Shakhtar's three goals in five minutes, a strong-willed victory for Manchester United and Lukaku's achievement: what were the memories of the 1/8 finals of the Europa League

Removal after VAR and Shakhtar's first match in Europe to zero in 3.5 years

Shakhtar became one of the first quarterfinalists of the Europa League. The Ukrainian club in the first meeting with Wolfsburg won with a minimal advantage (2: 1), and in Kiev defeated the opponent on the empty NSC Olimpiyskiy - 3: 0.

However, until the last minutes of the match, the teams could not hit each other's goal. The hosts had the advantage, but failed to realize a number of points. For example, Marlos hit the bar. In a couple of episodes, the guests were saved by goalkeeper Cohen Castells, who eventually made six saves.

And in the middle of the second half, Shakhtar remained in the minority. The referee from Slovakia Ivan Kruzhlyak first awarded a penalty for David Chocholava's foul on Joao Victor, but after consulting with his assistants at VAR, he replaced the 11-meter with a penalty kick, but removed the defender.

Minutes later, however, the line-ups leveled off after John Anthony Brooks received a second yellow card for a rough foul in midfield.

At the end of the meeting, when Wolfsburg went ahead with large forces, Luis Castro's charges still put the squeeze on the opponent, scoring three goals in five minutes. The double was designed by Junior Moraes, who hit the gates of the German team in the first game. On the 89th minute, he closed the ball to Dodo from the right flank, and already in the added time by the referee, he ran away one on one with Castells, beat the goalkeeper and hit the empty net.

This is how Shakhtar reached the Europa League quarterfinals for the first time in four years, where they will face the winner of the Basel - Eintracht Frankfurt pair. Also, for the first time since February 2017, the Pitmen managed to hold a clean-sheet match in European competitions. The Ukrainian team conceded goals in 26 meetings in a row. This series ended at 1266 days.  

Double Wind and one hit of Istanbul on target 

The match between Copenhagen and Istanbul Bashakshehir ended with a similar score. The silver medalist of the Danish championship in the first match lost with a minimum score, but at home he sent three unanswered goals into the opponent's goal.

The main hero of the meeting was the 21-year-old striker of the hosts Jonas Wind, who played the first match in the current LE draw. Serious injuries prevented him from entering the field earlier. Due to various injuries, as well as the coronavirus pandemic, the young striker did not enter the field for almost a year.

But in the match against Istanbul, the recovered Wind did everything to ensure that his team passed to the next stage of the tournament. Already in the fourth minute, he opened the scoring and scored the first goal of his career in the LE. At the beginning of the second half, Jonas converted a penalty and then helped Rasmus Falk to score.

The guests with the well-known Russian fans Martin Skrtel and Alexander Epureanu in the squad were never able to break through Karl-Johan Yunsson. Moreover, for the whole game they struck only one shot on target of his goal.

Thus, Copenhagen went further, delighting all Danish fans. For the first time in 23 years, a club from this country made it to the quarterfinals of the European Cup.

Mata's two assists and Wiesinger's miracle goal

But the confrontation between Manchester United and LASK was devoid of intrigue, since the Mancunians sent five unanswered goals into the opponent's goal back in March. It is not surprising that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer released a semi-reserve squad for the return game, and the 18-year-old defender Teden Menzhi made his debut in the first team of Manchester United at the end of the match.

A large number of substitutes on the field could not but affect the game of the hosts, and they spent the first half extremely unsuccessfully. The Solskjaer team made only two shots on the opponent's goal and none on target.

But LASK actively acted in pressure and could well open an account. Panamanian Andres Andrade missed the most dangerous moment. After hitting the defender's head, the ball hit the crossbar.

At the beginning of the second half, the guests still managed to score. Philip Wiesinger, having won a rebound on the serve of the corner, struck a beautiful shot from outside the penalty area into the far corner.

However, Manchester United fought back after just two minutes. Jesse Lingard, after Juan Mata's excellent cutting pass, burst into someone else's penalty area and shot under the keeper's supporting leg. The Briton has distinguished himself in two matches in a row for the first time since December 2018. On July 26, he hit the gates of Leicester in the last round of the Premier League.

At the end of the meeting, "Manchester" won a strong-willed victory. Mata with Anthony Martial in several passes passed the LASK center of defense, and the Frenchman delivered an accurate blow. In the quarterfinals, the English team will meet with Copenhagen.  

Getafe's missed penalty and Eriksen's goal in the end

It was much more difficult for Inter, which had to determine the winner of the pair with Getafe after one meeting. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the teams did not have time to play the first game, and therefore UEFA reduced their duel to one match. It took place on neutral territory in German Gelsenkirchen.

Despite the fact that the silver medalist of Serie A was considered a clear favorite, the offender of Krasnodar started the match more actively and even created a couple of dangerous moments at the gates of Samir Handanovich.

However, Getafe did not succeed in distinguishing themselves, and Inter gradually seized the initiative. And in the 33rd minute, the team opened the scoring. Romelu Lukaku, after an excellent pass from Alessandro Bastogne, cleverly covered the ball with his body from the depths and shot into the far corner. 

The Belgian scored in the eighth consecutive Europa League match. He has scored three times in the current tournament for Milan and five times in the 2014/15 season for Everton. Lukaku repeated the record of the famous English striker Alan Shearer, who became the author of a similar series in 2005 in the UEFA Cup, the predecessor of the LE.

Lukaku also became the first Inter player since 2004 to score in five consecutive UEFA club games. Then Adriano did it.

The key moment of the meeting took place 15 minutes before the final whistle, when the referee from England Anthony Taylor, after watching the replay, awarded a penalty to Inter for a handball against Diego Godin.

Getafe captain Jorge Molina decided to play the penalty spot, shortly before that came on as a substitute. The Spaniard shot into the left corner, but the ball went wide.

After that, the demoralized players of the Spanish team missed again. Christian Eriksen sent the ball into an empty corner in the commotion outside the goal. So "Inter" won the fourth victory in a row in all tournaments with a total score of 9: 0 and reached the quarterfinals, where they will meet with the winner of the confrontation "Rangers" - "Bayer".