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Watch Manchester United v Celta de Vigo Live Stream

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MANCHESTER, Sporting Alert — Manchester United will entertain Celta Vigo in the second leg of their Europa League semifinal at Old Trafford on Thursday. Manchester United v Celta de Vigo

Manchester United will take a 1-0 advantage into the second leg and Jose Mourinho is hoping to take another step towards qualifying for the Champions League next season.

Live streaming coverage of this game will be on Sports Soccer 2 Go, Fox Sports Go, with Fox Sports 1 USA and BT Sport 2 providing the live television broadcasting. Game time is 3:05 pm ET.

After resting a few of his regular starters in the English Premier League defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, Mourinho will assemble his best possible starting XI against Celta Vigo at home.

Set to return to the starting lineup are the likes of Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford, Antonio Valencia and Eric Bailly, while Mourinho must also decide on whether to start David de Gea or Sergio Romero.

De Gea is the No. 1 choice among the pundits, but Romero has been the regular pick in this tournament and has kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in the Europa League this season with seven total.

David de Gea: Euro 2016
Goalkeeper David de Gea of Manchester United

Meanwhile, after failing to take advantage of home advantage in the first leg, Celta Vigo will aim to score first at Old Trafford.

The Spanish side has scored in all six of their matches on the road so far in the Europa League campaign this season, according to Opta Stats and facts, while three of their last four such fixtures have ended in 0-2 wins.

However, Opta Stats and facts also revealed that Celta Vigo have lost their last four European matches against English clubs.

The last time the Spanish outfit won against an English side in European competition was against Aston Villa in 2000.

In the meantime, Mourinho has made it no secret that winning the Europa League is Manchester United’s best chance of qualifying for the Champions League next season.

Adding that this is the team’s “most important match of their history.”

“I think in terms of motivation, we are even,” Mourinho said. “For Celta it is, in their words, the most important match of their history.

“And my feelings, it’s also the most important match of our history.

“It doesn’t matter what happened before, it doesn’t matter how big matches we played before.

“What matters is the next one and the next one is (on Thursday), so I don’t believe Celta dreams more than us, that Celta wants more than us.

“I really don’t believe so in this aspect I don’t think there will be a difference between both teams.”

Manchester United v Feyenoord Lineups, Watch Live, Livescores

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MANCHESTER, Sporting Alert – Jose Mourinho has named his Manchester United starting lineup for today’s Europa League Group A clash with Feyenoord at Old Trafford.

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The Portuguese coach has decided to rotate his squad a bit with Wayne Rooney, Sergio Romero and Henrikh Mkhitaryan being the highlighted players in the starting team today.

Romero gets the surprise start in goal with David de Gea on the bench, while Daley Blind comes in for Marcos Rojo to partner Phil Jones in the heart of the backline.

Blind will be making his 100th appearance for Manchester United.

Luke Shaw is also in the starting team and will play at left-back, with Antonio Valencia operating on the right side.

Michael Carrick keeps his place in midfield with Paul Pogba, Rooney and Juan Mata all starting as well.

Mourinho has also decided to hand attacker Mkhitaryan a rare start this season with Zlatan Ibrahimovic returning from his one-match ban against Arsenal to lead the attack.

Among the players on the bench today for Manchester United are Marcus Rashford, Memphis Depay, Jesse Lingard, Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini.

Missing from the matchday squad are Ashley Young, Morgan Schneiderlin and Anthony Martial.

Former Liverpool players, goalkeeper Brad Jones and attacker Dirk Kuyt are among the starters for Feyenoord today.

Manchester United head into this game needing a win to overtake the Dutch side.

“In De Kuip we have seen that it is possible to get a good result against Manchester United,” Van Feyenoord boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst said at his pre-match press conference.

“Now their approach will be different to then, because United must now win. That makes this a very different game than in Rotterdam.”

