Antony, Fred fire Manchester United to a rousing 2-1 win over Barcelona

With a sweeping firsttime shot Antony fired Manchester United to a rousing 21 win over Barcelona The comeback victory at Old Trafford sent United into the Europa League round of 16 and kept manager Erik ten Hags fourpronged trophy hunt on trackAntony might have silenced a few critics too He is brave he is fearless Ten Hag said of the Brazil forward who cost United USD 95 million for his transfer from Ajax last summerWith United trailing 10 at halftime and heading out of the tournament Antony came off the bench to turn the match around His 73rdminute strike completed a comefrombehind win and provided further evidence that Ten Hags team is a rising force in EuropeWhat he brought in the second half was what we needed running in behind and dribbles and his goal Ten Hag said Barcelona is leading the way in Spain eight points ahead of Champions League holder Real Madrid and seemingly on course for the domestic titleYet over two games against United the Spanish giant was shaken by the pace and pressing of Ten Hags players We lacked that calm and patience and started the second half really bad Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said Small details We could have been more intenseAlso Read Ten Hag insists Man Utd not thinking about possible Premier League title raceRobert Lewandowskis firsthalf penalty had put the visitors in front on aggregate after the thrilling 22 draw in the first leg at the Nou Camp last weekBut Freds strike in the 47th evened the match before Antonys winner In front of a raucous crowd of 73000 this was the type of encounter United fans hope will become a regular occurrence under Ten Hag whose outstanding first season in charge is improving by the weekThis is another step because when you can beat Barcelona one of the best teams in this moment in Europe your belief can be really strong because then I think you are able to beat anyone Ten Hag addedThe Dutch manager is still in contention to win four trophies with his team facing Newcastle in the League Cup final on Sunday United also sits third in the Premier League standings and is still in the FA CupBut Ten Hags team looked in danger of being eliminated from the Europa League as Barcelona seized the advantage at Old Trafford with Bruno Fernandes involved in the two key incidents in the first halfThe Portugal international could have put United in front after just three minutes when he ran through on goal only to fire against the legs of goalkeeper MarcAndre ter StegenHaving failed to take advantage at one end Fernandes was then guilty of dragging back Alejandro Balde in the box and referee Clement Turpin pointed to the spotDespite getting a hand to Lewandowskis 18th minute penalty David de Gea could not keep the ball out United struggled to find their rhythm before the break but evened the score in an explosive start to the second half when Fred fired past Ter Stegen after Fernandes through ballOld Trafford was rocking and it went wild when Antony swept his shot low into the far corner to put United in front Weve had some good wins Liverpool and Arsenal but I think this over two legs Barcelona are La Liga leaders to beat them its a big win Ten Hag saidAjax goes outWhile Ten Hag is looking forward to the next round his former club Ajax is out after a 31 loss at Union Berlin Roma meanwhile recovered from a 10 firstleg loss at RB Salzburg to win 20 at Stadio Olimpico Andrea Belotti fired the home team in front in the 33rd and Paulo Dybala sealed a 21 aggregate scoreline five minutes before halftimeShakhtar Donetsk beat Rennes on penalties after a 21 loss through extra time left the score at 33 on aggregate Karl Toko Ekambis strike in the 52nd for Rennes meant the game had to go to extra time Ibrahim Salah then put the home team up 20 before an own goal from Jeanueumll Belocian sent it to a shootout which Shakhtar won 54This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever