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Ronaldo scores on return for Man U

Published:Friday | October 28, 2022 | 12:12 AM
Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo applauds the fans at the end of the Europa League Group E match between Manchester United and Sheriff at Old Trafford in Manchester, England yesterday. Manchester United won 3-0.
AP
Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo applauds the fans at the end of the Europa League Group E match between Manchester United and Sheriff at Old Trafford in Manchester, England yesterday. Manchester United won 3-0.

MANCHESTER, England (AP):

Cristiano Ronaldo scored on his return to the Manchester United line-up to seal a 3-0 victory over Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League yesterday that secured a spot in the knockout round.

Ronaldo was brought back into the fold by United manager Erik Ten Hag after he was left out of the squad against Chelsea in the English Premier League for refusing to come on as a substitute in a 2-0 win over Tottenham last week. The Portugal star started against Sheriff and netted the last goal nine minutes from time on a rebound after Sheriff goalkeeper Maxym Koval saved his initial header.

Earlier, defender Diogo Dalot met a corner kick by Christian Eriksen to head in the opening goal a minute before half-time as United dominated possession.

Substitute forward Marcus Rashford headed home the second in the second half, following a cross from another substitute, Luke Shaw.

The victory against the Moldovan club set up a November 3 decider against Real Sociedad for first place in Group E.

STRAIGHT VICTORY

Sociedad recorded their fifth straight victory in the competition, 2-0 at Omonia, to stay three points ahead of United.

PSV Eindhoven became the first team to hold Arsenal scoreless this season, beating the Gunners 2-0 to keep alive the fight for first place in Group A.

Joey Veerman and substitute Luuk de Jong scored in the second half for PSV to hand Premier League leaders Arsenal only their second loss of the season in all competitions and first in the Europa League.

Arsenal still lead Group A with 12 points, with Eindhoven second on 10 with one round remaining. Both teams have qualified for the next stage, but the group winners advance directly to the last 16 while teams qualifying second go through an extra play-off round.

Germany’s Freiburg topped Group G despite being held 1-1 at home by Olympiakos, while Ferencváros drew with Monaco 1-1 to clinch first place in Group H.

Real Betis secured first place in Group C after a 1-0 victory at Ludogorets, with Nabil Fekir scoring the winner. The Spanish club has 13 points while Ludogorets are six points behind, tied with Roma.

Mohamed Camara scored the winning goal to reignite Roma’s Europa League campaign as José Mourinho’s team earned a 2-1 victory over HJK Helsinki in Finland.

Other results: Lazio 2 Midtjylland 1; HJK 1 Roma 2; Sturm Graz 1 Feyenoord 0; Union Berlin 1 Braga 0.