Manchester United took a big step towards the Europa League quarter finals by thrashing Austrian side LASK Linz 5-0 on Thursday in their last 16 first-leg tie at an empty Linzer Stadium due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Three other fixtures were also played behind closed doors, including Wolverhampton Wanderers’ 1-1 draw at 10-man Olympiakos.
Bayer Leverkusen celebrated a 3-1 win at Rangers in front of a full house at Ibrox and Istanbul Basaksehir fans rejoiced after an 88th-minute penalty by Edin Visca gave them a 1-0 home win over FC Copenhagen.
Striker Odion Ighalo fired Manchester United ahead in the 28th minute. Daniel James doubled the lead when he side-stepped his marker and buried a crisp low shot into the bottom corner, leaving keeper Alexander Schlager rooted to the spot. Juan Mata made it 3-0 with a clinical finish from 10 metres after 82 minutes before substitutes Mason Greenwood and Andreas Pereira put the icing on the cake in stoppage time.
