Champions League: Man United enter last 16

Manchester United are through to the Champions League knockout stages thanks to a 2-0 win over Villareal in the Red Devils’ first game since the departure of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Ronaldo was the hero once again for Manchester United as he broke the deadlock.

Jadon Sancho also scored his first goal for the club in a crucial 2-0 win.

The victory in Spain guarantees that the Red Devils will qualify for the knockout stages from Group H of the competition and gives caretaker manager Michael Carrick the perfect start to his stint in charge.

The Portuguese legend netted the opener on 78 minutes after fine work from Fred, who robbed the ball from Etienne Capoue as he was receiving a pass from the Villarreal goalkeeper.

The Brazilian picked Capoue’s pocket, played in Ronaldo, who lobbed goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli with a clever finish.

Sancho then powered home a fantastic finish in the 90th minute, putting the match to bed and rustling up some much-needed confidence after a slow start to his career with the club.

Bruno and Rashford introduced

After an hour of little action, Manchester United had been in the ascendency when the first goal came, thanks to the introductions of Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford.

It was something of a surprise to see those two not in the starting XI, but they certainly made a difference when they replaced Donny van de Beek and Anthony Martial after 66 minutes.

While it was a fantastic result for the visitors, it was not a game to remember for much of it.

Neither goalkeeper was pressed into a huge amount of action, although there were good saves from David De Gea and Geronimo Rulli in the second half.

The Red Devils certainly looked more disciplined and had a more obvious plan for the majority of the match.

Carrick will be thrilled to get off to his spell in charge to the ideal start.

RESULT: Villarreal 0-2 Man Utd

Villarreal XI: 13 Rulli; 8 Foyth; 3 Albiol, 4 Pau Torres, 12 Estupinan; 14 Trigueros, 6 Capoue, 5 Parejo, 23 Moi Gomez; 21 Pino, 15 Danjuma

Man Utd XI: 1 De Gea; 29 Wan-Bissaka, 2 Lindelof, 5 Maguire, 27 Alex Telles; 39 McTominay, 17 Fred; 25 Sancho, 34 Van de Beek, 9 Martial; 7 Ronaldo