Manchester United qualifies for Champions League knockout stages with 2-0 victory against Villarreal
(CNN)Manchester United started life without Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a 2-0 victory against Villarreal on Tuesday courtesy of goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho.
The win means United, which parted with manager Solskjaer at the weekend after a poor string of results, qualifies for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Michael Carrick stood in as caretaker manager ahead of the game at the Estadio de la Ceramica, and he watched on as United struggled to create chances for much of the contest.
But his side burst into life towards the end of the second half, the two goals ensuring United reaches the Champions League last 16 with a game to spare.
Ronaldo opened the scoring with 12 minutes of the match remaining as he capitalized on a poor pass from Villarreal goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli to Etienne Capoue -- who was put under pressure by Fred -- to chip the ball over Rulli.
Sancho then grabbed his first United goal and wrapped up the win in the game's final moments as he finished off a counter-attacking move involving Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes.
The victory will be a huge boost for United and Carrick following the team's 4-1 defeat against Watford on Saturday.
"When you've suffered results-wise and you're not in a great vein of form individually and as a team then it's not easy to come out and just let everything click," Carrick told BT Sport after the game.
"In some ways, it was the best way to win for me, that we had to show some character, we had to dig in, we had to fight."
Villarreal, which defeated United to win the Europa League last season, dominated possession in the first half and had chances to take an early lead through Moi Gómez and Yeremi Pino.
United goalkeeper David de Gea was then twice called into action by Manu Trigueros -- once in the first half and again midway through the second half -- and twice produced good saves to deny the midfielder.
That kept United in the game and able to find the breakthrough via Ronaldo, who scored the winning goal when these two sides met in September.
More chances came for the visiting side for Ronaldo and Rashford, but it was Sancho who got the second with a thumping shot into the top of the net.
Villarreal faces Atalanta next week in its bid to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages.
曼联2-0战胜比利亚雷亚尔晋级欧冠淘汰赛
（美国有线电视新闻网）曼彻斯特联队在周二以 2-0 战胜比利亚雷亚尔的比赛中开始了没有索尔斯克亚的生活，这归功于克里斯蒂亚诺·罗纳尔多和杰登·桑乔的进球。
这场胜利意味着曼联在经历一系列糟糕的结果后于周末与主教练索尔斯克亚分道扬镳，有资格参加欧洲冠军联赛的淘汰赛阶段。
迈克尔·卡里克 (Michael Carrick) 在比赛开始前担任看守经理，他看着曼联在比赛的大部分时间里努力创造机会。
但是他的球队在下半场结束时突然恢复活力，这两个进球确保曼联在还有一场比赛的情况下进入欧洲冠军联赛的最后 16 场。
罗纳尔多在比赛还剩 12 分钟时首开纪录，他利用比利亚雷亚尔门将 Gerónimo Rulli 传给 Etienne Capoue 的糟糕传球（后者在 Fred 的压力下）将球切入 Rulli。
桑乔随后攻入了他的第一个曼联进球，并在比赛的最后时刻结束了胜利，他完成了马库斯·拉什福德和布鲁诺·费尔南德斯的反击动作。
在周六球队以 4-1 击败沃特福德之后，这场胜利对曼联和卡里克来说将是一个巨大的推动。
卡里克赛后告诉英国电信体育：“当你在结果方面遭受损失并且你个人和团队的状态不佳时，要站出来让一切都按部就班并不容易。”
“在某些方面，这对我来说是最好的获胜方式，我们必须表现出一些个性，我们必须深入挖掘，我们必须战斗。”
上赛季击败曼联赢得欧联杯冠军的比利亚雷亚尔在上半场控制住了控球权，并有机会通过莫伊·戈麦斯和耶雷米·皮诺提前取得领先。
曼联门将大卫·德赫亚随后两次被马努·特里格罗斯召唤——一次是在上半场，另一次是在下半场中途——并且两次做出很好的扑救来否认这名中场球员。
这让曼联保持在比赛中，并能够通过罗纳尔多找到突破，罗纳尔多在两队在 9 月份相遇时打进了致胜一球。
罗纳尔多和拉什福德的客队获得了更多机会，但桑乔凭借一记重击打入了网顶，获得了第二名。
比利亚雷亚尔下周将面对亚特兰大，以争取获得欧冠淘汰赛的资格。