Manchester United v Feyenoord

Manchester United Team: Romero; Valencia, Jones, Blind, Shaw; Carrick, Pogba; Mata, Rooney, Mkhitaryan; Ibrahimovic. Subs: De Gea, Rojo, Fellaini, Herrera, Lingard, Memphis, Rashford.

Feyenoord Team: Jones, Karsdorp, Dammers, van der Heijden, Nelom, Tapia, Kuyt, Vilhena, Toornstra, Jorgensen, Elia. Subs: Hansson, Woudenberg, Nieuwkoop, Vejinovic, Berghuis, Basaçikoglu, Kramer.

Man United v Fenerbahce: Mkhitaryan On The Bench, Rooney Starts

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ISTANBUL, Turkey, Sporting Alert – Henrikh Mkhitaryan was named on the bench for Manchester United against Fenerbahce in a Europa League Group A clash at Sukru Saracoglu.

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Mkhitaryan has not been in a United matchday squad since being substituted at halftime in the Manchester derby defeat to City on Sept. 10, despite being declared fit by manager Jose Mourinho.

Captain Wayne Rooney is in the starting team, as he will lead the attack with Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the bench.

Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial will support the England international, with Morgan Schneiderlin and Ander Herrera starting in central roles for Mourinho.

As expected, Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo will start in the heart of the defense, while Matteo Darmian and Luke Shaw are the full-backs.

David de Gea starts in the goal for the Red Devils.

Meanwhile defender Phil Jones, who has recovered from a knee injury, is named on the bench for the first time this season.

Former Manchester United striker Robin van Persie, who scored in the 4-1 defeat at Old Trafford, is only on the bench today for Fenerbahce.

Jeremain Lens, Moussa Sow and Volkan Sen lead the attack for the Turks, while former Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel and Simon Kjaer start in the heart of the backline.

Manchester United will be without full-back/winger Antonio Valencia, central defenders Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling, as well as midfielder Michael Carrick and winger Memphis Depay who were all left at home.

Juan Mata, Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini are among the subs for the English Premier League side.

Fenerbahce v Manchester United

Fenerbahce: Demirel, Ozbayrakli, Skrtel, Kjaer, Kaldirim, Souza, Potuk, Topal, Lens, Sow, Sen. Subs: Fabiano, van Persie, Koybasi, Emenike, Neustadter, Ucan, Stoch

Manchester United: de Gea, Darmian, Rojo, Blind, Shaw, Schneiderlin, Ander Herrera, Rashford, Pogba, Martial, Rooney. Subs: Romero, Jones, Mata, Ibrahimovic, Young, Mkhitaryan, Fellaini

Referee: Milorad Mazic (Serbia)

Watch Inter Milan v Southampton; Starting Line-ups

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MILAN, Sporting Alert – Starting line-ups for the Europa League Group K clash between Inter Milan and Southampton at Giuseppe Meazza.

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English Premier League side Southampton make six changes from the team that beat Burnley in the English Premier League last weekend.

Among those starting today is midfielder Sam McQueen, who makes his first start, while Maya Yoshida, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, James Ward-Prowse, Jay Rodriguez and Shane Long all starting as well.

Defender Virgil van Dijk will play an important part for the Saints, who have failed to score in six of their last seven European away matches, according to OPTA STATS.

For Inter Milan, meanwhile, captain Mauro Icardi is in the starting line-up, despite his current fall-out with the club’s fans.

Icardi will lead the attack, with Antonio Candreva and Eder supporting.

1. Samir Handanovic starts in goal, while Yuto Nagatomo, Miranda, Gary Medel and Marcelo Brozovic are in the team as well.

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Inter Milan Starting XI to play Southampton: Handanovic, Nagatomo, Miranda, Murillo, Santon, Medel, Gnoukouri, Brozovic, Candreva, Icardi, Eder. Subs: Carrizo, Palacio, Ansaldi, Banega, D’Ambrosio, Perisic, Yao

Southampton Starting XI to play Inter Milan: Forster, Martina, Yoshida, Van Dijk, McQueen, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Hojbjerg, Tadic, Rodriguez, Long. Subs: McCarthy, Clasie, Fonte, Davis, Austin, Boufal, Stephens.

