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 equalise 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 the dominant force 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 equalised 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's team.

Man Utd played with an attacking 4-3-3 formation. Zlatan Ibrahimovic played as a centre forward, Marcus Rashford 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 dive to block, 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 were the better side in the second half but United were still in control. The Belgians had chances to equalise when Valencia twice blocked efforts from Massimo Bruno and Frank Acheampong.

Mkhitaryan missed the 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 metres from goal.

Five minutes after that miss, Man Utd conceded a goal through a high ball. Dendoncker made a brave run, beat Darmian to Ivan Obradovic's cross and headed past Sergio Romero. The goal showed the spirit of a young team at Anderlecht. It was a simple move but powerful 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 had 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