Europa: Tomori confident Milan will advance past Man United, Maguire disappointed

AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori is optimistic his team will advance in the UEFA Europa League after their 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Thursday night.The hosts led in the round of 16 first leg clash through Amad Diallo’s goal until the last few seconds of added time when Simon Kjaer headed home from a corner kick.

Tomori, who has Nigerian heritage but has opted to play for England, was solid in the heart of a Milan side that thoroughly outplayed their hosts. 

“We were confident going into the game,” the centre-back on loan from Chelsea, told uefa.com.

“We felt we could get a good result here, but the 1-1 draw leaves us in a good position and we’re confident we can get the win in the return leg.”

Milan indeed had the better chances and would even have deserved to win against hosts who struggled for cohesion for most of the encounter.

Tomori rued the two Milan goals ruled out for offside and handball but was happy to take the draw to next Thursday’s second leg in Milan.

“It was a good performance,” he said.

“Particularly in the first half we had good chances, had two goals disallowed and played good football. To come to a place like Old Trafford and get a draw, we have to be happy with that.

“I thought we deserved the draw. I felt we played well and created some good chances. To get a late goal like that at Old Trafford is a great feeling and it was no less than we deserved.”

Manchester United captain Harry Maguire confessed that his side were not at their best against the Italians.

He said: “They played well, we didn’t have our best performance, but we had the better chances. If you look back on the game a draw might seem like a fair result, but with the chances we had we felt we should have won the game.”

The centre-back had no explanation for his miss from two yards out but expressed his disappointment at the late equaliser.

The England defender added: “It’s obviously disappointing to concede so late. “We had the better chances in the game so to only get a draw is tough to take, but we’ll go again and try and get the result we need in the second game.”