Mkhitaryan Fit To Play For Man United v Fenerbahce

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MANCHESTER, Sporting Alert – Jose Mourinho has hinted that Henrikh Mkhitaryan could feature for Manchester United in today’s Europa League group match against Fenerbahce.

Manchester United will host former Reds Robin van Persie and the Fenerbahce at 3:00 pm ET, live on Fox Sports 1 USA, Fox Sports GO, WatchESPN and Fox Soccer 2GO USA.

Mkhitaryan has been sidelined because of an injury he picked up last month, but after missing most of the early fixtures, Mourinho has revealed that the Armenian playmaker is now fit and training well.

He could play a part in Thursday’s group clash at Old Trafford.

“He was injured and he was injured for quite a long time. Now, he’s not injured anymore,” Mourinho said on www.manutd.com.

“He’s training with the team without any limitation. I cannot confirm if he’s [ready] for tomorrow or not, but he’s fit and it’s now time for him to go back to the levels we know that he can achieve.”

Mkhitaryan was bought by Mourinho to play a big part in Manchester United’s push to win the English Premier League title this season and you can bet that once he’s fit, the former Borussia Dortmund midfielder will secure a starting place.

Meanwhile, ahead of Thursday’s game, Mourinho has also admitted that he’s happy with the contribution of another summer signing, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has featured in all of the Red Devils’ 12 matches so far this season and has scored six goals.

“He’s giving us exactly what we need from him, what we expect from him,” said Mourinho of the Swede, who scored the winner game against Zorya Luhansk in the last Europa League outing.

“I’m really happy. It’s quite beautiful for me to meet him, I don’t know, five or six years later [after our time together at Inter Milan], and see the same ambition, passion and desire to play and compete.

“I couldn’t be happier, and the guy is really fit and ready to play, so I couldn’t be happier.

“In terms of his influence in the dressing room, obviously he’s somebody the young guys look at, you can see he’s great for them because he can only influence them positively.”

Manchester United v Zorya Luhansk: News, Livescores, Quotes

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MANCHESTER, Sporting Alert – Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is yet to decide on whether to start Wayne Rooney in Thursday’s Europa League Group A clash against Zorya Luhansk at Old Trafford.

Live coverage of this game will be on Fox Sports 1 USA, with WatchESPN, Fox Soccer 2GO USA and MUTV Online also providing live streaming. Follow livescores on www.livescores.com.

Embed from Getty Images

Rooney was left on the bench in the Red Devils’ 4-1 victory over Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday and Mourinho could keep the England international on the bench again.

The Manchester United captain has been selected for the game, his club manager said, but could be held out because Mourinho wants to protect him from a backlash, should he deliver a below-par performance.

The Old Trafford boss insisted that his decision to drop Rooney against the Foxes over the weekend for tactical reasons and maintained that his skipper will return to the starting side when the time his right.

At the same time, Rooney also only returned to full training on Wednesday after a slight back problem, so Mourinho is not prepared to rush him back.

“Wayne Rooney is selected, I didn’t decide yet if I start with him,” the Portuguese coach said.

“He didn’t train yesterday, he did just a little bit of the session on Monday.

“Today was the first time that he had a training session with the other players and today is the training session where the intensity and the complexity is obviously reduced because we have a game tomorrow.

“So I was completely convinced of playing him tomorrow from the beginning. But with this situation in the last couple of days I’m not sure if I’ll do that because, with the situation that you create for him, I think really he can’t afford to have a performance that is not really good.

“Because I’m here to protect him and not to put him in difficult situations, I have to analyse if the best thing for him is to start the game if he is not totally ready for it, so I’m going to discuss that with him and the medical staff.”

Meanwhile, Manchester United have confirmed that playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan will again be absent with a thigh problem, while left-back Luke Shaw was sent home due to illness.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was a late substitute in the 1-0 defeat to Feyenoord in the Europa League opener, will start in the attack on Thursday.

