Manchester United beat Saint-Etienne 1-0 on the night at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard and 4-0 on aggregate to make it into the last 16 of the Europa League.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored the only goal of the second leg, tucking away from a Juan Mata cross 17 minutes in to make certain of a comfortable route through.
The Armenia international limped off soon after in a low-key affair, though, while Eric Bailly was shown red on the hour mark in another blemish on an otherwise positive evening for the Red Devils.
Relive how the 90 minutes of action unfolded with Sports Mole's live text coverage below.
Hello and welcome to to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the Europa League last-32 second-leg tie between Saint-Etienne and Manchester United at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. The Red Devils have opened up a resounding 3-0 advantage over their opponents heading into this reverse fixture - their biggest such lead at the midway point of a European knockout match in more than 20 years.
United have Zlatan Ibrahimovic to thank for that, with the ex-Sweden international scoring all three goals in last Thursday's reverse meeting - his first treble for the Red Devils - to ensure that they have one foot in the last 16. It is not quite over just yet, so it will be interesting to see exactly what strength Jose Mourinho's starting lineup will be this evening. Speaking of which, let us check out some confirmed team news...
TEAM NEWS!
SAINT-ETIENNE XI: Ruffier, Theophile-Catherine, Pogba, Perrin, Malcuit, Pajot, Saivet, Veretout, Hamouma, Monnet-Paquet, Beric
MANCHESTER UNITED XI: Romero; Young, Smalling, Bailly, Blind; Carrick, Pogba, Fellaini; Mata, Mkhitaryan, Ibrahimovic
To answer that previous poser, Mourinho has named a strong-looking United XI for this second leg. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was expected to sit this one out, having come off the bench to win last weekend's FA Cup tie with Blackburn Rovers, but he does not take too kindly to sitting on the bench and has been included in the starting lineup as one of six changes from last time out.
Ibrahimovic scored his first hat-trick for the Red Devils in last week's 3-0 home win, taking him to 24 overall - the joint-most alongside Anthony Martial over the past two seasons, despite only joining last summer! Ibrahimovic's tally against Saint-Etienne also stands at 17 during his career, too, which is more than he has bagged - by quite some distance - than against any other side. Les Verts will be sick of the sight of him, particularly after what we saw on Thursday.
Eric Bailly, Daley Blind, Paul Pogba, Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata also come in from the win at Ewood Park three days ago, making this close to the Red Devils' strongest available side. Ander Herrera would usually take the position tonight occupied by Fellaini, but he is out through suspension, while Michael Carrick has shaken off his recent injury problem. The other notable absentees are Wayne Rooney, Phil Jones, Matteo Darmian and Luke Shaw, the latter of whom cannot even force his way into the squad for what is essentially a dead-rubber.
It is four changes in all from last week's reverse fixture, meanwhile, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ashley Young also coming in. In terms of the visitors, they make just the one alteration from that three-goal thrashing at Old Trafford - Jorginho being replaced by Robert Beric, who was included in Les Verts' squad six days ago for the first time in three months. Boss Christophe Galtier clearly happy enough with what he saw last time out, then, even if the tie is now massively in United's favour.
Florentin Pogba faces off against brother Paul for the second time, six days on from that previous tussle, making his 21st appearance of the campaign in all competitions. Henri Saviet also retains his place in the side after causing United a few problems last time out, coming close a number of times with wayward shots, while Nolan Roux - a scorer in the 2-1 defeat to Montpellier at the weekend - was lively in that Old Trafford tie but is only among the subs again.
BENCH WATCH!
