Europa League: Manchester United cruise into final, Arsenal lose to Villareal

Manchester United lost 23 to Roma in second leg of the semifinal of Europa League but cruised through to the final on the basis of an 85 aggregate victoryBut it will not be Premier League rivals Arsenal they meet in Polands Gdansk on May 26 rather Spaniards Villarreal who are in a first major final after a goalless second leg in London DPA reportsThe Yellow Submarine as Villarreal are known gained revenge for their 2006 Champions League semifinal loss to Arsenal with a 21 aggregate triumph while United dominated Roma 85Manchester Uniteds entry to the final means the club could claim both of the major European titles this year as neighbours Manchester City face Chelsea in the Champions League final three days laterOnly the city of Milan has managed this feat when AC Milan won the Champions League and Inter Milan the UEFA Cup in 1994United survived an early scare when their former player Henrikh Mkhitaryan headed wide but Edinson Cavani with his third chance in the game smashed in the 39th minute opener to settle their nervesHe had previously lobbed onto the bar and had a shot saved by keeper Antonio MiranteAnd it was Cavanis simple header from Bruno Fernandes cross midway through the second half which ultimately put the tie beyond doubtIts a great achievement United captain Harry Maguire told BT Sport Obviously we didnt win the game tonight which is disappointing but we did the hard work in the first legRoma who will be coached by former United boss Jose Mourinho next season deservedly levelled when Edin Dzeko headed in from close range and soon after Bryan Cristante fired in on the hourUnited keeper David de Gea recalled for Europa League fixtures made some impressive saves from Pedro and Mkhitaryan when a third goal could have sparked a comeback Teenager Nicola Zalewski did grab the winner on the night but his deflected debut goal offered only late consolationWe had some great European nights this season with some big wins Cristante told UEFAcom Its a pity for that second half in ManchesterTonight we still had a few goals to score but we exit the competition with our heads held highOle Gunnar Solskjaer had lost his previous four semifinals as United manager but could finally taste victoryVillarreal also ended a last four hoodoo as they had lost all five of their previous semifinals in various competitionsCoach Unai Emery a former Arsenal manager won three Europa Leagues with Sevilla and is on the brink of glory once moreVillarreal have missed out on so many semifinal chances to reach the final but now finally weve done it said defender Pau TorresIts time to enjoy right now but immediately important to prepare the final really well because thats a historic opportunityThey almost repeated their early goal from the first leg but keeper Bernd Leno saved well from Samuel Chukwueze who was later carried off injuredPierreEmerick Aubameyang hit the post in the first half for Arsenal with a curling shot and headed onto the woodwork with his last involvement before being substituted 10 minutes from time due to lingering effect of a malaria infectionBut Villarreal held on to claim a historic date with United later this month and Arsenal a lowly ninth domestically face a bitterly disappointing conclusion to the campaignWe are devastated really disappointed but we have to congratulate Villarreal on reaching the final said Arsenal manager Mikel ArtetaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever