Manchester United held to 1-1 draw by FC Rostov in first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie

Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw by Russian side FC Rostov in their first-leg Europa League round-of-16 tie in Russia on Thursday. The match took place at the Olymp-2 Stadium, with United starting as the clear favourites to win the clash.

It was a closely contested match as both teams tried to get used to the pitch on offer. However, United missed an early chance to gain the lead as midfielder Paul Pogba miscued a shot. But, soon enough, United went 1-0 up owing to brilliant strike by Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who was set up by Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 35th minute.

In the second half, Rostov striker Aleksandr Bukharov found the equaliser in the 53rd minute as he was cleverly assisted by teammate Timofei Kalachev. The return leg takes place at Old Trafford on March 16 and United go into the encounter with a vital away goal in the bag.

Brief results:

APOEL Nicosia 0 lost to Anderlecht 1 (Nicolae Stanciu)
Koebenhavn 2 (Rasmus Falk, Andreas Cornelius) beat Ajax 1 (Kasper Dolberg)
Rostov 1 (Aleksandr Bukharov) drew with Manchester United 1 (Henrikh Mkhitaryan)