Substitute Paul Pogba came off the bench to steer Manchester United into the quarter-finals of the Europa League with a 1-0 win over AC Milan in Italy.
Thursday’s victory saw the Red Devils advance 2-1 in the tie after the teams drew 1-1 at Old Trafford.
Pogba, who has been out since February 6, came on for Marcus Rashford at the break in a bid to change the dynamic of the game – a change that paid dividends within four minutes.
Daniel James saw a shot blocked to start a penalty-box melee in which United kept their cool, with Fred’s pressure on Franck Kessie leading the ball to be pushed onto Pogba.
Five yards out but at an acute angle, he shaped to cross only for the ball to beat Gianluigi Donnarumma at the near post.
But while United progressed, Dinamo Zagreb sent Tottenham Hotspur crashing out after a stunning hat-trick by striker Mislav Orsic gave the Croatian champions a 3-2 aggregate win over the English side.
Dinamo won 3-0 on the night after extra time to reach the quarter-finals and cap a remarkable few days in Zagreb, following Dinamo coach Zoran Mamic’s resignation earlier this week after being jailed for fraud and subsequently replaced by Damir Krznar.
Trailing 2-0 from the first leg, a resurgent Dinamo pulled one back in the 62nd minute when Orsic beat visiting goalkeeper Hugo Lloris with a thunderbolt from 18 metres into the top corner after he cut inside the from the left.
Orsic levelled the tie in the 83rd with an unstoppable first-time shot past Lloris from eight metres after a flowing move saw substitute Iyayi Atiemwen square the ball to the 28-year old from the right flank.
Orsic put the icing on the cake in the 106th minute with a dazzling solo effort as he beat four visiting defenders with a jinking run before unleashing a low drive past Lloris from the edge of the area.
Intense Spurs pressure in the last 10 minutes of the absorbing contest saw them miss a pair of sitters as home keeper Dominik Livakovic denied Gareth Bale and Harry Kane.
It was an appalling performance from Spurs to increase the pressure on manager Jose Mourinho with the team sitting only eighth in the Premier League.
“My team didn’t bring to the game the basics of football or life – to respect our jobs and give everything,” the Portuguese coach said. “I can only apologise to the Tottenham supporters.”
In London, Arsenal endured a nervous night as they lost 1-0 to Greek side Olympiakos but progressed to the last eight 3-2 on aggregate.
After a 3-1 victory in Athens last week and reaching halftime unscathed in the return, Arsenal looked comfortable.
But when Youssef El Arabi’s deflected shot left Bernd Leno wrong-footed early in the second half it gave the visitors hope and increased the tension among the home ranks.
Arsenal wasted several late chances to ease the jitters with captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, restored to the starting line-up after being left out of Sunday’s north London derby for disciplinary reasons, guilty.
The Gunners were joined by Roma, Villarreal, Granada, Ajax and Slavia Prague, who beat Steven Gerrard’s Rangers 2-0 to advance 3-1 on aggregate.
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