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Fernandes secures late Man United win, Lazio stay top

wwe23 January 2025 22:32| © Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes scored a last-gasp winner to secure a 2-1 victory over Rangers in the Europa League group stage at Old Trafford on Thursday.

The win lifted United to fourth in the standings on 15 points going into the last round of matches and in a strong position to reach the knockout phase.

United dominated the early stages and thought they had taken the lead when Matthijs de Ligt headed home from a corner, but the goal was disallowed due to a foul by Leny Yoro on Rangers defender Davy Propper.

Rangers also posed a threat and a long-range attempt from Hamza Igamane was brilliantly saved by United goalkeeper Altay Bayındır.

The deadlock was broken early in the second half when Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland misjudged Christian Eriksen's corner and sent the ball into his own net.

Rangers fought back with an equaliser from substitute Cyril Dessers two minutes from time before Fernandes struck in added time, lifting United to fourth place in the table with 15 points and on course for automatic qualification to the last 16.

Elsewhere, Lazio stayed top of the standings with a commanding 3-1 home victory over Real Sociedad.

Mario Gila struch after five minutes and when Sociedad’s Aihen Munoz was shown a second yellow card on the half-hour mark, Lazio immediately seized the advantage.

Mattia Zaccagni quickly doubled the lead and Taty Castellanos effectively ended the match with a third for the hosts.

Ander Barrenetxea scored a late consolation goal for Sociedad.

Eintracht Frankfurt moved closer to securing a top-eight spot with a 2-0 home win over Hungarian side Ferencvaros thanks to second-half goals from Can Uzun and Hugo Ekitike.

They are second in the standings with 16 points, three ahead of ninth-placed Galatasaray.

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