EPL result – Stalemate at St Mary’s as Man united goalkeeper Romero saves Southampton’s Gabbiadini’s penalty

​Southampton 0 – 0 Manchester United

Sergio Romero saved an early penalty from Manolo Gabbiadini as Manchester United played out a goalless draw with Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium.

The United goalkeeper, who was starting in place of David de Gea, denied Gabbiadini after Eric Bailly was adjudged to have handled a high ball despite replays showing the incident occurred outside the penalty box.

Bailly’s sharp shot then forced Fraser Forster into a solid save, as the United defender created his side’s best chance of the first half.

Southampton forced Romero to make multiple saves after the break but were unable to get past the United keeper before Anthony Martial hit the post for the visitors.

With Jose Mourinho’s side guaranteed a sixth-place finish before kick-off and one eye firmly on next Wednesday’s Europa League final, it always looked like being a sedate affair on the south coast.

Southampton had slightly more to play for with another top-eight finish in their sights in Claude Puel’s first season in charge, and were marginally the brighter side.

Europa League: Semi-finals second leg results – Manchester United hold on after nervy clash to set up Stockholm final with Ajax, who edge out Lyon

​ Lyon 3 – 1 Ajax (Aggregate  4 – 5)

Manchester United  1 – 1 Celta vigo ( Aggregate  2 – 1)

• Manchester United  1 – 1 Celta vigo ( Aggregate  2 – 1)

Manchester United edged into the Europa League final after a 1-1 draw with Celta Vigo in their semi-final second leg on Thursday secured a 2-1 aggregate win.

Leading 1-0 from the first leg, United took control as Marouane Fellaini headed home Marcus Rashford’s cross.

But Celta, needing two goals, levelled on the night through Facundo Roncaglia to set up a tense final few minutes.

United’s Eric Bailly and Roncaglia were sent off after a mass brawl, and the hosts hung on to reach the final.

They will meet Ajax, who beat Lyon in the other semi-final, in Stockholm on 24 May.

United had never lost a two-legged European tie after winning the first leg away from home, and knew they would reach the final by keeping a clean sheet at an expectant Old Trafford.

It will be the first opportunity for United to win the Europa League trophy – the only major European trophy missing from their collection.
United are just one win away from Champions League qualification.

And, with the EFL Cup already in the bag, it would give Jose Mourinho the chance to win the double in his first season in charge at Old Trafford.

• Lyon 3 – 1 Ajax (Aggregate  4 – 5)

Ajax secured a place in their first European final for 21 years after surviving a huge scare to beat Lyon 5-4 on aggregate in their Europa League semi-final on Thursday.

The Dutch side, who played the final six minutes with 10 men, lost 3-1 in the second leg.

Ajax scored first through Kasper Dolberg’s crafty finish to move 5-1 ahead on aggregate.

Lyon’s in-demand striker Alexandre Lacazette led the fightback with two in 79 seconds on the stroke of half-time, and Rachid Ghezzal’s header, which deflected in off Nick Viergever, who moments later was sent off, resulted in a nail-biting finish.

They meet Manchester United in Stockholm on May 24, their first European showpiece since losing the 1996 Champions League final on penalties to Juventus.
Ajax are already assured of at least a place in the Champions League third qualifying round with a top-two finish in the Eredivisie. But they trail Dutch leaders Feyenoord by a point with the season set to conclude on Sunday, so the Europa final will likely be important for advancing directly to the group stage.

French League Cup Results

Lucas Moura came off the bench to keep holders Paris St Germain on course to retain their Coupe de la Ligue crown with the winning goal in the 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Lyon.
Lucas was only on the Parc des Princes pitch for seven minutes before scoring the decisive goal, which extended his side’s winning run in all competitions to nine games.
The runaway Ligue 1 leaders were 1-0 up after 17 minutes when Adrien Rabiot pounced on a rebound from Ezequiel Lavezzi’s shot.
Corentin Tolisso equalised for Lyon three minutes before the break, but former Manchester United midfielder Angel Di Maria fed Lucas late on to seal a semifinal place for Les Parisiens.

Toulouse also progressed to the last-four stage after Martin Braithwaite’s extra-time goal sealed a 2-1 win over Marseille.
Toulouse, who moved out of the Ligue 1 relegation zone following a 3-1 victory over Reims on Saturday, took a 25th-minute lead through striker Wissam Ben Yedder.
Just two minutes later, though, Georges-Kevin N’Koudou equalised for Marseille with a curling shot from the edge of the box.
The game seemed set for penalties after a goalless second half, but Denmark international Braithwaite sealed Toulouse’s semifinal place with a right-footed finish nine minutes into extra time.

Spot-kicks were needed at the Stade du Roudourou where Lille emerged triumphant from their clash away to Guingamp.
The home side had the best of the chances throughout the goalless 120 minutes, with Jimmy Briand hitting the woodwork and Yassine Benzia seeing his 20th-minute header disallowed.
Lille keeper Vincent Enyeama was also called into action a number of times and the Nigeria international came to the fore once more in the shootout.
Enyeama saved from Nicolas Benezet and Dorian Leveque before Eric Bautheac scored to secure a 4-2 win on penalties for Lille.
Earlier on Tuesday, Bordeaux defeated Lorient 2-0, courtesy of a 44th minute goal by Jaroslav Plasil and an own-goal by Florent Chaigneau.

