Coutinho seals Man U's fate

Brazilian Philippe Coutinho's stylish goal earned Liverpool a 1-1 draw at Manchester United on Thursday as Jurgen Klopp's men eliminated their archrival from the Europa League.

Trailing 2-0 from last week's one-sided first leg, Louis van Gaal's United gained a foothold in the last-16 tie when Anthony Martial scored a 32nd-minute penalty to restore hope at Old Trafford.

But Coutinho's goal on the stroke of halftime knocked the wind from the hosts' sails and sent Liverpool through with a 3-1 aggregate victory, leaving the FA Cup as United's last chance of salvaging a piece of silverware from its troubled season.

"Phil had a genius moment - wonderful!" said Klopp, whose side will learn its quarterfinal opponent in Friday's draw.

"It was good, it was intense, we deserve to be in the next round and it feels really good. It was really hard work again."

United is due to face West Ham United in an FA Cup quarterfinal replay, but in the meantime must switch its attentions to preventing Liverpool from overtaking it in the battle for a top-four finish in the English Premier League, starting with Sunday's trip to Manchester City in the derby.

Liverpool becomes the first English team to eliminate United from European competition, with the memory of last month's penalty shootout loss to City in the League Cup final fading fast.

"It is very disappointing," said van Gaal.

"We had our chances, that is the feeling in the dressing room. We created enough chances to win.

"They gave everything. More than everything. I am pleased that the fans saw that and gave them applause at the end."

United was outplayed from start to finish at Anfield last week, but seemed determined to assert itself in the return.

The away goal left United needing to score three times to progress. It began the second half with Antonio Valencia replacing Varela. The Ecuadorean was making his comeback after five months out of the lineup with a broken foot.

Its control after the tie was restored, Liverpool took a step back. Mamadou Sakho authoritatively directed the defence and limited United to minimal chances.

To a soundtrack of gleeful taunts from the home fans, Liverpool came on strong in the dying minutes, with United goalkeeper David de Gea twice denying Coutinho a second goal and also thwarting substitute Divock Origi.

(China Daily 03/19/2016 page12)