All previous 21 penalties had been converted before David de Gea’s missDavid de Gea failed at the end of a marathon penalty shootout as Villarreal dashed Manchester United’s hopes of Europa League glory in Gdansk.
This was a disappointing contest lacking in quality and producing only three shots on target across 120 minutes – but drama arrived with the spot-kicks.
All 20 outfield players converted their penalties in the longest shootout in a final of any Uefa competition, and in an increasingly tense stadium Villarreal goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli blasted home his effort and then denied De Gea, who was crestfallen at the end.
It gave Villarreal a first major trophy in their history and saw former Arsenal boss Unai Emery lift the Europa League for an unprecedented fourth time.
However, on the anniversary of both Sir Matt Busby’s birth and the epic Champions League final in 1999 that earned Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hero status among the Old Trafford faithful, there was to be no new 26 May landmark as United complete a fourth year without silverware.
United simply did not do enough, despite the massive gulf in transfer fees and salaries between the two clubs.
Solskjaer’s side did not start well and fell behind to a soft goal from Gerard Moreno.
Edinson Cavani dragged United level 10 minutes into the second period after a Marcus Rashford shot had been deflected into his path, but United failed to build on that momentum and by the end Solskjaer was introducing Juan Mata and Alex Telles purely to take penalties in the shootout.
Both players scored. Although given De Gea had failed to save any of the previous 21 penalties he had faced, maybe Solskjaer should have followed the example of former United boss Louis van Gaal, who famously brought on Tim Krul purely for a shootout at the 2014 World Cup, which the Netherlands went on to win
Season without a trophy not a success – Solskjaer’They are a million miles away’ – how pundits reactedRelive the Europa League final between Villarreal and Man UtdSolskjaer’s substitute problemSolskjaer says season hasn’t been successfulFor most of this season, no-one has been quite sure which United were going to turn up. It felt like that across the whole game in Gdansk, as they alternated between inventive and passive almost with each passing minute.
Evidently, Solskjaer felt he had no choice other than to stick with it.
In the final game of last season, he waited until the 87th minute of the semi-final defeat by Sevilla before making a change.
By then, his side were losing, so it was not a shock the Norwegian had not used any of the six he was allowed on this occasion as extra time began.
Edinson Cavani’s 17th goal of the season took the game to extra timeThe brutal truth is, having gone with his strongest offensive starting XI, there was no-one on the bench Solskjaer felt confident could improve the situation.
In Cavani and Mason Greenwood, two of United’s best performers were attackers. But Rashford had a poor game, which was summed up by the England man failing to convert when Greenwood had given him a clear sight at goal.
Any goal would have been ruled offside but Rashford was not to know that as his scuffed effort rolled wide.
Scott McTominay’s midfield industry outshone both Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba, who both flitted in and out of the game without producing anything truly remarkable.
Defensive slip-upIt would be easy to point to the absence of captain Harry Maguire as the key factor in Moreno’s opener.
But Maguire was on the pitch when United conceded a very similar kind of goal against Everton in February.
On that occasion it was Dominic Calvert-Lewin who slid the ball past De Gea as United’s defence failed to deal with a free-kick floated from a deep position into their penalty area.
This time Moreno’s run into the box went unchecked, allowing him to get in front of Victor Lindelof and turn Dani Parejo’s free-kick into De Gea’s goal.
Gerard Moreno scored his 30th goal of the season to give Villarreal the leadIt is the kind of routine situation Solskjaer’s team have been vulnerable to all season and seemed to be something Emery had worked out given the number of times Villarreal put themselves in situations to deliver such crosses, without quite getting their execution right.
Not that nervous United defending was limited to set-pieces. The sight of Eric Bailly attempting an overhead-kick inside his own six-yard box in the opening stages of the second period would have been only marginally less worrying had he actually connected with the ball.
It could be argued Solskjaer should have addressed the issue before now. Some may claim it was for the powers-that-be to deal with it for him.
Now, having failed to win a trophy in two and a half seasons as manager, the familiar questions about his own ability will follow the Norwegian around all summer.
