Manchester United vs. Sheriff Tiraspol result, highlights & analysis as Cristiano Ronaldo scores on first team return in Europa League

Graham Ruthven

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Manchester United vs. Sheriff Tiraspol result, highlights & analysis as Cristiano Ronaldo scores on first team return in Europa League image

Cristiano Ronaldo scored as he marked his return to the Manchester United team in a dominant 3-0 win over Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League.

Erik ten Hag made a number of changes to the United team that drew 1-1 against Chelsea in the Premier League with Alejandro Garnacho handed his first start for the Old Trafford club.

The hosts dominated from early on, but struggled to make the breakthrough as Sheriff defended deep. Ronaldo, however, spurned a good chance to make it 1-0 when his close-range effort was saved.

Diogo Dalot opened the scoring just one minute from the end of the first half, getting on the end of a Christian Eriksen corner kick delivery to head home as United finally took the lead.

Marcus Rashford came off the bench in the second half to score United’s second from a Luke Shaw cross after 65 minutes.

And Ronaldo scored the goal he’d been desperate for all night, reacting quickest to a rebound from an initial header to finish high into the net and achieve redemption in front of the Stretford End.

MORE: Chelsea vs. Manchester United result, highlights & analysis as Casemiro nets injury-time equaliser to deny Blues

Ronaldo's redemption

Ten Hag made the decision to restore Ronaldo to the United team for the first time since the Portuguese forward refused to come on as a substitute against Tottenham Hotspur and he marked his return with a goal.

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The 37-year-old spurned a number of good opportunities to find the back of the net, but wasn’t to be denied as he scored nine minutes from the end. Ronaldo proved he can still be a good option for United this season.

Garnacho teases his talent

While most pre-match headlines were hogged by Ronaldo, there was also anticipation around the first start of Garnacho who is highly-rated at United as one of the best young talents at the club.

The 18-year-old was keen to take on opponents with the ball and grew in confidence as the match progressed. Garnacho showed enough in this performance to suggest he will one day be an important player at United.

Sheriff shock never likely

United would have been wary of Sheriff Tiraspol before kick off after the Moldovan side pulled off a shock win at the Santiago Bernabeu over Real Madrid last season.

However, not one single player that won in the Spanish capital 12 months ago started this match at Old Trafford and Sheriff were never able to impose their own game on United over the 90 minutes. Sheriff have picked up just three points in their five Europa League matches this season.

Manchester United vs. Sheriff Tiraspol final score

  1H 2H Final
Man Utd 1 2 3
Sheriff Tiraspol 0 0 0

Goals:

1-0 UTD - Diogo Dalot - 44 mins

2-0 UTD - Marcus Rashford - 65 mins

3-0 UTD - Cristiano Ronaldo - 81 mins

Manchester United vs. Sheriff Tiraspol live updates, highlights from the Europa League fixture

90+3 mins: FULL TIME! Manchester United 3 Sheriff Tiraspol 0 - A comfortable win for United in the end and three points means they are at least certain of a playoff place in their Europa League group. Sheriff defended well, but offered little else.

90 mins: There will be THREE minutes of stoppage time played at the end of the match.

88 mins: Van de Beek around the back! Fernandes picked out the run of the Dutch midfielder at the back post, but van de Beek couldn't get his feet sorted out in time and he scuffs his finish past the post!

84 mins: BOOKING - Maguire (Manchester United). Maguire is shown a yellow card for clattering into a Sheriff player as he went for a header.

82 mins: GOAL! Manchester United 3 (82' - Ronaldo) Sheriff Tiraspol 0 - There's the goal Ronaldo has been desperate for all night! His initial header was saved, but the Portuguese forward was the quickest to react to the rebound and finishes hight into the net!

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81 mins: Garnacho will surely be pleased with how he played on his first full start for Manchester United. The youngster was bright every time he received the ball and nearly capped his performance with a goal.

80 mins: Man Utd sub - Garnacho OFF, van de Beek ON

79 mins: Garnacho shoots over! That was the teenager's opportunity to mark his first start for Manchester United with a goal. The ball was set back to him from a corner kick, but Garnacho was leaning back and he sends his shot over the crossbar.

78 mins: Rashford shot saved! The space opened up for the Manchester United forward 25 yards out, there was some power behind the effort, but Koval makes the diving save to deny him.

74 mins: Sheriff Tiraspol have barely been in the opposition half in this match. I'm not entirely convinced that they have had a touch of the ball in the Manchester United penalty area. It's been that dominant for the home team.