Attacker Anthony Martial has also recovered from an injury and will be available to play.

“He has now recovered from the contusion in his calf and in his ankle,” the boss noted.

“He has recovered and is ready for tomorrow.”

Visit www.manutd.com for more information

Manchester United: Europa League Group Draw

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MANCHESTER, Sporting Alert – Manchester United have been drawn in Group A of the Europa League on Friday afternoon and will face a relatively unknown side during the group stages.

The English Premier League giants were placed alongside Fenerbahce, Feyenoord and Zorya Luhansk and manager Jose Mourinho, who admits that he would have rather be playing in the Champions League, says he intends to play strong lineups throughout the competition.

One of the trips Manchester United must make is to Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk, which finished fourth in their division last season and is among the smallest clubs in the competition.

The Red Devils have never faced Zorya Luhansk before, and the Ukraine side will be making its Europa League debut, after finally getting past the play-offs stage.

Also in Group A are Fenerbahçe, which finished second in the Turkish league last season and Feyenoord, the third place finishers in the Dutch Eredivisie last term.

Fenerbahçe will be led by former Manchester United and Arsenal forward Robin van Persie, who joined them last summer from the Red Devils.

The Turkish side qualified for the group stage through a 5-0 aggregate victory over Grasshoppers in the qualifying round.

Feyenoord, in the meantime, will suit out former Liverpool players, Dutchman attacker Dirk Kuyt and Australian goalkeeper Brad Jones.

Meanwhile, commenting on the group draw, Mourinho said at his press conference: “There are groups in the Champions League that are very similar, so it is good for that.

“We all know the competition is not the same as the Champions League but to have Manchester United playing against clubs with tradition like Fenerbahce and Feyenoord is good for us.

“I don’t have more vision about Ukraine. We know that it will be a difficult group, but I think that is a good thing.

“If you have teams without expression then even the fans may not enjoy Thursday nights at Old Trafford.

“It is good for the fans and for the players because it will help motivation.”

Southampton, the other English Premier League outfits in the competition have been drawn alongside Inter Milan, Sparta Prague and Hapoel Be’er Sheva from Israel.

Europa League Group Draw

GROUP A:
Manchester United, Fenerbahce, Feyenoord, Zorya Luhansk

GROUP B:
Olympiacos, APOEL, Young Boys, FC Astana

GROUP C:
Anderlecht, Saint-Etienne, FSV Mainz, Gabala SC

GROUP D:
Zenit St. Petersburg, AZ Alkmaar, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Dundalk FC

GROUP E:
Viktoria Plzen, AS Roma, Austria Wien, FC Astra Giurgiu

GROUP F:
Athletic Club, KRC Genk, SK Rapid Wien, US Sassuolo Calcio

GROUP G:
AFC Ajax, Standard de Liege, Celta de Vigo, Panathinaikos FC

GROUP H:
Shakhtar Donetsk, SC Braga, KAA Gent, Konyaspor

GROUP I:
FC Schalke, FC Salzburg, FC Krasnodar, OGC Nice

GROUP J:
Fiorentina, PAOK FC, Slovan Liberec, Qarabag FK

GROUP K:
Inter Milan, AC Sparta Praha, Southampton, Hapoel Beer-Sheva FC

GROUP L:
Villarreal, FC Steaua Bucharest, FC Zurich, Osmanlispor A.S.

Louis van Gaal Faces Manchester United Day Of Fate?

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MANCHESTER, Sporting Alert – Louis van Gaal and Manchester United will take part in what is expected to be the most important game for the Dutchman when they face FC Midtjylland in the Europa League round of 32-second leg clash at Old Trafford on Thursday.

The Premier League side head into today’s battle down 2-1 after losing the first leg in Denmark last week and will need to turn things around at home if it is to avoid an embarrassing exit from the tournament.

On paper, Manchester United have the better side, but that was what we also thought last week and we all saw what happened.

