MANCHESTER UNITED were left to rue missed opportunities as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Real Sociedad in the first leg of their last-16 Europa League tie.
Joshua Zirkzee scored his first European goal for the Red Devils, before a tame Sociedad outfit levelled through Mikel Oyarzabal’s penalty.
United, perhaps, deserved more. And should’ve come away with a lead going into the second-leg at Old Trafford next week.
Ruben Amorim’s side started on the front foot and found space on the counter attack, which has been a rarity this season.
They even survived any threatening chances at Andre Onana‘s goal in the first half, too.
Sociedad, in truth, offered very little and made seven changes from their 4-0 demolition away at Barcelona this past weekend.
The game plan should’ve been simple at half-time: simply pass the ball in behind to Rasmus Hojlund, with Sociedad slow at back.
But United’s dominance was soon rewarded when Zirkzee’s shot crept past Alex Remiro in the 57th minute.
But the noise and the Poznan came back into the Reale Arena after Oyarzabal’s spot-kick, after a VAR check sent referee Ivan Kruzliak to the monitor to check a Bruno Fernandes handball, drew the LaLiga side level.
The equaliser woke the home side up at the end, who had offered nothing until that point, but United remain unbeaten in Europe this season.
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Here SunSport’s Katherine Walsh runs the rule over how each Manchester United star performed in the Basque Country.
The under-fire keeper was surely delighted to avoid any shots being peppered his way in the first half.
I guess you can say he attempted to command his area a bit more and made decisions early.
Wasn’t called upon to save anything of note before being sent the wrong way for Oyarzabal’s penalty and was under pressure from then on.
Moved into the back three with Harry Maguire injured and added some all-important aggression at the back.
Solid both defensively and in possession. The Moroccan won most of his duels and played some good and accurate long passes around the pitch.
Made an important sprint to deny lively sub Sheraldo Becker the ball at the death.
Came up against a rather weak Sociedad front-line but got a vital foot in to stop a chance on the stroke of half-time.
Was very disciplined when making some key tackles and his importance ramped up after the equaliser as Becker sent several dangerous crosses into the box.
The Dutch international slipped with a Sociedad player behind him but got a vital toe to clear the ball and save Onana in the 86th minute.
Still a kid, still new to United and definitely full of promise. Took another step forward here as well, with a couple of key interceptions.
Importance clearance at the start of the second half, was followed up by an excellent defensive touch at the front post moments later.
The teenager is becoming stronger, making it tougher on strikers, and his growing confidence means he is now stepping into midfield
Loved by the players, highly rated by former managers, but so often the scapegoat for supporters. Think that’s harsh?
You should have seen his lack of instinct to cross a first-time ball into Hojlund, who make a great run into the box and was five yards from Sociedad’s goal line inside 20 minutes.
He’s not a real wing-back. It took a while for him to get into things and did better to find Fernandes for a chance inside the box just before half-time.
But so, so sloppy in possession. Gets himself into too many good areas to keep making the wrong decision in a side so short of goals.
The five-time Champions League winner looked to launch the ball forward at the earliest opportunities to try and release one of his forwards.
His efforts were rewarded for Zirkzee’s opener, when Dalot collected his long pass and laid on Garnacho for an assist.
But United desperately lack a No 6, as Sociedad benefited from far too many gaps in midfield. On the whole, Casemiro operated well in tight spaces with Zirkzee.
Was denied the opener when Sociedad defender Aritz Elustondo blocked his shot off the line with his thigh five minutes before half-time.
Minutes later, United’s forever creative master chipped a lovely cross into Dalot for a fleeting straight on header.
But just when United were on top, the club captain was so unlucky to concede a penalty via a jumping hand ball after the ref was sent to monitor in the 70th minute.
Was booked for mouthing off to the ref in the 55th minute. That could hurt United later on, if he picks up too many bookings in Europe.
With five outfield players on the bench, Dorgu worried Amorim when he signalled a knock to his thigh inside 30 minutes. But he carried on.
The physical wing-back showed Dalot the benefits of whipping early crosses in.
Did he make up for being sent off against Ipswich last week? Kind of.
United look so much more threatening with him is in the side.
Amorim kept swapping his flanks, but he got his first bit of success on the left hand side, but sorely lacked in end product AGAIN.
The young Argentine fired far too many powerless shots at Alex Remiro. He is without a goal since the end of November.
But his brilliant pull-back to assist Zirkzee brought United’s opener.
The 20-year-old looked devastated when he was withdrawn for Christian Eriksen,with 12 minutes of remaining.
Went from crying on the pitch after missing the fifth penalty against Fulham on Sunday, to gun fingers after opening the scoring tonight.
And what a crucial goal it was in the 57th minute, with United fans growing tired of watching so many scuffed opportunities.