SAINT-ETIENNE SUBS: Moulin, Lacroix, Lemoine, Pierre-Gabriel, Selnaes, Jorginho, Roux
MANCHESTER UNITED SUBS: De Gea, Valencia, Rojo, Schweinsteiger, Lingard, Martial, Rashford
Marcus Rashford's playing time has become a little more limited in recent weeks, although he did start through the middle at Blackburn a few days ago, while Anthony Martial and Jese Lingard still have work to do to fully win over Mourinho. It is always good to see a player of Bastian Schweinsteiger's quality on the bench, and I am sure plenty of United fans would have loved to have seen him in the side tonight in place of Fellaini. Les Verts have a number of Premier League-experienced players in their ranks, meanwhile, all three of whom start this evening.
Jose Mourinho has made six changes to the starting lineup that helped beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at the weekend, bringing his side in line to what can be considered Manchester United's strongest. Ander Herrera is absent through suspension, seeing his spot again taken by Marouane Fellaini, but it is otherwise a very strong team spearheaded by prolific striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Saint-Etienne make just the one change from the first leg, bringing fit-again Robert Beric in for Jorginho.
A big chance for United to send out a further message this evening, then, as they look to sail through this last-32 tie and book their place in the next knockout round. The Red Devils are still battling on four fronts and this is a particularly pivotal week for them, with the first silverware of the season on the line on Sunday afternoon when they face Southampton in the EFL Cup final. With that in mind, it is a surprise to see such a strong team named this evening.
The Red Devils have recovered from what was a shaky start to life under Mourinho and have now won four games on the spin. Just one defeat in their last 24 overall, that coming against Hull City in the second leg of last month's EFL Cup semi final, has left them in a real strong position as we enter the final few month of the season. They may be sixth in the Premier League, as they have been sine November now, but just four points separate United and rivals Manchester City in second.
United progressed through to the last eight of the FA Cup with that win over Blackburn at the weekend, sealed thanks to man of the moment Ibrahimovic from the bench, having previously brushed aside fellow Championship clubs Reading and Wigan Athletic. Not the toughest of runs, it is fair to say, but Mourinho's men now face the toughest possible task in the next round - a trip to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. That is a mouth-watering tie for the neutral, and the mind games by Mourinho have already started.
Mourinho's priority right now is to get through this match in France unscathed, ideally by keeping their unbeaten run going, before taking on Southampton at the weekend in the EFL Cup final. That competition is at the bottom of the pre-season targets, but it is a major honour nonetheless and it will do the club a world of good to get back into the swing of lifting silverware. They then face Bournemouth and Middlesbrough in the Premier League and Chelsea in the FA Cup, prior to a well deserved two week international break.
United's manager has shown his concern with regards to the congested fixture list but, as he himself rightly pointed out, a backlog of matches at this time of the season can only really be a good thing. Winning breeds confident and right now the Red Devils are still on course of a treble, while also looking in a good position to finish in the top four of the Premier League. It is difficult to ascertain what exactly a good season would be for Mourinho, but one trophy and a place in the Champions League next term would surely please the board.
Mourinho also had to fend off questions regarding the future of skipper Wayne Rooney in his pre-match press conference. The most damning aspect of the whole transfer affair is that United fans, in general, are not all that concerned about whether he stays or leaves. A great servant he may have been, recently racking up that 250th club-record goal at Stoke City, but should he depart for China next week it will not exactly weaken the Red Devils all that much.
DID YOU KNOW? Manchester United have progressed from 18 of their last 19 European knockout ties after winning the first leg, the exception being in 2006-07 when being knocked out by AC Milan. By contrast, opponents Saint-Etienne last overturned a three-goal deficit in a Euro tie some 42 years ago - victory over Hadjuk Split in the second round of the European Cup seeing them through, where they lost to eventual champions Bayern Munich in the semis.
This is United's biggest first-leg lead since beating Porto by four goals in the quarter-finals of the 1996-97 Champions League, which they followed up with a goalless draw in Portugal to cruise through. They have won just one of their last seven games on French soil, though, with five of those ending in draws, so they will be looking to put that stat to bed over the next couple of hours. A clean sheet for the Red Devils this evening will make it four on the bounce in Europe, meanwhile, which they last achieved in December 2013.
