Europa League quarter-final review: Manchester United in pole position to progress, but Arsenal are held at home

The first leg of Europa League quarter-finals provided some quality entertainment as Manchester United came out on top over Granada and Arsenal struggled against Slavia Prague.

United defeated their Spanish opponents 2-0 away from home, with goals from Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes.

Rashford netted to take his tally to 20 goals for the season, becoming the first Red Devils player to do so in consecutive seasons since Wayne Rooney.

Despite the win, Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw all picked up bookings meaning they will miss the second leg next week.

Arsenal fail to hold on for the win

Fellow English club Arsenal didn’t fare as well, labouring to a 1-1 draw against Czech side Slavia Prague.

The Gunners went ahead through Nicolas Pepe but were pegged back by Tomas Holes in the 93rd minute.

Conceding late means it’s now 13 games in all competitions without a clean sheet for Mikel Arteta’s team, going back to their 0-0 draw against United in January.

Roma win in Amsterdam

Elsewhere, Roma came from behind to beat Ajax 2-1 away from home.

The Dutch went ahead through former Everton midfielder Davy Klaassen and could have doubled their lead if Dusan Tadic hadn’t had his penalty saved early in the second half.

Lorenzo Pellegrini and Roger Ibanez both scored for the Italian club in the second period to give Roma the advantage going into the next leg.

Villarreal edge past Dinamo Zagreb

Finally, Gerard Moreno netted the only goal of the game for Villarreal as they came out 1-0 winners over Dinamo Zagreb.

Moreno’s penalty could prove to be an important away goal against the Croatian champions.

The win could set Unai Emery up for a return to his former club Arsenal in the next round if both teams win their respective second legs next week.