MANCHESTER - Roma have everything to do for their Europa League semifinal second leg after losing 6-2 to Manchester United in their first leg, having been 2-1 up at half time.

  On Thursday night at Old Trafford, Roma had an unfortunate start, losing midfielder Jordan Veretout (replaced by Gonzalo Villar) to a pulled muscle in the 5th minute and then conceding a goal just four minutes later - an excellent team goal set up by Edinson Cavani and brilliantly finished by Bruno Fernandes. 

  Veretout was soon joined in the stands by goalkeeper Pau Lopez and midfielder Leonardo Spinazzola, meaning that Roma had exhausted their substitution allowance with three unfortunate first half injuries. 

  However, they soon turned the match around, with a Lorenzo Pellegrini penalty in the 15th minute, after an accidental handball by Paul Pogba, and an Edin Dzeko tap-in in the 33rd minute, set up by a brilliant cross by Pellegrini. Going into half time, it looked like United were on their way to a fifth semi-final elimination in European competitions under manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær.

  Uruguay’s Edinson Cavani was the man to get United’s Europa League campaign back on the right foot, scoring in the 48th and 63rd minutes, managing both times to find himself in the perfect position for two first tough finishes Roma’s substitute keeper Antonio Mirante.

  Things soon went from bad to worse for Roma, after Chris Smalling was ruled to have taken down Cavani in the box, despite the ball already having flown through his legs, and a penalty awarded. Fernandes, United’s Portuguese talisman, coolly slotted it into the top corner, before crossing the ball into the box just three minutes later for Paul Pogba to head home United’s fifth.

  Their sixth, what will most likely be the final nail in Roma’s coffin, was a brilliant solo effort by substitute Mason Greenwood in the 86th minute.

  This was the first time a team scored six in a European semi-final since 1964, and Roma now have a lot of catching up to do in their second leg in Rome on May 6.

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