Joshua Zirkzee aims dig at Manchester United fans who left before epic Lyon comeback

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Evening Standard

·18 aprile 2025

Joshua Zirkzee aims dig at Manchester United fans who left before epic Lyon comeback

Injured forward had a message for those that exited Old Trafford early before dramatic last-gasp turnaround in extra time

Joshua Zirkzee appeared to criticise the Manchester United fans who left their pulsating Europa League quarter-final victory over Lyon early.

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Old Trafford witnessed one of the most dramatic games in its long European history on Thursday night involving not one but a pair of two-goal fightbacks, the most important of which came from Ruben Amorim’s side as they progressed through to the last four in the most incredible of circumstances in a nine-goal thriller.

After a lively 2-2 draw in France in last week’s first-leg clash, United went in at half-time in the return fixture seemingly sitting pretty at 2-0 up after goals from Manuel Ugarte and Diogo Dalot, only for Lyon to later hit back with two efforts in the space of seven minutes from Corentin Tolisso and Nicolas Tagliafico.

Tolisso was then sent off before extra time, when two more quick-fire goals from Rayan Cherki and former Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette had Lyon 4-2 in front on the night and 6-4 ahead on aggregate, with one foot seemingly planted in the semi-finals with time running out.

However, United went on to produce their own devastating comeback, scoring three times in just seven minutes through captain Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo and Harry Maguire to avoid a humiliating exit against 10 men or the lottery of penalties and keep their otherwise dismal season alive by winning a truly memorable tie 5-4 on the night and 7-6 on aggregate.

The late extra-time heroics inevitably sparked jubilant scenes of celebration all around Old Trafford, where the atmosphere has been criticised at times this season amid another hugely difficult campaign that sees them languish down in 14th place in the Premier League table and only three points above 17th, along with no prospect of domestic cup success.

And oft-maligned summer signing Zirkzee, not involved against Lyon having been ruled out for the rest of the season with a hamstring injury suffered in the 4-1 loss at Newcastle last weekend, had a message for those supporters that decide to leave the ground early.

From his position in the stands, the Dutch forward - who scored United’s second goal in the first leg against Lyon - posted a video of the noisy celebrations around Old Trafford to his Instagram stories along with the caption: “To all the fans that left when we were down. Have a listen to this.”

Zirkzee also posted his happy reaction to Mainoo replicating his own celebration - firing imaginary guns with both hands - after scoring the fantastic goal that levelled the tie ahead of Maguire’s last-gasp headed winner in stoppage time.