Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani were on target twice as Manchester United produced a masterclass performance to beat AS Roma 6-2 in the Europa League first leg semi-final played at Old Trafford on Thursday night.
Portuguese Fernandes's early opener was however quickly cancelled out by Lorenzo Pellegrini's penalty before Edin Dzeko put Roma in front at half-time. However a dramatic crumble by the Romans made it easy for the Red Devils to crawl back in the game and score five in the second half.
It is a game Paulo Fonseca will want to forget as injuries just before the break led to the rapid collapse in the second stanza.
Roma three players to injury before the break and United took advantage with a dominant second-half performance.
Two goals from poacher Edinson Cavani turned the tie around before Fernandes also fired home from the spot.
Paul Pogba and Mason Greenwood rounded off the scoring in a sensational second-half performance.
United are aiming to get to a final under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the fifth time of asking after four semi-final defeats in the past two seasons.
At the La Ceramica, Unai Emery's Villareal beat 10-man Arsenal 2-1 to boost their chances of making it to the Europa League final.
Dani Ceballos was sent off in the match but the hosts did not capitalise on the numerical advantage.
Manu Trigueros and Raul Albiol scored for Villareal but Arsenal rallied and grabbed an away goal when Nicolas Pepe converted a penalty in the 73rd minute
Both teams however ended the match with ten men as Villarreal's Etienne Capoue also saw red with 10 minutes left to play.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang might even have snatched a late equaliser for the visitors but Mikel Arteta will be delighted his team are not just in the contest but in a healthy position too, with an away goal to take back to London next week.