70 mins: The intensity of this match has dropped since Man Utd scored the second goal through Rashford. Both teams are just going through the motions until the full time whistle.

67 mins: It never really felt like Manchester United were under much threat despite the narrow 1-0 scoreline, but that second goal should relax their players for the final 25 minutes of this match.

65 mins: GOAL! Manchester United 2 (65' - Rashford) Sheriff Tiraspol 0 - That should be the points in the bag for United who have a second goal through Rashford! He got on the end of a Shaw cross and headed home a bullet at the near post!

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63 mins: BOOKING - Guedes (Sheriff Tiraspol). Another yellow card and this one is to Guedes for a foul on Garnacho after the ball was gone.

62 mins: Man Utd subs - Dalot and Casemiro OFF, Shaw and McTominay ON

61 mins: DISALLOWED! Ronaldo has the ball in the back of the net, but the flag was raised for offside and it's the correct decision. The goal won't stand.

58 mins: RONALDO... wide! What an opportunity for Ronaldo to score Manchester United's second! He came back inside on to his right foot inside the box, but he shoots wide when he was trying to find the far corner of the net with a right-footed finish.

56 mins: Garnacho has come alive down the left side in the last five minutes or so. The teenager is doing more to take on his man and drive into the Sheriff Tiraspol box. You can see why so many at United are excited about him!

51 mins: United win a freekick 20 yards out from goal, Ronaldo stands over it, but it's actually Eriksen who takes the set piece. He puts his effort over the target, though.

48 mins: Did Ten Hag hook Antony for that piece of showboating towards the end of the first half or was this a planned change? It looks like Rashford will be on the left side of the attack along with Garnacho. That's an interesting one!

46 mins: Manchester United subs - Antony and Martinez OFF, Rashford and Maguire ON

45 mins: The second half is under way! Manchester United have a 1-0 lead over Sheriff Tiraspol.

45+1 mins: HALF TIME! Manchester United 1-0 Sheriff Tiraspol - Dalot's header has given United the lead and they deserved to be ahead. The hosts have been dominant although they have lacked movement in the attacking third.

45 mins: There will be ONE minute of stoppage time played at the end of the first half.

44 mins: GOAL! Manchester United 1 (44' - Dalot) Sheriff Tiraspol 0 - United finally make the breakthrough and it's Dalot who meets a corner kick delivery to head into the back of the net and that will settle some nerves around Old Trafford!

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43 mins: Ten Hag will surely want to see more movement from his attack in the second half. Manchester United have had plenty of the ball, but have been overly reliant on crosses and long balls into the box. That hasn't worked.

40 mins: Great ball in! The cross from the left side was a good one and Rasheed was in a good position to get on the end of it, but he couldn't make a connection and Manchester United. That illustrates the danger of the 0-0 scoreline even as the home team have dominated.

37 mins: A little pirouette by Antony on the right side and the home fans loved that. However, the Brazilian winger immediately put the ball out of play with his attempted pass in behind.

36 mins: Atiemwen breaks to the corner flag and attempts to win a corner, but Manchester United sweep up the ball and start another attack. That's the closest Sheriff Tiraspol have come to making the opposition box this evening.

32 mins: Deflected strike! Ronaldo burst forward with the ball, he cut it back on to his left foot and unleashed the strike, but the ball took a deflection off Kike and flashed wide of the target.

28 mins: Ronaldo should have scored! Lindelof played a ball over the top for Fernandes, who headed it down across the six-yard box, but Ronaldo couldn't prod it home from close range as Koval makes a reflex save. That should have been a United opener!

26 mins: FERNANDES... wide! The space opened up for the Manchester United midfielder on the edge of the box, he had a clear sight of goal, but put his shot wide of the near post when he might have tested the goalkeeper at the very least.

25 mins: Fernandes makes the run in behind and Eriksen attempts to find him with a pass over the top, but that was always going to be tight and the ball bounces of play. Manchester United are starting to get frustrated.

22 mins: BOOKING - Rasheed (Sheriff Tiraspol). The first booking is shown to Rasheed who elbowed Casemiro in the face as both players challenged for the ball.

21 mins: This is essentially a training exercise for Manchester United who are looking for a way to break through a deep defensive line. Sheriff Tiraspol are quite happy to stay compact and make sure they don't give up many scoring opportunities. 

17 mins: Eriksen plays a lovely pass into Fernandes inside the box, but Kike comes across to make the well-timed challenge on the Portuguese midfielder. 

