A spirited performance from a patched-up United team overcame Midtjylland's early goal to progress to the last sixteen in the Europa League. It was a nervy match for much of the night but the Reds finished comfortable winners after a superb performance from Memphis Depay and two goals from unexpected debutant Marcus Rashford.
Rashford was only playing following another pre-match setback for United as Martial was withdrawn with a hamstring injury. Despite this United looked by far the better side from the start, although things looked bleak when Midtjylland added to their first leg lead when the excellent Sisto scored following a teasing run into the box after 27 minutes.
It was a wake-up call that the already adventurous Reds didn't really need on this occasion. Memphis looked a particular threat on the left and it was no surprise when excellent work from the Dutchman brought United level five minutes later, his cross being turned into his own net from Bodurov.
Bodurov wasn't the only defender looking nervous for the Danish champions and, after Schneiderlin's header had hit the post, United had another chance to draw level on aggregate when Romer's rash challenge brought down Herrera in the area. Sadly, Mata's penalty was turned about the post by keeper Anderson.
There will have been concerns around Old Trafford that this penalty miss might see heads drop among United's players. They needn't have worried as United took the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half and drew level when Mata's cutback from the by-line found Rashford in the area and the youngster capped his debut with a goal in front of the Stretford End.
It doesn't get much better than that for a United debutant, unless of course you score two, which is exactly what Rashford did, turning home Varela's cross to put the Reds in front with fifteen minutes to go. From there it was easy as Midtjylland saw their dreams of a famous victory picked apart before their eyes, Hansen's handball in the area giving United a second penalty. This time Herrera took it and made no mistake.
It was left to Memphis to round off his finest performance yet in a United shirt when he drilled a shot from the edge of the area into the bottom corner. It was true that the later stages of this game illustrated how the Reds had made this tie more difficult than it had to be by losing that first leg: for all their spirit, Midtjylland were clearly ordinary opponents. Nonetheless, a five goal win will do no harm to the Reds' confidence and certainly not to Marcus Rashford's, who may well have found himself playing in the Lancashire Senior Cup yesterday, but instead played an enormous part in saving United's season.
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