GELSENKIRCHEN (GERMANY), Aug 6: Manchester United and Inter Milan booked their places in the Europa League quarterfinals as continental soccer returned in empty stadiums amid the coronavirus pandemic.
United won 2-1 against LASK Linz on Wednesday to complete a 7-1 aggregate win over the Austrian club, five months after the first leg was played. LASK held the lead on the night for two minutes after Philipp Wiesinger�s 55th-minute goal, but Jesse Lingard soon levelled for United. Anthony Martial scored another for United in the 88th.
�They haven�t played for a while, some of these lads, and it showed,� Manchester United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said in televised comments.
The win sets up a quarterfinal reunion for Solskjaer with his former Norway team-mate Stale Solbakken, the coach of Copenhagen. They played together at the 1998 World Cup.
Inter beat Getafe 2-0 with goals from Romelu Lukaku and Christian Eriksen. It was a one-off game played in Germany because they did not complete a first leg before the European season was suspended.
Earlier, Shakhtar Donetsk and Copenhagen also advanced. Lukaku gave Inter the lead with his 30th goal of the season, picking up Alessandro Bastoni�s high pass in the 33rd minute and holding off a defender before stroking the ball low into the far corner. Eriksen made it 2-0 in the 84th, hammering in a loose ball in the penalty area two minutes after he came on from the bench.
�I�m very happy for the team because I can see that they are eager to continue this adventure and not go on their holidays,� Inter coach Antonio Conte said.
Getafe started stronger with an intense pressing game and could have taken the lead in the second minute, but Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic kept out Nemanja Maksimovic�s header. � AP
