Harry Maguire, centre forward. Who would have thought it?

Manchester United were dead and buried, two goals down in this tie and crashing out of the Europa League in calamitous fashion, having been 2-0 up on the night, 4-2 on aggregate, thanks to goals from Manuel Ugarte and Diogo Dalot.

“A capitulation… an embarrassment,” declared former United defender Rio Ferdinand on TNT Sports.

And then the most unlikely collection of things happened to send United to a semi-final against Athletic Club on May 1 and May 8. Talk about the king of comebacks.

Lyon had levelled the tie with two goals in six minutes — first Corentin Tolisso and then Nicolas Tagliafico. And while a red card for Tolisso — given a second yellow after clipping Leny Yoro — provided some hope, it was the French side who capitalised. First, the brilliant Rayan Cherki struck in the first half of extra time and then Alexandre Lacazette scored from the penalty spot after a Luke Shaw foul.

But it was far from over. Bruno Fernandes pulled one back from the penalty spot, then came a cool strike from substitute Kobbie Mainoo and then up popped the forehead of Maguire, a central defender by trade, to keep United alive in this competition on one of the great European nights at Old Trafford.

Mark Critchley, Charlotte Harpur and Anantaajith Raghuraman catch their breath and discuss the key talking points…

What does this mean for Manchester United?

Relief? Ecstasy? As United’s Premier League season went from bad to worse, it soon became apparent it was Bilbao or bust.

It sums up United’s dreary campaign that so much rode on Thursday night’s result. If you step out of the United bubble, it was a quarter-final second-leg Europa League tie against Lyon. Hardly a huge heavyweight tie, especially compared to some of this week’s enticing Champions League games. But zoom in and the consequences are significant, particularly after such a remarkable game of football.

This is something for United to cling to and a galvanising boost of much-needed confidence.

United easily produced one of their best first-half performances this season before capitulating in the second half, surrendering pressure and missing the opportunity to go 3-0 up. Despite conceding four goals after half-time, somehow they pulled it back.

Had United been knocked out, there really was nothing left to save the season.

Most importantly for the club is the financial aspect. United could expect to earn around £85.8million ($114m) as a minimum if they qualify for next season’s Champions League by winning this season’s Europa League.

Of course, they still have many hoops to jump through. In the semi-final, they will face La Liga side Athletic Club, who beat Rangers 2-0, but Thursday’s win has taken them one crucial step closer to the final.

Charlotte Harpur

The most incredible European night at Old Trafford?

This section was meant to be an item about Ruben Amorim’s reluctance to make substitutions during what was supposed to be the key period of the game, when Lyon clawed two goals back.

It was critical of Amorim for not changing things sooner. For waiting until the 86th minute to finally bring on Kobbie Mainoo and, when he did, to stick him up front.

It was critical of Mainoo, too, who looked understandably lost in a position he had played once before in his senior career.

And it lamented that United’s best plan when all is collapsing around them is to apparently stick Maguire up front. What a ridiculous state of affairs.

120 – Manchester United are the first team in history to score two goals in the 120th minute of a major European match. Amorimtime. pic.twitter.com/d9VCeb0Wiq

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 17, 2025

United did not have the players on the pitch to win in extra time, it said, and despite having a man advantage, had contrived to lose it.

And then Mainoo whipped that strike in to equalise on aggregate. And then Maguire guided that header inside the post to win. And that item was thrown out the window.

I wrote this one instead. And that just about summed up this game, this night, the most incredible European occasion in Old Trafford’s history.

Mark Critchley

Collective errors cost United at the back

You wondered whether Andre Onana had learned anything from the past week when, after Ugarte’s opener, he turned, smiled and cockily nodded his head in the direction of Lyon’s supporters.

But the most important lesson he could take on board from the first leg’s calamities was not to let his team-mates down again. He didn’t, although he might have hoped for a bit more help from them, too.

Onana pulled off several excellent saves — first to deny Cherki, low and down to his right at a critical juncture in the first half, just as Lyon were building momentum.

There was a carbon copy to deny Tolisso at the start of the second, too, that was just as impressive, and another from Ainsley Maitland-Niles that was not as easy as it looked.

But with pressure building on United’s goal, he needed more assistance from those in front of him. His defenders failed to take responsibility for Tolisso. There was not much Onana could do about that.

