Key events
87 min: Ugarte and Hojlund are replaced by Mount and Mainoo. “I think a lot of criticism of Hojlund is down to pure jealousy,” opines John Delaney. “There’s no way anyone else could get such a good view of the match.”
86 min: Almada aims for the top left but the wall does what the wall’s supposed to do.
85 min: Cherki confuses Ugarte with a cute dragback to the left of the United D, and this is a free kick in a very dangerous position. Almada fancies this. So does Lacazette.
84 min: The winner of this tie will almost certainly be playing Athletic Bilbao in the semis. Nico Williams has made it 2-0 for the hosts at San Mames against Rangers.
83 min: The Old Trafford faithful are doing their best to revive their side. Bedlam, albeit powered by a very skittish energy. A lot of pensive faces in the stands.
81 min: Cherki dribbles hard and fast down the inside-right channel. He shoots from a tight angle. Onana needs two pats to take the sting out of the shot but gets it under control eventually. United suddenly a collective bag of nerves.
80 min: A free kick for United in the middle of Lyon territory. Fernandes loops it into the mixer. Lyon deal with it easily. The mood in Old Trafford is utterly transformed. United and their fans were enjoying themselves when two goals up. But now look.
GOAL! Manchester United 2-2 Lyon (Tagliafico 78); agg 4-4
Fofana’s deep cross is met by Maitland-Niles, racing in from the right. Maitland-Niles volleys straight across the face of goal. Tagliafico sticks out a leg to poke goalwards. Onana appears to have clawed it out, but only to Lacazette, who slams home from close range. Turns out Tagliafico’s effort was over the line anyway. What drama here!
77 min: Yoro’s back. And Lyon are on the attack. Fofana crosses deep from the left, and …
76 min: In the middle of all that, Yoro blocked a fierce Fofana shot with his head while lying on the ground. He needs a bit of treatment and time to recover.
75 min: Maitland-Niles crosses again from the right. A high one this time. Onana claims. Lyon come again, Maitland-Niles sending a low drive goalwards, Onana blocking. Then Garnacho tears away on the counter, but can’t beat Mata in a footrace this time. This game has suddenly turned wild.
73 min: Lyon are suddenly full of vim. Maitland-Niles barges down the right and crosses low and hard. United don’t really deal with it, and Lacazette is able to cut back for Almada, who leans back and sends his shot deep into the Stretford End. But all of a sudden, the mood has changed in Old Trafford. The nerves are back. Probably no more rabonas for a while.
GOAL! Manchester United 2-1 Lyon (Tolisso 71); agg 4-3
Casemiro carelessly handles out on the Lyon right wing. Almada sends the free kick into the mixer. It’s only half cleared. Niakhaté heads back in from the right. Lacazette flicks on for Tolisso, who steers his header into the right-hand side of the net from close range. Onana no chance. Game on!
69 min: Hojlund slips a cute pass down the right channel for Dalot, who shanks a dismal effort miles wide right. Never mind, he’s got plenty of credit to use up tonight, thanks to that nerve-settling second.
67 min: Almada swings the free kick into the mixer. It’s no good. United clear.
66 min: Maitland-Niles drops a shoulder in the hope of skinning Dorgu down the right. He’s unceremoniously brought down to earth. Dorgu is fortunate not to go into the book for hanging out his leg, but it’s a free kick in a dangerous position.
64 min: Fernandes draws another foul, this one more obvious. Tagliafico comes through the back of the United captain, and he goes into the book. Meanwhile Fofana comes on for Mikautadze.
62 min: Lyon push United back, but there’s no way through the defence. The hosts quite happy to let their guests run themselves ragged to no great effect.
60 min: Tolisso clips Fernandes to the ground. He’s already on a card, so wants to watch himself here. But it’s a garden-variety foul and nothing more. Ferdinand, stepping across his man deliberately, was probably looking for that, to be fair.
59 min: Dalot reaches the byline on the right before cutting back for Dorgu, who slams high and wide. Turns out Hojlund was offside in the build-up. United have clearly worked on this pattern, which led to the opening goal.
58 min: Fernandes and Hojlund shuttle the ball right to left. Garnacho has a pop from an uninviting angle. Wide. High. Hojlund in the middle, and desirous of a return pass, volleys the post in frustration, before shooting a glance at Garnacho. “I don’t mind that,” says Rio Ferdinand on TNT, of the striker’s tanty. Nothing wrong in telling his team-mate what he wants.
57 min: Almada sends a dangerous cross in from the left with the outside of his boot. United only half-clear it, and Mikautadze slices a shot wide right. Lyon beginning to apply some pressure after a slow start to the second half.
55 min: Lyon make a double change, swapping out Akouokou and Veretout for Tessmann and Lacazette.
54 min: … and it nearly comes here. Tolisso spins on the penalty spot and whistles a shot towards the bottom left. Onana sticks out a strong hand to save well.
53 min: Probably a bit early for the rabonas, to be fair. Perhaps he was looking away when Garnacho took that shot and has just assumed it’s 3-0. One Lyon goal would change everything.
51 min: Fernandes digs into his box of tricks. A rabona in the centre circle to start an attack. That quickly fizzles out, but the crowd enjoyed that.
