Roma v Manchester United player ratings: Bryan Cristante 8; Edinson Cavani and David de Gea both get 9


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Manchester United advanced to the Europa League final 8-5 on aggregate on Thursday despite losing 3-2 to Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.

The Premier League side will play Villarreal in the final on May 26 in Gdansk.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side had taken a 6-2 first-leg lead to Rome, and Edinson Cavani's goals in the 39th and 68th minutes ensured their place in the final.

Roma had gone ahead on the night midway through the second half with goals from Edin Dzeko and Bryan Cristante in a three-minute spell, and Alex Telles' own goal gave the hosts a second-leg win with seven minutes to go.

Roma battled from the outset with Gianluca Mancini forcing an early save from United 'keeper David De Gea, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan nodding the resulting corner into the side netting.

Cavani repeatedly proved dangerous, pouncing on a Roger Ibanez blunder to rattle the bar and then forcing a save from Roma keeper Antonio Mirante.

The Uruguayan finally broke through six minutes before the break, collecting a Bruno Fernandes through ball before firing past a beaten Mirante.

De Gea did well again to save from Mkhitaryan and Dzeko either side of the break.

The 33-year-old Dzeko got the equaliser in the 57th minute when he got his head to Pedro's cross to beat De Gea.

Cristante got the second three minutes later, connecting with a Lorenzo Pellegrini to revive Roman hopes.

De Gea then pulled off a miraculous double save on from a Dzeko header and Pedro's follow-up, and Cavani struck again after 68 minutes when he headed Bruno Fernandes' centre past Mirante.

Roma did not give up and Telles' own goal offered some consolation to a team set to be coached next season by former Man United manager Jose Mourinho.

Assessing the performances from the Stadio Olimpico, Liam Wheeler and Andy Mitten have provided their player ratings for Roma and Manchester United respectively. To view the ratings, click through the gallery above, or if using a mobile device simply swipe.

The Facility’s Versatility

Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
 
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
 
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
 
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
 
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
 
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket

Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

Company name: Play:Date

Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day

Founder: Shamim Kassibawi

Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US

Sector: Tech 

Size: 20 employees

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