Just as he did against Marco Silva‘s side, he worked hard throughout the pitch and had some tidy moments of link-up play when he dropped deep to create.
No doubting there’s a good player in there – he just isn’t blessed with pace and his follow-up attempt on Fernandes’ chance was far too casual.
The under-fire Dane might not deserve all the hate he gets. His lively display in Spain was not matched with ball deliveries from his team-mates.
He made smart driving runs and was right to be furious with Dalot and co. for their lack of service on several occasions.
None of his team-mates provided balls he could run on to, in fact, they were always quite short in the second half.
Drew fouls but again lacked a striker‘s instinct when he dummied on a few crosses.
Didn’t do much after coming on. In fact, only offered a scuffed high cross in added time.
Important clearance from Becker in the 92nd minute.
Unused: Heaven, Amass,
INTUITIVE Machine’s lunar lander has lost contact with mission control after a journey to the moon as it carries a hopping robot.
The private US company has partnered with US space agency Nasa to look for traces of water and ice on the moons surface.
Following a seemingly successful landing around 1730GMT (1230EST) today, Athena the lunar lander went rogue.
Data showed the spacecraft had not crashed, however, it was not working quite as it should be.
Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus told CNN Science: “We’re looking at things now to determine exactly where we stand.
“What we have at Intuitive Machines is a steely eyed rocket scientist and mission control team.”
Although the vehicle is intact, delivering data and generating power, Altemus said this is not enough.
He added: “The main priority right now is to get a picture of our orientation and location on the surface so that we know precisely how to move forward with the mission.
“Where is the vehicle? What’s it look like? Where can we point the antennas?
“What can we do with the radios? What can we do with the science panels? I don’t know yet.”
Athena also happens to be carrying a hopping robot and three rovers.
Rovers are about the size of a small dog.
They have a type of antenna designed to test a Nokia mobile phone network on the moon.
Intuitive Machines will also test a rocket-powered vehicle called a hopper that can explore areas not easily reached by rovers.
The hopper is meant to hop across the moons surface and reach a large crater that’s in permanent shade.
Two smaller rovers are also on board.
One built by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the other by a Japanese company.
A picture should soon be released to Athena about 100miles from the South Pole in an area of the lunar highlands called Mons Mouton.
If Athena is functioning properly, it’ll have 10 days to complete its scientific observations and measurements.
The hopper should be released from Athena in the following days and leap up to 100m in altitude.
It will travel up to 1.2 miles and after five leaps, should land inside the crater with a camera.
There, it’ll take the first images of the interior and hopefully, given the locations permanent shade, ice will be present.
Professor Simeon Barber, a lunar scientist with the Open University told the BBC: “These hoppers are really suited to the lunar environment because there’s no atmosphere there, practically speaking, so doing a series of controlled leaps is a great way to move around.”
This mission is part of Nasa’s long-term goal to take humans back to the lunar surface.
Intuitive Machines hopes to take astronauts up in 2027 with the Artemis programme.
Prof Barber explained: “This is another step towards assessing the viability of the lunar South Pole as a place to go and set up future bases for humans.
“A lot of planning of future exploration is being predicated on the presence of water ice, but if you want to use it, you need to know where it is and how much there is.”
It comes after Intuitive Machines successfully landed a craft called Odysseus on the Moon in February last year.
However, it tipped over during the descent, meaning not all the scientific work could be carried out.
A SPACEPLANE of the future could whisk air travellers around the world in just 95 minutes.
That’s the vision of Radian Aerospace, which is developing a jet-style plane that can soar over Earth at 18,000mph.
The vehicle is called Radian One and it’s a spaceplane built to travel in low-Earth orbit.
But rather than blasting off virtually like a rocket, the Radian One would take off from a runway.
Landing would also take place on a runway – instead of an oceanic splashdown.
“Radian One is a next-generation spaceplane planned to be the world’s first single-stage-to-orbit, truly reusable space vehicle operating in low-Earth orbit,” Radian Aerospace boasts.
The Radian One is built to take five crew members, so it’s hardly going to replace the Boeing 747.
But Radian Aerospace – which is based in Seattle, Washington – thinks that it could revolutionise air travel where speed is important.
In fact, the company is promising that Radian One will be able to deliver “anything” that weighs less than 2,267 kilos to anywhere on Earth “in under an hour”.
The weight capacity is doubled on the way back down from space – for instance, if it’s bringing back gear from a space station.
Radian hopes that its spaceplane will be able to deliver passengers and equipment to both public and private space stations of the future.
That could include floating space hotels where tourists pay massive sums of cash to holiday off-Earth.
The spaceplane will take off using a rocket-powered rail sled, which is about two miles long.
This sled – which would sit on top of a runway – accelerates the Radian One to 537mph.