Some of that immediate pressure was slightly taken off Van Gaal during the week with the 3-0 victory over Shrewsbury Town, but things would certainly heat up again if the Red Devils fail to get past Midtjylland at home.

Manchester United enter this matchup with a number of injury concerns, and it got even worse for Van Gaal, following the news that first-choice goalkeeper David de Gea failed to recover from the knee injury that kept him out of the last two games.

De Gea sustained the injury while warming up for the first of this clash last Thursday.

Leading centre-back Chris Smalling did not train on Wednesday and will have to be assessed ahead of the game, according to club officials, after the England international sustained a knock colliding with an advertising hoarding in the FA Cup tie.

Left-back Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and striker Will Keane are also doubtful after they both picked up knocks in Monday’s win over Shrewsbury Town.

If Manchester United were to lose today, you can’t help but to think it would be the last game in charge for Van Gaal, who is a strong favourite to step away from his post at the end of the season if he lasts that long.

Meanwhile, with Wayne Rooney out for up to two months, Man United will be looking for young Frenchman Anthony Martial to lead the attacking line against with Juan Mata and Memphis Depay also expected to start in support.

According to SkyBet, Martial is priced at 11/8 to score and Manchester United to win in 90 minutes.

I guess we will have to wait and see.

Manchester United (squad): Romero, J Pereira, Love, Riley, Rojo, Varela, Blind, Smalling, Poole, Borthwick-Jackson, McNair, Schneiderlin, Herrera, Carrick, Lingard, Januzaj, Rashford, A Pereira, Mata, Depay, Martial, Keane

FC Midtjylland v Manchester United: Europa League Live

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Sporting Alert – Manchester United have named its starting XI for Thursday’s Europa League Round of 32 match at FC Midtjylland.

A bit of a piece of breaking news see David de Gea forced out of this clash for Manchester United after the Spanish goalkeeper picked up an injury in the warm-up has been replaced in the starting team by Sergio Romero. This means there will be no goalkeeper on the bench for the Premier League side.

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We already know that captain Wayne Rooney has been ruled out of this game and could miss up to two months, so Anthony Martial will move into a central role to lead the attack today.

This opens the door for Memphis Depay to return to the starting lineup and he will play on the left flank.

Also coming into the starting line today is Donald Love, who makes his first start for Manchester United at the senior level, this after coming on as a substitute in the 2-1 defeat to Sunderland in the Premier League at the weekend.

Love comes in at right-back forMatteo Darmian, who is also missing after dislocating his shoulder against Sunderland.

Paddy McNair starts as the partner in the heart of the defence for Manchester United, with Daley Blind moving out to play at left-back.

Ander Herrera also comes into the starting team today ahead of Morgan Schneiderlin and he will partner Michael Carrick in midfield, with Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard out wide on the right.

Among the Manchester United substitutes for today’s game are youngsters Regan Poole, Joe Riley and James Weir.

Young striker Will Keane is also on the bench, with Schneiderlin being the most experienced sub for the game at MCH Arena.

Marouane Fellaini (muscle injury) and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson (illness) are among the players not with the Manchester United squad as manager Louis van Gaal looks to take an advantage from the first leg.

Several other players, including Bastian Schweinsteiger, Ashley Young, Luke Shaw and Antonio Valencia are also on the sidelines.

Midtjylland: Andersen; Romer, Hansen, Bodurov, Novak; Hassan, Sparv; Kadlec, Sisto, Olsson; Pusic. Subs: Dahlin, Urena, Duelund, Banggaard, Bach Bak, Onuachu, Royer.

Manchester United: Romero, Love, Smalling, McNair, Blind, Herrera, Carrick, Lingard, Mata, Memphis, Martial. Subs: Poole, Riley, Pereira, Schneiderlin, Weir, Keane.

NOTE: De Gea injured in warm-up.

Europa League Last 32 Draw, Man United, Liverpool Entered

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Sporting Alert – The complete round of 32 draw for the Europa League, with Manchester United, Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund all involved.

