Pogba: Man United silenced critics

Of course United could have got into the Champions League qualifiers by finishing fourth in the league like Liverpool, but they’ll just have to settle for a European trophy and going straight into the Champions League group stage.

Manchester was plunged into tragedy on Monday when 22 people were killed by a bomb attack at an Ariana Grande concert in the city center.

“Obviously both sides were affected (by the terrorist attack in Manchester), but once you play the final, for that moment you forget it”. Strong defensively and a powerful presence in midfield, Pogba took the match by the scruff of the neck early on and was rewarded with a goal, albeit deflected, after 18 minutes.

The Frenchman’s shot took a wicked deflection to wrong-foot goalkeeper Andre Onana and fly into the net. From a Juan Mata corner, Chris Smalling headed the ball down into a crowded penalty area, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan hooking home very cleverly, to double the Red Devils’ advantage.

With chants of “Manchester!”.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ajax’s callow side – the youngest ever in a major European final – were unable to find a way back as United added to this season’s EFL Cup and Community Shield triumphs.

“These things are awful all over the world, in London and in Paris”, said Pogba, who was also playing at the Stade de France on the night of the November 2015 Paris terror attacks. We got the objective, we are back in the Champions League by winning a title, an important title. All the players who played today learned a lot, and this is one aspect of the game where they were better than we were.

“The goal was to win all the way through this season”.

“When you go into big matches you go happy and we didn’t”. This time we had a bad season, but we did it. Because of the UCL place they just won, United will probably be able to close the three or four more signings they’ll need in order to amass a legitimate title-contending squad.

Goals from Paul Pogba in the first half and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the second have Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United side a precious win in Stockholm.

Shaun Payne, a 29-year-old United supporter, said Monday’s attack undoubtedly scarred the team, but he was optimistic that they would win.

His crucial first goal had a huge element of fortune to it, though.

The historic significance of the date will not be lost on Ajax as the final will be played 22 years to the day after their storied 1-0 victory over AC Milan in the 1995 Champions League final.

United fan favourite Ander Herrera, voted man of the match, echoed Pogba’s words. Daley Blind’s inswinging corner was headed down by Chris Smalling, and Mkhitaryan – perhaps fortunate to have been left on after a terrible first-half display – hooked the ball into the roof of the net.

The Armenian leapt to knock the ball into the roof of the net after 48 minutes.

For all of their continued possession, Ajax never looked like getting back into the game.