14 mins: Ronaldo over! Malacia whips a cross into the Sheriff Tiraspol penalty box, Ronaldo got up above his man, but he could only head over the crossbar and the Portuguese forward is annoyed with himself.

13 mins: Was it going in? Casemiro gets his head to a corner kick and the ball might have been heading for the back of the net, but Sheriff Tiraspol manage to make the block before it could cross the line!

11 mins: Antony denied! Ronaldo is tripped on the edge of the box, the advantage is played and Antony gets the good shot away from 20 yards out. Koval makes the save, though. That was a decent effort from the Brazilian winger as United look for an opener.

8 mins: Casemiro from his own half! The United midfielder spotted the Sheriff Tiraspol goalkeeper off his line and went for the ambitious shot, but his effort from the halfway line drifts wide!

3 mins: As you might expect, Manchester United are the ones on the front foot in the very early stages of this match. The hosts will be expected to break down this Sheriff Tiraspol defence through their use of the ball.

1 min: The match is under way at OId Trafford! It's Manchester United against Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League!

15 mins to KO: All eyes will be on Ronaldo this evening for obvious reasons, but there is also a great deal of intrigue around Garnacho. Great things are expected of him at Old Trafford. Can he make an impact on his first start for Manchester United?

30 mins to KO: No Champions League football at Old Trafford this season, but there's still something special about the Theatre of Dreams on a European night!

45 mins to KO: United won the first fixture against Sheriff Tiraspol in this season's Europa League in mid-September and they are expected to secure another comfortable victory this evening. However, keep in mind that Sheriff went to the Santiago Bernabeu and beat Real Madrid in last season's Champions League...

60 mins to KO: Kyabou and Atiemwen return from suspension for Sheriff Tiraspol this evening who will be heavy underdogs at Old Trafford against their Premier League opponents.

Sheriff Tiraspol XI: Koval (GK) - Guedes, Radeljic, Kiki, Kpozo - Diop, Badolo, Kyabou, Mudasiru, Rasheed -Atiemwen

75 mins to KO: Ronaldo starts for Man Utd! The Portuguese forward is back in Ten Hag's XI with Alejando Garnacho also included in the United attack.

Man Utd XI: De Gea (GK) - Dalot, Lindelof, Martínez, Malacia - Casemiro, Eriksen - Antony, Fernandes, Garnacho - Ronaldo

90 mins to KO: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of the Europa League fixture between Manchester United and Sheriff Tiraspol. Can Erik Ten Hag's team get the result they need to make the next round of the competition? They will be heavy favourites for this one.

Manchester United vs. Sheriff Tiraspol lineups

Ten Hag has made some changes after his side played four matches in nine days. Cristiano Ronaldo is back in the first-team after being dropped for the Chelsea game, but Raphael Varane, who suffered an injury at Stamford Bridge, is not expected to play again before the World Cup.

Anthony Martial still isn't fit enough to return, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Harry Maguire and Donny van de Beek haven't been included in the XI despite being involved in team training on Tuesday after lengthy spells on the sidelines.

Manchester United lineup (4-5-1): De Gea (GK) - Dalot, Lindelof, Martínez, Malacia - Casemiro, Eriksen - Antony, Fernandes, Garnacho - Ronaldo

Moussa Kyabou and Iyayi Atiemwen return from suspension for the Old Trafford trip, but full-back Armel Zohouri is suspended, having been sent off in the 3-0 defeat at Real Sociedad.

The Moldovan league leaders lost for the first time this season in domestic competition last weekend, after which head coach Stjepan Tomas, who said his players had been distracted by the United fixture, resigned.

Sheriff Tiraspol lineup (4-5-1): Koval (GK) - Guedes, Radeljic, Kiki, Kpozo - Diop, Badolo, Kyabou, Mudasiru, Rasheed -Atiemwen

How to watch Manchester United vs. Sheriff Tiraspol

  UK USA Canada Australia
TV channel BT Sport 1 TUDN, UniMas — —
Streaming BT Sport website/app Paramount+, ViX+, Univision NOW, TUDN website/app, fuboTV  DAZN Stan Sport

UK: Europa League matches are carried across BT Sport streaming and TV platforms. United's match will be shown on BT Sport 1.

USA: Selected matches are screened on Paramount+ with additional options via Spanish language channels TUDN and UniMas, which are available to stream via fuboTV. 

Canada: Every Europa League match all season long is broadcast in Canada via DAZN.

Australia: Every Europa League match all season long is streamed in Australia via Stan Sport.

Graham Ruthven