After being knockout of the Champions League in the group stages, Manchester United have been offered another opportunity to win a trophy in Europe this season.

The EPL side entered the Europa League draw as one of the seeded teams and will be relatively happy with its opponent after being drawn to face Danish side FC Midtjylland.

Pressure is mounting on manager Louis van Gaal to deliver at Old Trafford, and after spending more than £200 million on new players, his side must deliver against FC Midtjylland and progress further in this tournament or it would be useless to bring the Dutchman back for his final stint of his contract.

The First leg of this tie will be played at FC Midtjylland on Thursday 18 February 2016, with the second leg scheduled for a week later at Old Trafford on Thursday 25 Feb.

Meanwhile, fellow Premier League sides Liverpool and Tottenham will also be on the road for their respective Europa League first leg ties.

The Reds have been drawn to face German FC Augsburg, with the first leg to be contested at the WWK ARENA on Feb. 18.

Tottenham have been handed the most tricky matchup of the three Premier League sides, after they were handed Italian side Fiorentina.

Also in the Europa League draw on Monday were Valencia, now coached by former Manchester United right-back Gary Neville, and they will be up against a solid Rapid Vienna side, with the first leg being on the road.

Former Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez will be leading Bayer Leverkusen against Sporting Lisbon in the last 32, while German side Borussia Dortmund, one of the teams with strong odds to win the tournament, taking on FC Porto.

Elsewhere, Robin van Persie and Fenerbahce are up against Lokomotiv Moscow, Villarreal were drawn alongside Napoli, while Galatasaray take on Lazio and Anderlecht go up against Olympiacos.

The first legs in the Europa League round of 32 will take place on February 18th, with the second legs on February 25th. This will be followed by the round of 16 draw the next day on February 26th.

FULL DRAW
Valencia v Rapid Vienna
Fiorentina v Tottenham
Borussia Dortmund v FC Porto
Fenerbahce v Lokomotiv Moscow
Anderlecht v Olympiacos
FC Midtjylland v Manchester United
Augsburg v Liverpool
Galatasaray v Lazio
Sparta Prague v Krasnodar
Sion v Braga
Shakhtar Donetsk v Schalke
Marseille v Athletic Bilbao
Sevilla v Molde
Sporting Lisbon v Bayer Leverkusen
Villarreal v Napoli
Saint-Etienne v Basel

Road to Basel
Round of 16 draw: 26 February
Round of 16: 10 & 17 March
Quarter-final draw: 18 March
Quarter-finals: 7 & 14 April
Semi-final draw: 15 April
Semi-finals: 28 April & 5 May
Final (St. Jakob-Park, Basel): 18 May

Southampton Cruises In Europa League Qualifier

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ARNHEM, Sporting Alert – Graziano Pelle and Sadio Mane scored a goal each and Southampton beat Vitesse Arnhem 2-0 in the second leg of their Europa League Qualifying 3rd Round game at GelreDome on Thursday.

The two-goal victory saw the Saints taking the tie 5-0 on aggregate after winning the first leg 3-0.

The English Premier League outfits scored early and then late in the game to secure the commanding two-legged contest.

Pelle got the game’s opening goal when he took a close range pass from James Ward-Prowse, turned his way past a defender inside the box, before finishing well into the bottom corner of the net in the fourth minute.

It was the fifth time in a row the 30-year-old was scoring against Vitesse Arnhem.

The hard-working Mane then doubled the lead for the English Premier League side in the 89th minute.

Picking off a defender inside the Vitesse half, the Senegalese striker drove towards goal before firing home a left-footed strike from outside the box under goalkeeper Eloy Room.

Even with the healthy lead, the Saints kept pushing for more goals and could have grabbed another one had midfielder Victor Wanyama managed to beat Room in stoppage.

From the resulting corner kick, Wanyama put his header wide, which meant there wasn’t going to be another 3-0 victory for Ronald Koeman’s side in the second leg.