Manchester United cruised to a 3-0 victory in last week's first-leg tie at Old Trafford, courtesy of a Zlatan Ibrahimovic hat-trick. That took the Swede's tally in games against Saint-Etienne to a career-high 17 in all, while also putting him alongside Anthony Martial as the Red Devils' joint-top scorer over the past two seasons - despite only being at the club for six months!
An extremely tough task for the French club to overcome this evening, then, and they also saw the gap on the top four in Ligue 1 open up at the weekend after losing 2-1 to Montpellier. Les Verts are still well positioned in fifth, one place better off than last season's final finish, but they are now four points adrift of Lyon and at risk of seeing the recent momentum built up slowly fade away in, as Sir Alex Ferguson coined it, the business end of the campaign.
ASSE have collected just three points from the last nine on offer in Ligue 1, coming on the back of a fine run of form that saw them behind only Paris Saint-Germain and league leaders AS Monaco at the top of the form charts. They also looked strong in Europe prior to being heavily beaten by United, going 10 without defeat on the continent - their best run since 12 games between 2005-09 - and losing just two of their last 20.
Saint-Etienne, who also exited the French Cup at the hands of Auxerre recently, have now tasted defeat in five of their last six meetings with English opposition and conceded three goals or more in each of the last three; Ibrahimovic doing his part to prolong that agony six days ago. Galtier made it clear that he intended to field his best possible XI this evening, though, believing that by scoring the first goal it is game back on again.
Worryingly for the French outfit, just one of their last 10 Europa League goals have come in the first half of a match, while none have arrived prior to the 45th minute. If they are to pull off the unthinkable over the next couple of hours, they quite simply need to find a breakthrough goal early on to put just a little pressure on their opponents. A goal for United, though, and it really will be game over due to the away goals rule.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS! These two sides have met on three previous occasions in European competition, with their last encounter prior to last week coming in the Cup Winners' Cup double-header of 1977-78. The first leg of that first-round tie finished 1-1 here, but crowd trouble meant that the reverse fixture - which Manchester United won 2-0 - had to be played nearly 300 miles south of Old Trafford in Plymouth.
With kickoff at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard now exactly 10 minutes away, let us check out some pre-match thoughts from both camps.
Christophe Galtier: "There is no need for hyper motivation. We have a huge but not insurmountable handicap. We will play in another big atmosphere. The stadium will be full. Besides, it's been nearly full since December. We must respect our public. It is impossible for us not to put out the best team possible for as long as there remains hope of qualification. In a game, anything can happen."
Jose Mourinho: "I played here with Porto and I came back later for Saint-Etienne versus Lyon. I know the stadium is more beautiful now but I know the stadium, I know the atmosphere, and I know that it will be amazing to play. Everyone likes that - I don't like to breathe the smoke, and I don't think the players like to breathe the smoke. So without smoke if possible, I want to enjoy the atmosphere, my players want to enjoy the atmosphere, and hopefully it's a very good match for everyone."
Mourinho a fan of this ground, then, but he admits that he dislikes the pyrotechnics beforehand. The hosts are in trouble with UEFA for letting off a number of smoke bombs prior last week's match at Old Trafford, with smoke making it tough to view the opening few minutes of the game. Those Les Verts fans have to make this venue as intimidating as possible this evening if they are to rattle United, though that said the visitors have played in more hostile venues.
Opposition boss Galtier still hopeful of progressing through to the last 16, meanwhile, despite having a three-goal margin to overcome. An away goal would have made things interesting last week, but Saint-Etienne failed to take on of their few chances and now have a "huge but not insurmountable handicap" for this second leg. The opening stages of the match will be vital, but as pointed out a little earlier Les Verts do not tend to score goals in the first half of their European games.
PREDICTION! A few big days ahead for Manchester United, who follow up this Europa League tie with an EFL Cup final meeting against Southampton at Wembley. The hard work has already been done for the Red Devils, who hold a three-nil lead heading into this match, and I can only see them adding to that tally after naming a really strong starting lineup. United to win 2-1 on the night and 5-1 on aggregate.