Toulouse 2 – 1 Marseille
Guingamp 0 – 0 Lille
Paris Saint Germain 2 – 1 Lyon
Bordeaux 2 – 0Lorient

Europa League Round Up

West Ham were knocked out of the qualifying stage after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Astra Giurgiu, losing 4-3 on aggregate.

Southampton cruised into the play offs after a 2-0 win at Vitesse Arnhem and in the process completing 5-0 aggregate win.

Borrusia Dortmund thrashed Wolfsberger AC 5-0. Armenian Henrik Mkhitaryan scored a hat trick while Marco Reus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were the other scorers.

AZ Alkmaar defeated Istanbul Basaksehir 2-1 in Turkey.

St Etienne lost 2-1 at home to Targu Mures but qualified for the playoffs. The French side progressed with aggregate win of 4-2.

Fellow French side Bordeaux won 1-0 at AEK Larnaka, advancing 4-2 on aggregate.

Aberdeen were eliminated after drawing 1-1 against Kairat Almaty, with the Kazakhstan club advancing 3-2 on aggregate.

The game between Athletic Bilbao and Inter Baku ended in a goalless draw. The Spanish club advanced with 2-0 aggregate.

Sampdoria were knocked out despite winning 2-0 away to Vojvodina. The Italians suffered an embarrassing 4-0 defeat at home in the first leg.

Standard Liege won Zeljeznicar 1-0 in Sarajevo to complete a 3-1 victory over the two legs.

Europa League Results

FK Qabala 1 – 0 Apollon Limassol

Inter Baku 0 – 0 Athletic Bilbao

Omonia Nicosia 2 – 2 Brondby IF

Rubin Kazan 1 – 1 Sturm Graz

IFK Gothenburg 0 – 0 Belenenses

Basaksehir 1 – 2 AZ Alkmaar

Ballklubb 2 – 0 Elfsborg

Rosenborg 3 – 1 Debrecen

Stroemsgodset 0 – 2 Hajduk Split

Trabzonspor 1 – 1 Rabotnicki

Vorskla 3 – 1 Zilina

Dinamo Minsk 1 – 1 FC Zurich

AEK Larnaca 0 – 1 Bordeaux

FC Vaduz 2 – 2 Thun

FC Koebenhavn 2 – 3 Jablonec

Astra Giurgiu 2 – 1 West Ham United

Atromitos 1 – 0 AIK

Saint-Etienne 1 – 2 Tirgu Mures

Vitesse 0 – 2 Southampton

Zeljeznicar 0 – 1 Standard Liege

Zorya 3 – 0 Sporting Charleroi

Spartak Trnava 1 – 1 PAOK Thessaloniki

FC Slovan Bratislava 3 – 3 FC Krasnodar

Borussia Dortmund 5 – 0 Wolfsberger

AC Aberdeen 1 – 1 Kairat Almaty

Legia Warszawa 1 – 0 Kukesi

Vojvodina 0 – 2 Sampdoria

Vitoria de Guimaraes 1 – 4 Altach

UEFA Champions League Qualifier Round UP

Celtic moved to the Champions League play-off after playing a goalless draw with Qarabag FK in Azerbaijan.

Shakhtar Donetsk swept into the playoff round of the Champions League after winning Fenerbahce 3-0 in Lviv. New signings Nani and Simon Kjaer took part in the game but Robin van Persie was missing in action.

A late goal from defender Evgeni Postnikov saw Kazakhstan’s FC Astana beat Finland’s HJK Helsinki 4-3 in a thrilling match.

The rest of the night’s results saw CSKA Moscow and BATE Borisov seal progress, while Swiss side FC Basel also went through with a 4-1 aggregate win over Lech Poznan.

FK Partizan overcame Steaua Bucurest with a 4-2 win on the night and Albanian minnows KF Skenderbeu went through after a 2-0 win over FC Milsami Orhei.

Maccabi Tel-Aviv overcame a 2-1 deficit to win 2-0 and beat Viktoria Plzen. Club Brugge defeated Panathinaikos and Salzburg lost a 2-0 lead to go out 3-2 to Malmo.

Results

Astana 4 – 3 HJK

Qarabag FK 0 – 0 Celtic

Sparta Prague 2 – 3 CSKA Moscow

BATE Borisov 1 – 0 Videoton

FC Basel 1 – 0 Lech Poznan

Club Brugge 3 – 0 Panathinaikos

Malmo FF 3 – 0 Salzburg

Partizan Belgrade 4 – 2 Steaua Bucuresti

Shakhtar Donetsk 3 – 0 Fenerbahce

Skenderbeu 2 – 0 FC Milsami Orhei

Viktoria Plzen 0 – 2 Maccabi Tel Aviv