Europa League: Pogba sends Man Utd into quarter-finals after stunning Spurs exit

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Paul Pogba scored the winner on his Manchester United return as they edged past AC Milan at San Siro to reach the Europa League quarter-finals.

The France midfielder settled the tie three minutes after his introduction as a half-time substitute with a composed finish from close range.

The 28-year-old was making his first appearance in the competition this season, after coming back from a thigh injury which has kept him out since 6 February.

Until his intervention, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side had rarely looked like breaking the deadlock against a well-organised Milan team who also appeared capable of adding to the late away goal that had swung the tie in their favour at Old Trafford.

Rade Krunic, Alexis Saelemaekers and Theo Hernandez all threatened the visitors' goal before the break.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was summoned from the bench to try and rescue the tie, but United goalkeeper Dean Henderson superbly saved to prevent the Swede from scoring with a back-post header.

Henderson, who was excellent throughout, also brilliantly turned away an earlier effort from Saelemaekers.

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Slavia Prague inflicted Rangers' first defeat at Ibrox in just over a year to knock the nine-man Scottish champions out of the Europa League.

Peter Olayinka's first-half header gave the Czech champions the lead following a 1-1 draw in Prague, and Nicolae Stanciu doubled the advantage after Leon Balogun was shown a second yellow.

Rangers were already down to 10 by then, Kemar Roofe having been sent off within six minutes of coming on for catching goalkeeper Ondrej Kolar in the face with his boot.

There was still time for further tumult in the closing minutes. A strong challenge by Connor Goldson precipitated a melee, and Ondrej Kudela uttered something to Glen Kamara while covering his mouth with a hand.

That enraged Rangers' players, with Kamara, Goldson and Bongani Zungu particularly incensed and manager Steven Gerrard confronting his opposite number at full-time.

While Rangers will feel they could have shown more of themselves over the two legs of this last-16 tie, Slavia proved themselves the more accomplished side as they backed up their win over Leicester City in the previous round.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, speaking to BT Sport: "Very happy of course. We've come through a very difficult tie against a fantastic club and we've overcome some difficulties.

"You give yourself a chance to win a game of football when you keep a clean sheet. Dean Henderson made a fantastic save towards the end and I'm very pleased with everyone's defending. We know the back six, with the likes of Scott McTominay and Fred, always give everything.

"There are many good teams left but you've got to be spot on. It's a cup competition and anything can happen. But we are through and we feel confident."

On goalscorer Paul Pogba's performance: "We've missed Paul. He's been out for almost two months and any team would miss a player like Paul Pogba. He is very important for us and he's going to give us a big boost. He makes a very, very big difference to us."

On facing Leicester in the FA Cup this weekend: "We are looking forward to Sunday, it's another quarter-final, so will just dust ourselves down and go again."

Right, what does the United gaffer have to say. Here's Solskjaer...

Owen Hargreaves says finishing second in the Premier League and winning a trophy would be a 'great' season.

Your reactions...

Dr David: At the start this would have been a great season for @ManUtd. But there is a tinge of frustration. Unable to beat weak opposition such as Sheffield, WBA, and Liverpool meant the season could have been better.

Peter Foulger: Of course second and a trophy (or two) would be a great season, we’ve not had a trophy since 2017. But it’s more about the progression, improving a bit more each season.

Neil Burrows: Owen Hargreaves is spot on.

Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson sums up the feelings of all the club's fans...

Bradley Day: On a side note, if the Carabao Cup final hadn't been pushed back a few months Jose Mourinho would have been sacked tonight.

Paul Collins: Man Utd are like Arsenal in that both can be amazing and blow teams away and follow it up by being absolutely rotten in the next game. Played well tonight but which version will turn up in next game?

Manchester United defender Luke Shaw to BT Sport on his recall to the England squad:

"I'm extremely happy, it's a massive honour to get selected for your country.

"I've been out of the fold for a while but I've always had ambitions to get back into the squad.

"Now I’ve done that and I’m really looking forward to being there with the lads."

Manchester United defender Luke Shaw, speaking to BT Sport:

"Obviously, we're very happy we’re through. I’ll be honest, and the lads and staff would agree, we weren’t good at all especially first half we were awful.

"The first 10-15 minutes, we started well, kept control of the ball but it was like a switch - we turned off, kept giving away balls, bringing pressure on ourselves and we were lucky.

"Second half it always helps to have a world class player like Paul (Pogba) to make a difference and he did that. But we know we need to be better than tonight.

"It’s a very good win and the positive is that we are through, we have players coming back and the squad looks better."

Luke Shaw was again impressive for United, on the day he was recalled to the England squad after not playing for the Three Lions since September 2018.

England play San Marino at home on 25 March, are in Albania on 28 March and then host Poland on 31 March.

But United is very much on his mind at the moment, so let's see what he's got to say.

Some honesty from defender Luke Shaw, who said United were "awful" in the first half. "We need to be better," he adds.

Manchester United didn't look nervous at all tonight. If anything, they probably looked more nervous last week. But tonight, the core of the team looked very, very comfortable in that environment.

Tactically, physically, the running power and passing - the game management was spot on. They dealt with anything AC Milan threw at the them and it's a comprehensive win.

I think they should've won the game by more, really.

"If United can finish second and win a trophy, I think they've had a great season," says ex-United man Owen Hargreaves on BT Sport.

Agree? Is it a great season for United if you are so far behind Manchester City? Tweet us your thoughts using #bbcfootball

Away from home, you are going to come under pressure and to win away in Europe, you need your goalkeeper to play well, and Dean Henderson had an excellent game tonight. His save to stop Zlatan Ibrahimovic is exactly what Man United needed.

They have come under some criticism this season but I think they such take a huge amount of credit for the performance. They were absolutely superb.

I thought the box four of Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay and Fred were fantastic. They had class, composure. All four of them were superb tonight and gave United a really solid platform to win the game.

Early matches

• Arsenal 0-1 Olympiakos (3-2 on aggregate)
• Dinamo Zagreb 3-0 Tottenham AET (3-2 on aggregate)
• Molde 2-1 Granada (2-3 on aggregate)
• Shakhtar Donetsk 1-2 Roma (1-5 on aggregate)

Late matches

• AC Milan 0-1 Manchester United (1-2 on aggregate)
• Rangers 0-2 Slavia Prague (1-3 on aggregate)
• Villarreal 2-0 Dynamo Kiev (4-0 on aggregate)
• Young Boys 0-2 Ajax (0-5 on aggregate)

Through to the quarter-finals - Arsenal (England), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), Granada (Spain), Roma (Italy), Manchester United (England), Slavia Prague (Czech Republic), Villarreal (Spain), Ajax (Netherlands).

There's no seeding or country protection in the quarter-final draw so Arsenal could get Manchester United, but let's hope they're kept apart.

RegularJon: Paul Pogba, WHAT A PLAYER! So glad he’s back. Fantastic performance.

DSM: Dean Henderson's distribution tonight is second to none.

Sho: Imagine the people who still don't rate Pogba. Quite obviously a world class player and quite obviously our best player. Bossed the game on his own when he came on.

We started the day with four British sides left in, two have advanced, two have been eliminated.

Rangers join Tottenham in making a last-16 exit after a 2-0 home loss to Slavia Prague, who knocked Leicester out in the last 32.

For reaction to Rangers' loss, click here.

Outstanding! Outstanding result, outstanding performance, and it should give the team, the supporters, the club a huge shot in the arm.

A lot of people have been quick to criticise Man United but I think they deserve a lot of credit tonight. That is a massive result for them on the European stage.