His positioning could be questioned for Lyon’s second, as Tagliafico’s shot crept across the line before he could make a reactive save. But again, either Maguire or Yoro could have reacted quicker to stop the shot from coming.

At least there were not the individual errors of the first leg for Onana. Just the collective ones in front of him.

Mark Critchley

Lyon had no answers — until they did

Manchester United and attacking fluidity have rarely been uttered in the same sentence this season. But the first half against Lyon saw them play some of their best attacking football under Ruben Amorim, taking a step forward from the home match against Real Sociedad last month, which Amorim said “showed a little bit of the future”.

The first goal came from Fernandes passing to Dalot and jogging forward, turning back and then sprinting to the left wing, leaving Paul Akouokou in his wake. Dalot’s positioning had pulled left-back Tagliafico close to him and he passed back to Noussair Mazraoui, whose clipped first-time pass found Fernandes occupying the space Tagliafico had vacated. Fernandes found Alejandro Garnacho, and his first touch took him past two Lyon defenders to the byline.

As he cut the ball back, Rasmus Hojlund wrestled with Moussa Niakhate, creating space in the box for Manuel Ugarte to run into and finish.

The second goal was simpler in its creation. Maguire’s ball over the top was attacked by Dalot as Fernandes held his position. Tagliafico tracked back but was easily outmuscled by Dalot, who swept it home.

Those were not the only occasions United troubled Lyon with such long passes into the channels. Dalot played a similar pass over Tagliafico to Fernandes, who hit the crossbar with a stretching volley. On another occasion, Casemiro played a first-time pass over the top — similar to the pass to Fernandes that led to Hojlund winning a penalty against Real Sociedad — to Ugarte, who made the run to the same right channel to win a corner.

United combined clever off-the-ball movements with a simple passing strategy and excellent execution in the first half, and Lyon had no answers — until they did.

Anantaajith Raghuraman

What did Amorim say?

Speaking to TNT after the game, the United manager said: “It was hard. I was watching the ’99 (Champions League win) commentary to have some inspiration for this moment. It was a great night. The team was tired, you could feel it during the game and then 4-2 with one more player, and you think it’s over. But here, it’s never over. Everything is possible. You feel the environment. After Bruno’s penalty, you felt that the game could change.

On his subs: “We tried to put Harry Maguire (up front) because he’s the only guy that can score a goal with his head. And then Kobbie Mainoo has a lack of pace in this moment because he had that injury and he stopped for a while. But he’s really good in small spaces and then he has the ability to score that kind of goal.”

On players returning from injury: “It’s really important because, when you are here, you can feel that playing Premier League and European games is really hard. If you don’t have a full squad, it’s almost impossible. Mason Mount brings us experience, Luke Shaw was meant to play 30 minutes tops, but we had a problem with Nouss(air Mazraoui) at half-time, Vic(tor Lindelof) has a personal problem, he had to leave. So all this stuff happened during this game but, in the end, it was a good day.”

On the performance: “We started well but we are not really consistent in maintaining the game in the same way for a long time. When I feel the team is tired, we drop a lot. But we have experience now, we can defend quite well in this moment.

“We should do better with Lyon’s two goals but that’s it. We have a lot to improve but the character was there.”

On frustration over his team’s inconsistency: “Of course, because the reflection of the coach is in the league. You can be good in European games, but your reflection as a team is the league and we are underperforming. But we have to see the context. You can see that we lack a lot of characteristics in our team. You want to push forward and you seek Garna(cho), he’s really tired, but you feel he’s the only one who can make the transitions.

“When we play against European teams, you feel that we can cope better. In the Premier League, we suffer a lot. It’s completely different.”

On the belief this win will provide: “Sometimes we just look at the tactical or physical aspect, but this kind of moment can change a lot in the players’ minds. We have to be really focused on the Europa League, we have to take a risk sometimes with the kids in the Premier League, and we have to be tough on that and the fans have to understand that we want to focus on the Europa League.”

On winning the competition: “Yes, you can see it in the stadium. Everybody believes that it is possible.”

What next for United?

Sunday, April 20: Wolves (Home), Premier League, 2pm UK, 9am ET

 (Top photo: James Gill/Danehouse/Getty Images)