Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot has insisted that while the sensational comeback over Lyon was incredible, he and his teammates made it much harder for themselves than they needed to.
United produced the mother of all turnarounds on Thursday evening against Lyon, coming back from a two-goal deficit within the space of six extra-time minutes.
Ruben Amorim’s side squandered a two-goal advantage as Lyon stormed back with four unanswered goals. It seemed like the hosts were dead and buried but Bruno Fernandes scored from the penalty spot in the 114th minute to give his side hope, despite the fact that they were still trailing 4-3.
Then, substitute Kobbie Mainoo curled home an equaliser for United to make it 4-4 on the night in the 120th minute.
Mere seconds later, Harry Maguire headed in a 121st-minute winner, sparking wild scenes at Old Trafford and in the process, booking the Red Devils a spot in the semi-finals of the competition.
Dalot produced another top performance, the highlight of which was his classy strike at the stroke of half-time to give United a commanding lead heading into the break.
After the final whistle, the defender spoke to club media [as quoted by the Manchester Evening News] and shared his thoughts on the triumphant victory.
Dalot said, “I think I went to the floor, I didn’t know what to do! But moments like this will define your career sometimes and give you some confidence to face the next game.”
“We have to enjoy this moment. The fans should have a good one and then we will come back on Sunday to face Wolves.”
The 26-year-old added, “Obviously, we have the quality, but if you analyse the game, we cannot suffer the amount of goals we suffered.”
“I don’t want to sound negative, but these are the types of things and moments that we need to control better, to avoid these types of problems.”
“Today we solved it, but we could have avoided it. After the first half, I think we were close to perfection in terms of the game plan, pressing really high and controlling the game.”
“But I think emotionally we were a little bit down because of the goals we conceded. But then, when you play in this stadium and have a lot of players fighting until the end, and the crowd gives you extra energy, I am really happy with this night.”
United will face La Liga outfit Athletic Club in the final four.
Featured image Shaun Botterill via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
