Match report: United 5 Lyon 4 (7-6 agg)

Reds in the stands set the atmosphere off perfectly before kick-off and Ruben Amorim's men on the field duly responded when Manuel Ugarte placed home an Alejandro Garnacho pass in the 10th minute, before Diogo Dalot extended the French outfit's arrears on the cusp of half-time.

But, with United having controlled the greater portion of the game, Les Gones managed to level the match with two quickfire goals from Corentin Tolisso and Nicolas Tagliafico – the former being dismissed for a second yellow at the end of the 90 – sending the game to extra-time.

It was here the tale was written. The Reds were all but out after two Lyon goals, before efforts from Fernandes, Mainoo and Harry Maguire, in the final five minutes of the game, rescued United's place in Europe.

Our storied European history gained another mind-blowing chapter.

FIRST HALF – THE PERFECT START

The players emerged from the tunnel to a large 'Tifo' unfurled in the centre of the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand, complete with images of our past European successes. Smoke from the accompanying pyrotechnics was still settling as referee Sandro Scharer reached for his whistle, but not before a strong chorus of 'United Road' rang round the stadium. Neither side were in any doubt about the scale of the occasion.

As the chant goes, that banner read: "Never Gonna Stop!" It proved to be more than mere words; the Reds embodied that spirit from the off.

United's pressing was intense, Leny Yoro launched more than one marauding run, cutting straight through the heart of the Lyon midfield and, as ever, Bruno Fernandes was pulling strings right across the pitch.

It was the Reds' captain who kicked off the move that turned Old Trafford's febrile atmosphere into something tangible, spinning his marker before finding Garnacho on the edge of the box. He raced to the byline and cut it back to Ugarte to drill home in the 10th minute.

Somehow, from somewhere, supporters inside M16 found extra decibels as the Reds wheeled off to celebrate. But there was still more that a little work ahead of them to make that goal stick.

A reminder of that came not long after, as Les Gones put together some attacking moves of their own. In the space of a couple of minutes, Maguire put his body on the line twice to prevent dangerous efforts from Cherki and Thiago Almada ever reaching the goal.

Andre Onana was also called upon on a few occasions, as the visitors settled down from the early chaos, but answered each question with an assured catch or a strong hand.

Having weathered that storm, it was the Reds' turn again to crank up the pressure, coming painfully close to finding a spectacular second when Fernandes, slipping all the way, still somehow managed to get a clean connection on a searching Dalot ball, rattling the crossbar with a volley. The skipper then swerved a shot from outside the area just off target.

With seconds of the half left there was a role reversal for Dalot, who was, this time, on the receiving end of a Maguire switch. Muscling off attention from Tagliafico, the Portugal international broke free and nestled a finish neatly into the bottom left corner.

From start to finish, United couldn't have hoped for much more from the first 45 minutes.

SECOND HALF – STUNNED LATE ON

United's start after the interval – understandably, given what had gone before – was a notch less electric than kick-off, but there was still plentiful energy in the frontline, chasing down and pressing Les Gones' defenders, trying to provoke a mistake.

Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu and Garnacho had chances early on, the latter sitting his marker down in the box at one point before curling the resulting shot too centrally into Lucas Perri's gloves. But it was Onana, now with the Stretford End behind him, who provoked the biggest cheer early in the second period.

Lyon captain Corentin Tolisso latched onto the ball just outside United's six-yard box and, in a split second, found space to spin and get a strong effort off at goal. Blink and you may well have missed it, but the Reds' keeper had his eyes trained on the ball, dropping down to his right like a flash as it left Tolisso's foot and pushing it well away from danger.

But Les Gones were far from finished.

United struggled to convincingly clear a Lyon free-kick in the 71st minute. Lacazette headed the ball back into the danger zone and Tolisso was first to it, nodding it in from point-blank range.

Amorim's side were hoping it was nothing more than a consolation but, less than 10 minutes later, Lyon found the leveller. The ball pinged from side to side across United's box before Tagliafico smashed it just beyond the goal line before Onana could scoop it out, with Lacazette ramming home anyway for good measure.

A second yellow card for goalscorer Tolisso for a trip on Yoro in the last few minutes re-ignited some of that early Old Trafford energy, and Fernandes almost, audaciously, poked the following free-kick through the smallest gap in Perri's goal, but the Brazilian managed to beat it away.

Extra-time beckoned with the opposition a man down.

EXTRA-TIME: BEDLAM!

There had scarcely been a clear-cut opportunity in the first period of extra-time when heartbreak struck on the stroke of the mid-point. The opposition broke into United's half through Malick Fofana. He was stopped, but the ball slipped through to Cherki on the edge of the box, who fired it low to put Les Gones ahead for the first time in the second leg.

It went from bad to worse after the short break, the visitors awarded a penalty for a Luke Shaw trip on Fofana, which was converted by Lacazette for Lyon's fourth.

There was a glimmer of hope for the Reds to rescue the tie when Fernandes converted from the spot at the other end after a foul on Casemiro in the opposition's box, was given after a lengthy VAR review.

A glimmer was all the Reds needed.

Casemiro flicked the ball round the corner to Mainoo who, as though he had all the time in the world, cut back in and curled the ball expertly round the Lyon goalkeeper. And then, having gone from nailed-on winners to all but out, Maguire grabbed United back from the brink.

It was Casemiro once again, less than minute later, seconds left on the clock, delivering a pinpoint ball to the head of the England centre-back.

They couldn't have made it much more difficult but the Reds, somehow, were going through to the semi-final of the Europa League.

MATCH DETAILS

United: Onana; Mazraoui (Shaw 46), Maguire, Yoro; Dalot, Casemiro, Ugarte (Mount 86), Dorgu (Amass 100); Fernandes (c), Garnacho (Eriksen 100); Hojlund (Mainoo 86).

Substitutes not used: Bayindir, Heaton, Kamason, Kukonki, Lindelof, Moorhouse.

Goals: Ugarte 10, Dalot 45+1, Fernandes 114 (pen), Mainoo 120, Maguire 120+1.

Booked: Garnacho, Maguire, Yoro.

Lyon: Perri; Maitland-Niles, Mata, Niakhate, Tagliafico (Caleta-Car 115); Tolisso (c), Akouokou (Tessmann 55); Veretout (Lacazette 55), Cherki (Abner 106), Almada; Mikautadze (Fofana 64).

Substitutes not used: Descamps, Diarra, Kumbedi, Omari, Matic.

Goals: Tolisso 71, Tagliafico 78, Cherki 105, Lacazette 110 (pen).

Booked: Veretout, Tolisso, Tagliafico.

Sent off: Tolisso.