United’s penalty shootout woes – the statsVillarreal are the first side to win in their first appearance in a major European final since Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2008-09 Uefa Cup.Manchester United have lost six of their last seven penalty shootouts in all competitions, only winning against Rochdale in the League Cup in September 2019 in that time.Villarreal boss Unai Emery is the first manager to win either the Uefa Cup or Europa League four times, surpassing Giovanni Trapattoni.Villarreal became the 13th side in Europe’s big five leagues to hit the 100-goal milestone in all competitions this season (100).The three shots on target produced in the game (one for Villarreal and two for Manchester United) was the lowest tally in a Europa League final since Porto v Sporting Braga in 2011 also saw just three.Gerard Moreno netted his 82nd goal in all competitions for Villarreal, joining Giuseppe Rossi as the club’s all-time top-scorer. Moreno became the first player to score 30+ goals for Villarreal in a single season in all competitions since Giuseppe Rossi in 2010-11 (32). Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani became just the third player aged 34 or above to score in a major European final for an English club, after Gary McAllister (36) for Liverpool in the Uefa Cup final versus Alaves in 2000-01 and Didier Drogba (34) for Chelsea in the Champions League final versus Bayern Munich in 2011-12Manchester United’s Edinson Cavani has scored 16 goals in his last 11 starts in the Europa League.Manchester United’s Mason Greenwood made his 52nd appearance this season in all competitions, the joint-most of any teenager with a team from Europe’s big five leagues along with Barcelona’s Pedri.Player of the match
MorenoGerard Moreno
with an average of 7.98
VillarrealSquad number7Player nameMoreno
Squad number18Player nameMoreno
Squad number5Player nameParejo
Squad number4Player nameTorres
Squad number3Player nameAlbiol
Squad number19Player nameCoquelin
Squad number17Player namePaco Alcácer
Squad number2Player nameMario Gaspar
Squad number13Player nameRulli
Squad number12Player nameDani Raba
Squad number25Player nameCapoue
Squad number9Player nameBacca
Squad number14Player nameManu Trigueros
Squad number23Player nameMoi Gómez
Squad number8Player nameFoyth
Squad number30Player namePino
Squad number24Player namePedraza
Manchester UnitedSquad number7Player nameCavani
Squad number39Player nameMcTominay
Squad number23Player nameShaw
Squad number8Player nameMata
Squad number29Player nameWan-Bissaka
Squad number11Player nameGreenwood
Squad number38Player nameTuanzebe
Squad number18Player nameBruno Fernandes
Squad number21Player nameJames
Squad number27Player nameAlex Telles
Squad number6Player namePogba
Squad number3Player nameBailly
Squad number17Player nameFred
Squad number2Player nameLindelöf
Squad number1Player namede Gea
Squad number10Player nameRashford
Line-upsVillarrealFormation 4-4-2
13Rulli
8Foyth3Albiol4Torres24Pedraza
30Pino25Capoue5Parejo14Trigueros Muñoz
7Moreno9Bacca
13Rulli8FoythBooked at 84minsSubstituted forPérez Martínezat 88’minutes3Albiol4Torres24PedrazaSubstituted forMorenoat 88’minutes30PinoSubstituted forAlcácerat 77’minutes25CapoueBooked at 54minsSubstituted forRabaseda Antolínat 120+3’minutes5Parejo14Trigueros MuñozSubstituted forGómez Bardonadoat 77’minutes7Moreno9BaccaSubstituted forCoquelinat 60’minutesSubstitutes1Asenjo2Pérez Martínez6Funes Mori12Rabaseda Antolín15Estupiñán17Alcácer18Moreno19Coquelin20Peña21Costa23Gómez Bardonado34NiñoMan UtdFormation 4-2-3-1
1de Gea
29Wan-Bissaka3Bailly2Lindelöf23Shaw
39McTominay6Pogba
11Greenwood18Bruno Fernandes10Rashford
7Cavani
1de Gea29Wan-BissakaSubstituted forMataat 120+3’minutes3BaillyBooked at 82minsSubstituted forTuanzebeat 116’minutes2Lindelöf23Shaw39McTominaySubstituted forTellesat 120+3’minutes6PogbaSubstituted forJamesat 116’minutes11GreenwoodSubstituted forFredat 100’minutes18Bruno Fernandes10Rashford7CavaniBooked at 113minsSubstitutes5Maguire8Mata13Grant17Fred19Diallo21James26Henderson27Telles31Matic33Williams34van de Beek38TuanzebeReferee:Clément Turpin
Attendance:9,412
Live TextMatch ends, Villarreal 1(11), Manchester United 1(10).
Penalty Shootout ends, Villarreal 1(11), Manchester United 1(10).
Penalty saved! David de Gea (Manchester United) fails to capitalise on this great opportunity, right footed shot saved in the bottom right corner.
Goal! Villarreal 1(11), Manchester United 1(10). Gerónimo Rulli (Villarreal) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the top right corner.
Goal! Villarreal 1(10), Manchester United 1(10). Victor Lindelöf (Manchester United) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the top left corner.
Goal! Villarreal 1(10), Manchester United 1(9). Pau Torres (Villarreal) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the top left corner.
Goal! Villarreal 1(9), Manchester United 1(9). Axel Tuanzebe (Manchester United) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the top right corner.
Goal! Villarreal 1(9), Manchester United 1(8). Mario Gaspar (Villarreal) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the high centre of the goal.
Goal! Villarreal 1(8), Manchester United 1(8). Luke Shaw (Manchester United) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the bottom right corner.
Goal! Villarreal 1(8), Manchester United 1(7). Francis Coquelin (Villarreal) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the top right corner.
Goal! Villarreal 1(7), Manchester United 1(7). Daniel James (Manchester United) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the top right corner.
Goal! Villarreal 1(7), Manchester United 1(6). Raúl Albiol (Villarreal) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.
Goal! Villarreal 1(6), Manchester United 1(6). Fred (Manchester United) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the bottom right corner.
Goal! Villarreal 1(6), Manchester United 1(5). Moi Gómez (Villarreal) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the centre of the goal.
Goal! Villarreal 1(5), Manchester United 1(5). Edinson Cavani (Manchester United) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
Goal! Villarreal 1(5), Manchester United 1(4). Daniel Parejo (Villarreal) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
Goal! Villarreal 1(4), Manchester United 1(4). Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
Goal! Villarreal 1(4), Manchester United 1(3). Alberto Moreno (Villarreal) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the bottom right corner.
Goal! Villarreal 1(3), Manchester United 1(3). Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
Goal! Villarreal 1(3), Manchester United 1(2). Paco Alcácer (Villarreal) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner.
‘The UK is all I’ve ever known’: Panorama looks at the impact of immigration status on those born or raised in BritainWild Weekends: Three youngsters embark on the wildest activities Scotland has to offer