Ole Gunnar Solskjaer tipped Shola Shoretire for a bright future after the 17-year-old came on against Real Sociedad and became Manchester Unitedโs youngest-ever player in European competition.
Having secured a surprisingly comprehensive 4-0 win in last weekโs first leg in Turin, the Red Devils knew progress from the round of 32 was all but assured heading into the return fixture at Old Trafford.
United and Sociedad played out a forgettable 0-0 draw in the second leg, but Thursdayโs match will go down in the history books after Shoretireโs record-breaking late introduction.
๐ Sound on to hear the thoughts of the boss on tonight's progression in the #UEL ๐ด #MUFC pic.twitter.com/VP04t3wxK2 โ Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 25, 2021
Having made his debut as a substitute in Sundayโs league win against Newcastle, he replaced Norman Whiteside as the youngest player to represent United in European competition by coming on aged 17 years 23 days.
โShola is going to be a good player for us and sometimes you need to test them against good players,โ Solskjaer said. โWe knew Real Sociedad are a good team with good individuals and they press.
โWe felt today Amad (Diallo) โ he had to come on, of course, Dan (James) had to come off โ and Shola, the two of them will need these little introductions to this type of level.
โHeโs a young kid that we believe in. Great attitude.
โYou can see the shape of him. We think physically heโll be an athlete and technically very, very good. Makes good decisions.
โSo, of course weโre going to gradually feed him into this team and, you know, heโs grounded, got his feet firmly on the ground and he works really hard in training.
โVery likeable boy that we hope we can see loads of in the future.โ
It was a memorable moment towards the end of a largely forgettable second leg.
This man thought he'd opened his #MUFC account, but it wasn't to be ๐ซ Time for a post-match word from Axel Tuanzebe ๐ ๐ #UEL pic.twitter.com/nzrq6VlJCF โ Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 25, 2021
Sociedad skipper Mikel Oyarzabal missed an early penalty before stand-in United captain Bruno Fernandes hit the crossbar, with Modibo Sagnan hitting the woodwork shortly after half-time.
Substitute Axel Tuanzebe saw a headed winner ruled out due to a Victor Lindelof foul in the build-up as a strong United side were held 0-0 by a side they struck four past a week ago.
โWe played against a very good team and, you know, the start of the game I think showed why it was important,โ Solskjaer said.
โThey got a penalty early. Luckily he missed it because you donโt want to go into half-time in the game one or two down.
โOf course you want to get players through unscathed and I felt the first 10, 15 minutes we were a bit slow.
โI thought we then we played some very good stuff in the first half.
โSecond half not great with the ball but solid at the back, good defending and kept them away from our goal.
โI think it just proves how good the performance was last week, the 4-0 win.โ
While United look ahead to Fridayโs Europa League last-16 draw, Sociedad return to domestic matters after a night that saw United academy graduate Adnan Januzaj line up at Old Trafford again.
๐๐๐๐ค ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง. Great to see you, @AdnanJanuzaj โ best of luck for the rest of the season. ๐ด #MUFC๐ #UEL pic.twitter.com/ewQejwNPqH โ Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 25, 2021
โWe did well,โ the Belgium international said. โWe could have scored some goals.
โIt was a better performance from us, but it wasnโt to be and now we have to focus on other things.
โWe had the penalty and maybe could have scored. Things could have been different. It was always going to be difficult. Now we need to move on.
โItโs great being back at Old Trafford. I will always remember playing here. Itโs special for me.โ
