Sporting Lisbon and Manchester United have now booked their place in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Sporting Lisbon sent Arsenal crashing out of the Europa League with a penalty shoot-out win after Pedro Goncalves's stunning equaliser, while Manchester United eased into the quarterfinals of the Europa League Thursday.
Pedro Goncalves scored a stunner from 46-yards away, a goal which will live long in the memory of Sporting CP and Arsenal fans. He equalised in stunning fashion during Thursday's Europa League last-16 clash with a dipping shot from just inside the Arsenal half. His goal forced the game into extra time and an eventual penalty shootout.
The brilliant strike brought back memories of famous goals from the likes of David Beckham and Wayne Rooney.
Que golaço do Pedro Gonçalves, do Sporting Portugal, contra o Arsenal pic.twitter.com/HWegrn60xx
— Várzea Sports (@VarzeaSports) March 16, 2023
The goal may well be the leading contender for the 2023 Puskas Award. Arsenal were booted out of Europe at the last-16 stage following a penalty shootout defeat.
Sporting Lisbon have now booked their place in the quarterfinals of the competition along with Manchester United, Sevilla, Feyenoord, Juventus, AS Roma, Bayer Leverkusen, and Union Saint-Gilloise.
In another stunning game, Marcus Rashford of Manchester United scored the winner against Real Betis in the return leg of the Europa League round of 16.
Rashford scored a stunner to win United the match with a 1-0 second leg win over Real Betis.
What a goal by @MarcusRashford ♥️🔴👹 pic.twitter.com/dQpF0TeRSw
— 𝐊𝖊𝘃𝖎𝖓 𝐃𝐢 𝐊𝖊𝖗𝖊🍥 (@KereKevin1995) March 16, 2023
Rashford’s brilliant goal early in the second half helped United cruise through the game comfortably as Betis’ energy levels dipped.
The English forward was not having the best of games, as he missed two straightforward chances early in the game.
He then picked the ball up 25 yards out in the 55th minute and unleashed a dipping strike that left Real Betis keeper Rui Silva no chance.
Manchester United has advanced to the quarterfinals of the Europa League with Rashford’s goal.
It was Rashford's 27th goal of in this year’s campaign. Since his return from the World Cup, Rashford has scored a remarkable 19 goals in 24 games which is in stark contrast from last season in which he managed to score just five goals in the entire campaign.
Rashford now has 26 goals in all competitions meaning now he’s moved above Barcelona hotshot Robert Lewandowski for strikes this season.
Only Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe have scored more times than Rashford in this term.
This was also Rashford’s 25th strike in European competition for Man United, which allowed him to overtake Cristiano Ronaldo for the most European goals scored for the side.
(Edited by : Jerome Anthony)
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