Nevertheless, it was a satisfying victory on Thursday for Southampton, who were progressing in European competition for the first time since 1991.

Vitesse Team: Room, Diks, Kashia (c), Van der Werff (Achenteh 72), Leerdam, Baker (Pantic 80), Nakamba, Vako, Brown (Nathan 69), Rashica, Oliynyk. Substitutes: Velthuizen (GK), Djurdjevic, Osman, Lelieveld.

Booked: Diks (90)

Southampton Team: Stekelenburg, Caulker, Yoshida, Fonte (c), Martina, Ward-Prowse, Wanyama, S. Davis (Reed 77), Mané, Tadić (Juanmi 65), Pellè (Rodriguez 71). Substitutes: K. Davis (GK), Cédric, Targett, McQueen.

Goals: Pellè (4), Mané (89)

Booked: Martina (40), Stekelenburg (75)

Referee: Ilias Spathas

Celtic v Inter Milan Europa League Live on ESPN3

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CELTIC PARK (Sporting Alert) — Scottish Premier League leaders Celtic FC takes on Inter Milan in their Europa League round of 32 game at Celtic Park on Thursday night.

Watch Live Streaming on ESPN3.com, Fox Soccer 2Go, WatchESPN

ESPN3 Coverage Of EPL Sides In Europa League – Feb. 19

Celtic come into this game on a good run after winning their last six games in all competitions, but manager Ronny Deila believes this clash will tell a lot about his young squad.

The hosts have lost all four of their last four matchups against Italian sides and have done so without scoring a single goal.

It’s no wonder Deila is trying to take the pressure off his lads.

“We have a very exciting squad,” Deila said. “There are a lot of young players here at the beginning of their careers and this match is important to improve and show what level you are at.

“We will get a lot of answers in terms of how good Celtic are and how good we are individually as well, but we have a very good feeling.

“We are a strong unit now with very good togetherness and we are just looking forward to the game.

“It’s hard for me to say in percentage terms how much we have improved but if you have an eye for football you can see it’s a totally different team from earlier in the season.

“The players have had a lot of improvement and some of the youngsters and also the older players are taking steps.

Manager Deila has opted to stick with the same starting lineup that opened against St Johnstone in league action on Saturday, which means that midfielder Gary Mackay-Steven and attacker Stuart Armstrong will be handed their Celtic European debuts.

Leading the attacking line again is Leigh Griffiths with John Guidetti on the bench, while Scott Brown, Virgil van Dijk, Emilio Izaguirre, Adam Matthews and Jason Denayer also start as well.

However, forward Kris Commons, who picked up a hamstring injury earlier this month and missed the Bhoys’ last two games, will not feature and is not on the bench either, despite training this week.

Meanwhile, Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini welcomes the return of defender Hugo Campagnaro, who has apparently recovered from a calf problem and starts alongside Davide Santon, Andrea Ranocchia and Juan Jesus in the backline.

The inform Fredy Guarin starts as well for the Nerazzurri, so too does Gary Medel and Xherdan Shaqiri, with Rodrigo Palacio getting the starting nod to lead the front line ahead of Mateo Kovacic.

Mancini’s Inter Milan side has won three and lost three of its last six games and are coming off a 4-1 victory over Atalanta over the weekend, with Guarin netting two goals and Shaqiri and Palacio on the scoresheet as well in that game.

CelticFC Team: Gordon; Matthews, Denayer, van Dijk, Izaguirre; Brown, Bitton; Mackay-Steven, Johansen, Armstrong; Griffiths. Subs: Zaluska, Ambrose, Henderson, McGregor, Wakaso, Scepovic, Guidetti

Inter Milan Team: Carrizo, Santon, Ranocchia, Juan Jesus, Campagnaro, Kuzmanovic, Guarin, Medel, Shaqiri, Palacio, Icardi. Subs: Handanovic, Kovacic, Vidic, Obi, Dodo, Puscas, Hernanes.