Both sets of players are now out on the field of play, with kickoff just a couple of minutes away. This is a ground that United's England international defender Chris Smalling will be familiar with, having featured here in the goalless draw with Slovakia during Euro 2016. Great atmosphere around the ground, but can those home fans push their players over the line?
KICKOFF! Just the start home boss Galtier would have wanted, as Saivet gets high up the right and sends a shot on target - it looked to be creeping in, anyway - for Romero to easily keep out down low. More of that required!
Ibrahimovic being jeered every time he touches the ball, which will be music to his ears. A real bright start made by Saint-Etienne, who need to get on the scoresheet early on if we are to have any sort of contest this evening.
United not really bothered about having to drop back and soak up the pressure, sitting as they do on a 3-0 advantage. It is the Red Devils who have seen more of the ball over the past couple of minutes, though, without creating anything.
Florentin Pogba wins his battle with Fellaini in the air, which is a real rarity. Carrick is then caught quite late on the boot to win a free kick for his side, but the Red Devils go short and fail to get it into the area.
Not the liveliest of starts to the match, which will suit Man United just fine. Only the one attacking move so far - Saviet seeing his low attempt kept out by Romero in a straightforward manner just a minute or so into the game.
Pogba and Ibrahimovic have built up an incredible understanding of late, but the latter was unhappy with his teammate's latest delivery which failed to find him in the box. The Red Devils starting to boss possession now.
The home fans are generating a superb atmosphere, it must be said. Les Verts now starting to wrestle back control of things, but there is not quite enough urgency to their play at the moment and they are forced back to their keeper.
Pogba so nearly finding himself with ball at feet between the lines, but an opposition player quickly pounces on him. Scrappy is the best word to describe the opening 15 minutes of this match, which has seen few openings so far.
GOAL! SAINT-ETIENNE 0-1 MANCHESTER UNITED (HENRIKH MKHITARYAN)
United have themselves a killer fourth goal of the tie to surely book their place in the last 16! It is near enough the first time the visitors have got the ball into the box, with Mkhitaryan getting the faintest of touches to Mata's delivery to guide it past Ruffier.
More urgency shown from the French side since going behind, but it is all too little, too late now as far as their European hopes are concerned. This will be an exhibition match for United over the remaining 70 minutes.
Saint-Etienne have got the ball in decent positions high up the pitch numerous times so far this evening, but they have been poor when it comes to the killer final ball. The hosts now need five goals in the remaining 78 minutes.
Malcuit doing his best to get Saint-Etienne back on level terms on the night, getting into the box down the right but failing to pick out a teammate. Blind did well to usher him out of play for a United goal-kick.
SAVE! It would have been a fifth goal of the tie for United if not for a good save from Ruffier. Mata's cross was cleared by Veretout right into the body of Pajot, with the rebound heading for the back of the net if not for Ruffier.
Malcuit uses his pace to get back and get a touch to the ball ahead of Mkhitaryan, who was so nearly clean through on goal at the end of a Pogba pass from deep. The Red Devils more likely to score a second of the evening at the moment.
MANCHESTER UNITED SUB! Not what Mourinho would have wanted four days before a major cup final, as goalscorer Mkhitaryan has hobbled down the tunnel holding his hamstring. Rashford is on in his place, just off Ibrahimovic.
All of the hosts' play coming exclusively down the right so far, with Hamouma taking over on this occasion only to scuff his cross into the side-netting. Rashford's pace now offering United a different route up the other end of the pitch.
Still just the one attempt on target for the hosts all evening, despite needing five goals, which arrived a minute or so in. A good opportunity for United to score a second, but Young failed to pick out Rashford at the back post.
Veretout tries his luck from 30 yards out with a well-struck shot, but it takes a big deflection to help it wide of the target. The hosts' best spell of the match so far, though they are still doing little to trouble Romero.
