Henrikh Mkhitaryan bagged a precious away goal as Manchester United came away from their trip to Russia with a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie against Rostov on Thursday.
On an awful pitch, the state of which had United manager Jose Mourinho fuming on the eve of the game, Mkhitaryan turned in the opener 10 minutes before halftime.
But Aleksandr Bukharov levelled for the home side in the 53rd minute at the Olimp 2 stadium, keeping Rostov hopes alive ahead of next week’s return at Old Trafford.
In other first leg results, FC Copenhagen beat Ajax Amsterdam in Denmark, but the 2-1 score-line gave the Dutch giants a crucial away goal, while Belgian outfit Anderlecht gained a significant advantage with a 1-0 triumph over APOEL Nicosia in Cyprus.