But the craft will eventually fly close to 18,000mph as it breaks into low-Earth orbit.
This ascent should feel a lot like the take-off from a regular airliner, like the ones you’d fly in for holiday.
And Radian Aerospace is also promising “smooth re-entry”, which can take place “anywhere in the world” that has a compatible runway.
For Radian, compatible means any runway that is at least 10,000 feet long.
Runways are major commercial airports are typically anywhere from 8,000 to 13,000 feet long.
Radian says it’ll be able to get its spaceplane ready for a flight in just 90 minutes.
Here are the key stats for Radian One..
Capacity:
Crew – 2 to 5 people
Upmass – Up to 2,270 kilos (5,000 lbs)
Downmass – Up to 4,540 kilos (10,000 lbs)
Payload Bay Dimensions:
Length – 5.2 metres
Width – 3.8 metres (fwd), 5.6 metres (aft)
Height – 2.7 metres (fwd), 4.0 metres (aft)
Volume: ~93 cubic metres
Picture Credit: Radian Aerospace
And it’s hoping to have a 48-hour turnaround between flights – which is long compared to a regular plane, but not bad for a vehicle taking you to space.
The current plan is that each Radian One spaceplane will be capable of re-use for up to 100 missions – and potentially more.
That’s not just for space tourism either: it can be for commercial deliveries, as well as “security of the nation”.
But it will almost certainly be used for cash-flush space fans who want to see a different view of Earth.
“Passengers will be able to go up and stay in orbit,” said Radian chief Richard Humphrey, speaking to Robb Report.
“We can go around the planet in about 95 minutes, so a typical trip will probably be three laps.”
Sadly there’s no firm date for when Radian One will be available for commercial trips to space.
The latest Radian One spaceplane design was revealed in April 2024, and the company has now begun early tests of its PFV01 prototype, including taxiing.
There’s also no word on pricing for tickets yet, but expect it to be very, very high.
TWENTY countries are lined up to join Sir Keir Starmer’s coalition of the willing to protect against further Russian aggression — as Ukraine sets out its plan for peace.
Britain and France are leading efforts to deploy a peacekeeping force with European and Commonwealth troops as part of a post-war settlement.
Military representatives from Australia, Turkey and Canada took part in talks on Wednesday, with plans expected to be presented to US President Donald Trump when finalised.
Officials said it was early days in talks on forming what the PM on Sunday dubbed “a coalition of the willing” — but called the discussions a “highly positive step”.
On a visit to Liverpool yesterday, Sir Keir told defence workers: “If there is a deal, we defend the deal.”
But Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov hit back saying it would mean direct involvement from Nato members and could not be allowed.
The UK-backed plan emerged as Volodymyr Zelensky unveiled his proposals for peace and said: “Everyone needs to make sure that Russia, as the sole source of this war, accepts the need to end it.”
The Ukrainian President said any peace deal must be based on a cessation of air and sea attacks.
Military operations on energy or civilian infrastructure and action in the Black Sea must stop, he insisted.
Mr Zelensky added that the release of all prisoners of war could also be used as a means of establishing trust.
He said: “Ukrainians truly want peace but not at the cost of giving up Ukraine.
“The real question for any negotiations is whether Russia is capable of giving up the war.”
Meanwhile, Trump officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, will hold talks with Ukraine officials in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
Earlier in Brussels, Mr Zelensky thanked European leaders, including EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, for strengthening his country and held talks about air defence and more ammunition.
Backing Europe’s £800billion plan to rearm, he added: “It is important that Ukrainians are not alone.”
Polish President Andrzej Duda called on all Nato countries to raise defence cash to three per cent of GDP straight away.
He said: “We cannot wait until 2030.”
It comes as White House officials held secret talks with opposition leaders in Ukraine.
Four members of Trump’s team spoke to former Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko on holding swift elections after a peace deal.
IRELAND has held talks to join UK PM Keir Starmer’s “coalition of the willing” to defend Ukraine but will not send troops, Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said.
It comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today thanked Europe for standing by his country after the US paused support as he declared: “We are not alone.”
EU leaders including Mr Martin met in Brussels earlier for an emergency “war summit” as they discussed an €800bn plan to ‘Re-arm Europe’.
Standing alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, President Zelensky thanked the EU for standing with the country as it faces continued attacks from Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
It comes after Donald Trump’s shock move to freeze military support to Ukraine after the two Presidents clashed in a White House press conference that rocked the world.
Speaking in Brussels today, President Zelensky said: “I want to thank European leaders for such strong support from the very beginning of the war and during all this period and last week you stayed with us.
“And of course from all the Ukrainians from all our nation there is big appreciation.
“We are very thankful that we are not alone and this is not just words — we feel it.
