A hat trick from Bruno Fernandes delivered an emphatic victory for Manchester United over Real Sociedad in the Europa League round of 16.
After leaving Spain with a 1–1 draw last week, Manchester United welcomed Real Sociedad to Old Trafford for the second leg of the Europa League round of 16. The Red Devils went down early, though, after Mikel Oyarzabal scored from the spot in the 10th minute. Matthijs de Ligt caught the Spaniard on the Achilles inside the penalty area and a VAR review awarded the penalty to the visitors.
Ruben Amorim's men got themselves back into the game just six minutes later with a penalty of their own. Igor Zubeldia bundled into Rasmus Højlund with a poor challenge from behind, and Bruno Fernandes made no mistakes from 12 yards out. Both sides went down the tunnel deadlocked at 1–1.
The second half all-but kicked off with another penalty. In a somewhat controversial call, the referee awarded a penalty to the hosts after Patrick Dorgu collided with Aritz Elustondo, who argued he was simply standing his ground. Regardless, Fernandes once again converted from the spot and gave United the 2–1 lead.
Once Real Sociedad went down to 10 men in the 63rd minute, more goals for Amorim's men seemed inevitable. Fernandes completed his hat trick with a lovely right-footed strike in the dying moments of the match and Diogo Dalot followed it up with a goal of his own to eliminate Real Sociedad 5–2 on aggregate.
United remain the only unbeaten team left in the competition and are headed to the quarterfinals, where they will face Ligue 1 side, Lyon.
Check out player ratings from the Red Devils' victory below.
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Manchester United Player Ratings vs. Real Sociedad (3-4-2-1)
Ratings provided by FotMob
Player of the Match: Bruno Fernandes
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Manchester United 4–1 Real Sociedad: Player Ratings As Bruno Fernandes Sends United to Europa League Quarterfinals.