Some frustrated glances from a couple of Les Verts players, as they go direct and are flagged for offside. It is certainly game over in terms of which side progresses through, but the hosts will be looking to at least pick up a good result on the night.
SAVE! Romero given something else to do at long last, as Loic Perrin glances a free kick into the hands of the visiting keeper. Slack defending from the visitors there, with the defender totally unmarked 10 yards out.
SHOT! Home fans furious as Rashford plays on despite a Saint-Etienne player going to ground. The ball is played to Ibrahimovic, who cuts inside and sends a shot narrowly over the bar. He does not tend to miss against this opposition!
SAVE! Monnet-Paquet gets forward for pretty much the first time all match, so nearly in behind only for Bailly to pull off a big interception. The attacker did still get a shot away, which Romero kept out after racing off his line.
HALF TIME: SAINT-ETIENNE 0-1 MANCHESTER UNITED
The referee blows for half time, with Manchester United extending their two-legged lead. Saint-Etienne created just a couple of chances across the opening 45 minutes, both of which Sergio Romero kept out with ease, while the Red Devils took their one big opening through Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The home side now require five goals to progress through.
The home side took less than two minutes to register their first attempt of the match, with Henri Saivet - one of 10 survivors from the heavy defeat at Old Trafford - testing Sergio Romero down low to send out a warning. Saint-Etienne struggled to build any sort of pressure, though, and it was game over for the tie when Henrikh Mkhitaryan found the net 17 minutes in.
It was a simple goal for United to score, as Juan Mata sent a delightful cross into the path of Mkhitaryan, who simply got in front of his man and guided the ball past Stephane Ruffier. That away goal means that the French outfit, on the brink of losing against English opposition for the sixth time in seven outings, required five goals to progress through - a feat they do not come look close to achieving.
Ruffier had to be alert to stop Jordan Veretout's clearance deflecting off Vincent Pajot and into his own net, while Kevin Monnet-Paquet and Loic Perrin also had weak attempts kept out by Romero in the remainder of the opening 45 minutes. There was to be a major blow for United prior to the interval, however, as goalscorer Mkhitaryan hobbled down the tunnel with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
One less sub for Mourinho to choose from, then, and it will be interesting to see if the Portuguese uses one of those remaining two alterations prior to the restart. The Red Devils look comfortable on the night and sit on a four-goal lead overall, so no reason not to bring on one of those back-up options with one eye on Sunday's meeting with Southampton.
SAINT-ETIENNE SUBS: Moulin, Lacroix, Lemoine, Pierre-Gabriel, Selnaes, Jorginho, Roux
MANCHESTER UNITED SUBS: De Gea, Valencia, Rojo, Schweinsteiger, Lingard, Martial
RESTART! Saint-Etienne get proceedings back under way at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, where both teams remain unchanged from the end of the opening 45 minutes. Expect Mourinho to make another alteration around the hour mark.
Blind gives away a free kick and cannot deal with the delivery as the first man, with Fellaini required behind him to head to safety. No way through for the visitors whatsoever at the moment; crosses their only obvious route to goal.
Les Verts near enough dominating possession since the restart but, much like in the first half, they are not turning possession into chances. Just a few straightforward stops for Romero to make so far this evening.
I've been very impressed by Malcuit over the two legs, even if he has seen his side concede four times. The full-back is happy to give Rashford a yard so that he can lunge in and hook the ball clear. Had to get that spot on inside the box.
Beric, only recently back in the squad, is growing really frustrated by his lack of service. Rashford again uses his pace but Ruffier is there to collect before the Englishman could get any telling contact on the ball.
SAINT-ETIENNE SUB! Saivet sees a shot blocked aside by Smalling - his final act of an underwhelming evening, as Jorginho is on in his place. A chance for the former Napoli man to show that Galtier made the wrong choice leaving him out from the off.