“It is very important. You made a strong signal to Ukrainian people, to Ukrainian warriors, to civilians, to all our families and it is great that we are not alone. We feel it and we know it. Thank you.”
The EU war summit has signed off on the lifting of spending rules to enable countries to ramp up their defences by purchasing new weapons and hardware.
A special €150billion loan fund will be set aside from the EU budget to help countries who cannot afford to pump money into their military.
It is estimated 20 countries could sign up to the “coalition of the willing” to protect against Russian aggression.
BRITAIN has signed a €36million deal to arm Ukraine with attack drones — as fears grow over US support drying up.
UK Defence Secretary John Healey made the agreement with Anglo-American firm Anduril today.
Its new Altius 600m and 700m drones have been designed to hover over an area before striking targets which enter it.
Mr Healey, who made a visit to Anduril’s Washington HQ on Wednesday, said Britain was “putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position to prevent any return to Russian aggression”.
Britain and France are leading efforts to deploy a peacekeeping force with European and Commonwealth troops as part of a post-war settlement.
Military forces from Australia, Turkey and Canada took part in talks on Wednesday with plans expected to be presented to Mr Trump when finalised.
But Russia foreign minister Sergey Lavrov hit back saying it would mean “direct” involvement from a Nato member and can’t be allowed.
Meanwhile, Mr Martin today confirmed that Ireland does not need to borrow from this EU fund because of our bumper budget surpluses.
He said European countries need to splash the cash on their militaries “to ensure peace and prosperity into the future” and send a signal to the world that Europe is self-reliant.
The Taoiseach revealed that Ireland’s bumper defence spending will now focus on cybersecurity threats, maritime threats and the procurement of radar to scan our skies.
He said the €800bn EU war chest is needed for other member states who feel “very vulnerable at the moment in terms of the Russian threat”.
The Fianna Fail leader met with PM Starmer today in Liverpool as part of a new reset for the British-Irish relationship.
Following several years of tensions between the two neighbours over Brexit, Mr Starmer hailed today’s meeting as the beginning of a “new era”.
Several key ministers from Ireland travelled to the UK for the talks with a new 38-point plan nailed down to improve relations in the next five years.
Mr Starmer has been the driving force behind a plan to create a “coalition of the willing” of countries who will back up Ukraine following the pause in US support from President Trump.
Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have been working on a peace plan with Ukraine that they want to pitch to Mr Trump to get the US support.
President Macron says this would start with a one-month ceasefire followed by European troops being deployed to Ukraine as a deterrent force.
The two leaders want the US to provide a security guarantee via air support in order to further deter any Russian attack.
Mr Martin and Mr Starmer discussed the possibility of Ireland joining his “coalition of the willing” but he said Ireland will not send troops as a deterrent.
He said: “I spoke to the British PM last evening and we have said publicly already that we are willing to do everything we possibly can to help.
“Obviously there are two strands. One would be a cessation of hostilities or whatever and say there was a peacekeeping monitoring mission required — Ireland would look at that and see what we could do to help in that situation.
“We would not be part of a deterrent force however, which is more longer term. We don’t have that military capability.”
The Taoiseach said Ireland is open to sending soldiers on a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine similar to others that the Irish Defence Forces are already involved in.
However, he said he will not send soldiers to be part of a “deterrent force” as has been recently talked about by President Macron.
And the French President today told EU leaders that he was open to discussing using his country’s nuclear weapons to protect other European countries.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov today warned that any move to send European troops to Ukraine would be considered “direct war” against Russia.
He said that Russia will see an EU peacekeeping force in Ukraine as the same as a NATO army force.
He also claimed that Macron’s mention of using French nuclear weapons as a deterrent is a threat against Russia.
Meanwhile, Trump officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio are understood to be heading to Saudi Arabia next Wednesday for talks with Ukrainian officials, Fox News said.
It will be the first high-level meeting between the countries since the public spat between President Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart President Zelensky in the Oval Office last week.
by Martina Bet
DONALD Trump is planning to revoke the legal status for 240,000 Ukrainians who fled the conflict with Russia.
The US President wants them removed by as soon as April, sources claim.
It would mark a stunning reversal of the welcome they received under Joe Biden.
Trump’s crackdown is targeting 1.8million migrants who entered under humanitarian programmes, including Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.
Meanwhile, European leaders fear a fresh refugee crisis if US support dries up and Russia steps up its assault.
Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic have taken in the most Ukrainians so far,
But the German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser warned Europe this week: “We need a binding distribution of the Ukraine refugees throughout the EU, according to a fair mechanism.”
Formula 1 action awaits viewers as the popular documentary-drama series by Netflix returns for season seven. Formula 1: Drive to Survive has become a global phenomenon and is loved by many as it reveals the dramatic off-track activities that every fan wants to see. With the help of paddock access, the seventh season will show […]
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