It was a Europa League night where “Ronnie” returned, Roma showed their intentions for a European double and their city rivals suffered a Danish debacle.
Now don’t get me wrong, this is not the first time one of Italy’s big wigs has been embarrassed by a minnow.
In last season’s Europa Conference group stages, the hitherto unknown Bodo Glimt thrashed Jose Mourinho’s Roma 6-1 in what turned out to be one of the heaviest defeats the acclaimed Portuguese manager has ever experienced.
At least the club from the Eternal City had the consolation of going onto win the inaugural tournament and save some face.
This time, it was the turn of their rivals to be embarrassed and one suspects the fate of Maurizio Sarri will be under heavy scrutiny over the next month.
Quite how much the SBOTOP Europa League 2022 betting odds favoured Midtjylland before kick-off I do not know, but I do know that no one expected the Danish outfit to humiliate Lazio 5-1.
It was a result which continued their dismal away record in the competition and failed to build on last week’s 4-2 victory over Dutch side Feyenoord.
The Danes were hardly considered formidable opponents for they had lost their opener to Sturm Graz and won just two out of 14 competitive matches this season. Then the game began.
First, Paulinho turned in at the third time of asking. A very long check for VAR confirmed the goal was valid. Then Sory Kaba swept the ball home unmarked from eight yards.
Midtjylland went on the counter-attack to add a third from the penalty spot as converted by Brazilian Evander.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic came off the bench and immediately pulled a goal back for the visitors with a snapshot from the edge of the box which was completely misjudged by Jonas Lossl.
However, Gustav Isaksen earned another penalty, drawing a soft foul from Adam Marusic and, while Ivan Provedel kept out this Evander spot-kick, Isaksen was quickest to react on the rebound.
When Erik Sviatchenko was left totally unmarked at the back post to volley in an Evander cross, it was time to say Tak for i aften, Midtjylland and Lazio’s misery was complete.
Their city neighbours enjoyed far more Europa League 2022 highlights and may well be a good bet to add this tournament to the Conference success they gained in May.
They were certainly too strong for 10-man HJK Helsinki.
Both sides were looking to get off the mark in this season’s competition after Roma went down to a 2-1 defeat to Ludogorets, while HJK lost their opener 2-0 at home to Real Betis last week.
The visitors’ task was made more difficult when Helsinki captain Miro Tenho was sent off after just 14 minutes. Initially booked for a body check on Andrea Belotti, the card was changed to a red following a VAR review.
The 10 men almost took the lead when Arttu Hoskonen was allowed a free header that thumped the upright but strength ultimately showed.
Paulo Dybala and Chris Smalling came on at half-time and La Joya made an immediate impact, scoring with his first touch. Leonardo Spinazzola found Lorenzo Pellegrini for a quick lay-off and Dybala swept in with his left foot first-time from the edge of the area.
Moments later, the returning Nicolo Zaniolo ran onto a long Nemanja Matic pass, his attempted roll across from the left took a big deflection and Pellegrini was alert to bundle it over the line with his chest.
Belotti made it 3-0 with a tap-in from six yards following a Zaniolo pull-back from the by-line, his first goal for Roma. Job done.
In Moldova, history was made as Cristiano Ronaldo netted his first ever goal in Europe’s second tier competition.
In fairness, it was only CR7’s second ever game in the tournament as he has virtually always graced the Champions League where he is the record scorer.
It was also a venue far removed from many of his major triumphs as the contest was hosted in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, because UEFA has blocked Sheriff Tiraspol from playing home games in the Russian-backed breakaway state Transnistria.
Ronnie’s goal from the penalty spot capped a professional evening for Manchester United who are showing signs of real progress after an abysmal first two games of the campaign.
That had been preceded by a third goal of the fledgling campaign for Jadon Sancho which paved the way for victory and perhaps provided some consolation for his latest omission from the England squad.
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