Man Utd held to a draw in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals

Taking the lead through Mkhitaryan's goal, Jose Mourinho's side let Anderlecht equalize 1-1 with just four minutes left in the second half.

Mkhitaryan opened the scoring for Man Utd. Photo: Reuters.

Goals: Dendoncker 86' - Mkhitaryan 37'.

Playing away from home, Man Utd were in control for most of the match and created many scoring opportunities. However, the English side only had one goal from Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the first half. This fragile advantage was equalized by Anderlecht late in the match thanks to a header from Leander Dendoncker. In any case, a draw with away goals was a favorable result for Jose Mourinho and his team.

Man Utd played with an attacking 4-3-3 formation. Zlatan Ibrahimovic played as a center forward, Marcus Rashford played on the left wing. This was a good match for the young English striker. At the beginning of the first half, Rashford had a cross for Ibrahimovic to finish close to the goal but was blocked by the Anderlecht goalkeeper. Immediately after, Jesse Lingard rushed in to score the rebound and hit the post.

Rashford was the one who created the opening goal for Mkhitaryan. His quick volley forced goalkeeper Ruben to fly to block it, allowing Mkhitaryan to rush in and score the rebound. This was a fast combination from Man Utd. Starting from Pogba, Ibrahimovic, Antonio Valencia, Rashford and Mkhitaryan all needed only one touch of the ball.

Pogba missed the chance to increase the score to 2-0. Photo: Reuters.

Anderlecht played better in the second half but Man Utd still dominated the game. The Belgians had chances to equalize when Valencia twice in a row blocked efforts from Massimo Bruno and Frank Acheampong.

Mkhitaryan missed a chance to score twice when he volleyed wide from a good position after Matteo Darmian's cross. Late in the first half, Paul Pogba shot at goalkeeper Ruben in a one-on-one situation about 10 yards from goal.

Five minutes after that miss, Man Utd conceded a goal from a high ball. Dendoncker ran in strongly, beat Darmian to meet Ivan Obradovic's cross and headed past Sergio Romero. The goal showed the spirit of a young team at Anderlecht. A simple but powerful move and very difficult to stop.

Dendoncker equalized for Anderlecht. Photo: Reuters.

Man Utd have not performed well away from home against Feyenoord, Fenerbahce and Rostov in previous Europa League knockout games. This time, Mourinho's men showed a brighter side. "The Red Devils" had 64% possession and seven shots on target compared to their opponents' one.

Man Utd only need a goalless draw in the second leg on April 20 to progress.

According to VNE