50 min: Lyon probe down both flanks, United sitting back in a low block. But there’s no way through, and suddenly the hosts spring clear on the counter. Garnacho is sent clear by Hojlund, enters the box from the left, sits Mata down, and finds himself one on one with the keeper! He must score, but slaps his shot straight at Perri, then gets booked for hauling back Mata in an attempt to take possession of the rebound. It should be game over.
48 min: Fernandes wedges the free kick in from the left to Casemiro, who steers his header wide left from six yards. A big miss, though turns out he’s miles offside.
47 min: Dorgu and Casemiro combine crisply down the left before feeding Garnacho, who draws a foul from Mata, just outside the box. Fernandes prepares to take.
After keeping Lyon waiting on the pitch for a while, United get the second half started. They’ve replaced Mazraoui with Shaw.
Half-time postbag. “A lot of Lyonnais should be a bit torn here. Their city is also in the semi-final of rugby’s equivalent European pot and it is an odd statistical quirk that no city or country can ever be successful in both football and rugby at the same time; see Newcastle, Bordeaux, Leicester, Wales, Paris, Ireland, it goes on without fail. If Lyon win here then lump heavily on their rugby team to lose their semi, and vice versa. Nailed on I guarantee” – Robin Hazlehurst
“It’s not a travesty that United are leading 2-0, because football is that sort of sport where a tight game isn’t necessarily reflected in the score. But if I were Lyon I’d just keep on plugging away, because it certainly doesn’t feel like that the Red Devils are capable of shutting up shop. There’s a nervousness to them” – Kári Tulinius
“If United wanna sign a goalkeeper this summer, the best option is Aaron Ramsdale. Not that expensive, knows the Premier League inside out and has big-club experience to boot. United are not really Arsenal level, so they shouldn’t get all high and mighty about signing an Arsenal reject. Only negative? He seems to get relegated a lot! Given United’s form this year, it’s kinda like tempting fate” – Karen Asad
“With Lyon being the gastronomic capital of France and all, strange that there’s been no humble pie for Onana tonight. So far. And Mr Matic so far left sucking sour grapes on the subs bench” – Justin Kavanagh
As things stand, Manchester United will play Athletic Club in the semi-final. Bilbao’s finest are beating Rangers 1-0 (agg: 1-0) at San Mames, John Souttar clattering through the back of Maroan Sannadi just before half-time and conceding a penalty that Oihan Sancet dispatches in style. By all accounts it’s not a scoreline that flatters the hosts.
HALF TIME: Manchester United 2-0 Lyon (agg 4-2)
United score two goals in the first half for only the second time in 2025. Not a bad occasion on which to do it! The semi-finals within reach.
GOAL! Manchester United 2-0 Lyon (Dalot 45+1); agg 4-2
A simple long pass down the inside-right channel. Dalot wins a wrestle with Tagliafico by the right-hand side of the D. He spins and dispatches a shot across Perri and in, off the base of the left-hand post. Easy as that! There’s a VAR check for a foul, but it’s quickly over.
45 min +1: Tolisso is booked for a cynical tug on Garnacho, and he’ll miss the next match. Should Lyon get there. And that doesn’t look so likely, because …
45 min: … so having said that, Cherki dribbles hard down the right and reaches the edge of the area before being swarmed by five red shirts. Nowhere to go. But Cherki is unquestionably the big dangerman for Lyon.
44 min: Lyon, perhaps aware that a second first-half goal wouldn’t flatter Manchester United, take their sweet time over a free kick. The sanctuary of the dressing room, and a chance to regroup, is within touching distance.
43 min: Dorgu pings Garnacho away down the left, but just before the winger enters the box, he slips, allowing Maitland-Niles to come across and mop up.
41 min: … and Maguire wins a header again, but this one loops into the sky and provides easy pickings for Perri.
40 min: United keep pressing forward. Dorgu looks for Hojlund with a cross from the left but can’t find his man. Then Ugarte bustles down the other flank to win another corner. Fernandes strolls over to take.
38 min: Fernandes has developed a taste for the spectacular now. From a central position, 25 yards out, he creams an outside-of-foot half-volley inches wide of the top-right corner. Perri wasn’t getting to that.
37 min: Garnacho’s shot is deflected wide right. Nothing comes of the corner but this is a good response by the hosts to that period of Lyon dominance.
36 min: Mazraoui launches long down the inside-right channel. Fernandes meets the ball dropping over his shoulder on the volley, and sends a screeching dipper pinging off the crossbar. What a goal that would have been! There won’t be many fans of United or Liverpool who’ll appreciate the comparison, but that was Robbie Fowleresque.
35 min: Yoro beckenbauers his way down the middle of the park with all the elegance that made-up verb suggests. The move peters out, but that’s not the point. What a player Yoro promises to be.
33 min: United faff around on the edge of their own box, gifting the ball to Akouokou, who takes a speculative shot. Straight at Onana. The first murmurs of anxiety from the home fans. Lyon are getting closer and closer to an equaliser.
31 min: Cherki is this close to scoring a spectacular solo goal, spinning away from Dorgu down the right and drifting infield, past Casemiro and Yoro, before entering the box, opening his body, and sidefooting towards the bottom left. He doesn’t quite catch it, allowing Onana to parry. It’s a fine save, though Onana should never have been allowed to make it. Having done so well to get himself into position, Cherki should have scored.
30 min: Tagliafico makes good down the left and crosses long for Maitland-Niles, who volleys over from close range. The ball should never have got through to Maitland-Niles, but Yoro wafted weakly at the cross as it came over.
