gap between them and group leaders, Real Sociedad.
In the 10th minute of the game, United recorded their first chance on goal from Anthony’s shot but it was saved by Sheriff’s goalkeeper, JMaksym Koval
The next three minutes saw double missed chances from both Casemiro and Ronaldo who failed to direct their headers into the net.
While Casemiro’s header from a Christian Eriksen’s corner kick was blocked by Stjepan Radeljic, Ronaldo’s header flew an inch above the crossbar.
Ronaldo had a couple of other chances afterwards but was denied by Sheriff’s goalkeeper.
Two minutes before halftime, United finally broke the deadlock through Dalot who headed Eriken’s corner kick. It was the Portuguese defender’s debut goal in the European competition for United and first since January 2020.
At the hour mark, Ronaldo’s goal from Bruno Fernandez’s header was ruled as offside to the delight of the struggling visiting team.
Four minutes later, United doubled the lead with the effort of substitute players. Luke Shaw made his first touch in the night after coming in for Diogo Dalot.
He sent a cross to another substitute, Rashford who headed into the Sheriff’s net.
Ronaldo, after hitting his freekick on the wall, scored United’s third goal from a rebound to his header to Fernandez’s cross in the 81st minute.
Arsenal and PSV also progress
Despite suffering a 2-0 defeat to PSV Eindhoven, Arsenal have progressed to the next round of the Europa League.
However, the Gunners need victory in their last game to be assured of finishing top in their group.
Despite, seeing two goals on the night chalked off after VAR checks, PSV still ensured they got a decent result against Arsenal
The Dutch side corrected their mistakes in the second half with the introduction of Captain Luuk De Jong in the attacking position of the hosts.
The decision eventually paid off as De Jong set up Joey Veerman who fired past Aaron Ramsdale 10 minutes into the second half.
De Jong then doubled the lead for the Dutch side from a header to Cody Gakpo’s corner in the 63rd minute.
With Arsenal failing to get at least a point against PSV on Thursday, they would need to beat FC Zurich on the final match day to be sure of finishing top in their group.
