{"id":23416,"date":"2025-04-18T15:57:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T15:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/?p=23416"},"modified":"2025-04-18T16:00:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T16:00:29","slug":"how-maguires-121st-minute-goal-completed-man-uniteds-europa-league-miracle-against-lyon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/?p=23416","title":{"rendered":"How Maguire\u2019s 121st-minute goal completed Man United\u2019s Europa League miracle against Lyon"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/b>By Premium Times <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Manchester United<\/a><\/strong> delivered a night of unforgettable drama at Old Trafford, turning a near-collapse into triumph on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Harry Maguire\u2019s 121st-minute header sealed a sensational 5-4 extra-time victory over Lyon, securing a place in the Europa League semi-finals for the Red Devils.<\/p>\n

What looked like a routine win turned into chaos, then became legend.<\/p>\n

United had taken control early on, thanks to composed finishes from Manuel Ugarte and Diego Dalot.<\/p>\n

Leading 2-0 on the night and 4-2 on aggregate, R\u00faben Amorim\u2019s side seemed set for smooth passage.<\/p>\n

But football\u2019s unpredictability came to life. Lyon hit back with two goals from Nicol\u00e1s Tagliafico and Corentin Tolisso, drawing level on aggregate at 4-4 and forcing extra time.<\/p>\n

Then came a twist\u2014Tolisso was shown a red card in the 89th minute, reducing Lyon to ten men.<\/p>\n

Instead of folding, the French side came out swinging. Goals from Rayan Cherki and Alexandre Lacazette in quick succession stunned the home crowd, giving Lyon a 4-2 lead in extra-time and placing United on the brink of elimination.<\/p>\n

With just minutes remaining, United found one final surge of belief.<\/p>\n

Bruno Fernandes gave them hope with a penalty in the 114th minute. Then came 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo, slotting home a dramatic equaliser in the 120th minute. Before Lyon could react, Maguire rose highest from a corner and powered in a header\u2014sparking scenes of wild celebration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like 1999 all over again,\u201d said Amorim in his post-match conference, referencing United\u2019s legendary Champions League final comeback in Barcelona. \u201cWe were dead on our feet, but this club lives for moments like these.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even fans who had left early due to traffic were seen rushing back into the stadium after hearing the roars that followed Fernandes\u2019 penalty.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sound after Mainoo and Maguire\u2019s goals\u2014I\u2019ve never heard anything like it,\u201d Amorim added. \u201cYou don\u2019t forget nights like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the win, United now face Spain\u2019s Athletic Club in the semi-finals, keeping alive hopes of silverware and a route back to the Champions League.<\/p>\n

For a team struggling in the Premier League, the Europa League has become their lifeline.<\/p>\n

As Amorim put it, \u201cSometimes, one night changes everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in Rome, Europa League sensation Bod\u00f8\/Glimt claimed a 3-2 win on penalties to oust Lazio and set up a semi-final tie against Tottenham.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Manchester United delivered a night of unforgettable drama at Old Trafford, turning a near-collapse into triumph on Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23417,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[363,2645,10578,224],"class_list":["post-23416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-europa-league","tag-lyon","tag-maguire","tag-man-united"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23416"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23416"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23421,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23416\/revisions\/23421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}