An absolute shocker from Hamouma, who sends his free kick closer to Row Z than the goal. The Les Verts ace slipped on the turf in fairness to him, but that sums up his side's evening quite well. Paul Pogba goes down in the box but the referee is having none of it.
CLOSE! Fellaini is slipped through and has a sight of goal. The midfielder had top-scorer Ibrahimovic charging in for support alongside him, but instead did little with the ball and could only find the side-netting.
YELLOW CARD! Eric Bailly picks up a yellow card, which will keep him out of his side's next European outing. Nolan Roux comes on for Robert Beric, and United are readying an alteration of their own with a third of the game left.
MANCHESTER UNITED SUB! A rare sighting of Schweinsteiger for those travelling United fans, as the German has come on for Carrick. Schweini will sit deep in a midfield three, alongside Pogba and Fellaini.
RED CARD! A second needless yellow in the space of four minutes or so leads to Bailly being given a red. A nice, straightforward night for United it might be, but they have now lost one player to injury and another to suspension. Rojo on for Mata.
SAINT-ETIENNE SUB! Lemoine now on for Veretout in what is the final alteration of the evening. Ibrahimovic nearly picked out by Blind but the final ball lacked the quality needed - Ibra quick to let his teammate know exactly that.
Hamouma has had a shocker today. A chance to swing the ball into a good area from a free kick, but he instead simply picks out the wall. The second ball is not much better from the other flank, with Romero easily collecting.
Not been the best of contests, in truth, but that was always likely to be the case once United scored that killer fourth of the tie. A good night for the Red Devils on the whole, but they have had an injury problem and suspension to contend with.
Even the home fans have given up hope now, as Florentin Pogba's flicked header towards Ruffier is not kept in play and instead goes behind for a corner. The Red Devils will fancy their chances of scoring a second goal of this second leg.
Pogba and Ibrahimovic again team up, but the striker rather scuffed his shot across the face of goal. The ex-Paris Saint-Germain ace not really been at his imperious best so far tonight, versus a team he loves scoring against.
Now into the final 12 minutes or so of the match and there is no real sign of the scoreline being added to. It has been job done for the Red Devils since a quarter of the way through the match; Mkhitaryan scoring a killer fourth before hobbling off.
All three changes made by Mourinho fairly quickly into this second half, two of which were essentially enforced following the red for Bailly and earlier injury picked up by Mkhitaryan. Another Pajot shot from 35 yards ends over the bar.
YELLOW CARD! Kevin Malcuit, who has faded out of the match, is shown the game's third caution. Schweinsteiger then looked for the far corner with a curling attempt, but got his effort a little wrong in the end.
A left-sided cross comes back off Young and out for a throw deep in the United half. Saint-Etienne fail to make the most of it and a third loss in succession now beckons, with around six minutes left to play in this second leg.
United have been a man down for nearly a third of this match, but you would not know it because they have never looked under any real pressure. Mkhitaryan's strike looking to be the difference on a low-key evening for the Red Devils.
The Ligue 1 outfit, who have seen their momentum slip in terms of recent results, struggling to create anything at the moment. Two minutes of normal time for United to see out at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, plus a few added on.
Just a couple of minutes to be added on here in France. A real disappointing match for the neutral, I'm afraid, with just a few chances across the 90 minutes and little to play for ever since that only goal midway through the first half.
FULL TIME: SAINT-ETIENNE 0-1 MANCHESTER UNITED
The full-time whistle sounds at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, meaning the most comfortable of routes into the last 16 of the Europa League for Manchester United. Sitting on a three-goal advantage from the first leg, Henrikh Mkhitaryan - who later hobbled off - put the icing on the cake with the only goal of the second leg with 17 minutes on the clock.
That concludes Sports Mole's live text coverage of events at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. An on-the-whistle report can be found by clicking here, while updates of Leicester City's Champions League meeting with Sevilla - what a tie that should be! - can be found here. Thanks for joining!
