Europa League: Manchester United Scrape Past to the Next Round After Losing 1-2 to Ajax

Manchester United managed to scrape through to the next round, on a 3-2 aggregate, of the Europa Champions League despite their 1-2 loss to Ajax in the second leg of the round of 32 clash.

Coming out of a successful 2-0 last leg encounter, the Red Devils, who were looking confident, took an early lead when Mexican striker Javier Hernandez managed to calmly net the ball off a superb pass from Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov.

United, who were now cruising with a 3-0 aggregate, started attacking more viciously and nearly struck again at the 15<sup>th minute, when Brazilian defender Fabio da Silva, after ruffling past Ajax's defence, made an impressive pass to Hernandez who in turn gave the ball to Berbatov, whose shot was deflected by defender Jan Vertonghen for a corner.

Ajax made their first real attempt on goal at the 23<sup>rd minute when Armenian striker Ozbiliz, after dribbling past two defenders, got a decent strike on goal but this was equalled by De Gea with an even more impressive save.

In spite of the visitors' continuous press for goal, United nearly went two up when Hernandez almost got the ball in a dangerous area off a clever Nani pass.

Before United could get over that crucial miss, Ozbiliz, after penetrating United's defence, brought his team home with an excellent finish, via a deflection off United defender Phil Jones.

Despite several attempts from United, the first half scores remained 1-1

With the start of the second half, Ajax launched a series of attacks, first, in the form of Uruguayan attacking midfielder Lodeiro, who came quite close with his shot from the centre of the penalty area, followed by an equally good effort from Danish midfielder Eriksen.

Dutch attacking Midfielder Siem De Jong also came close to scoring from a well-struck header (from a corner) which was nearly saved by De Gea.

Ajax finally went ahead, at the 86<sup>th minute, when Belgian defender Toby Alderweireld managed to find the back of United's net through Ozbiliz's free-kick.

With little time remaining, the Dutch giants were only a goal away from the next round of the Europa League, but the Red Devils managed to keep calm and defend their aggregate lead.