Odion Ighalo scores Manchester United's first goal during their Europa League match with LASK played behind closed doors in Linz, Austria, March 12, 2020. /VCG
Manchester United put one foot in the Europa League quarterfinals on Thursday with a 5-0 win at Austria's Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub (LASK) in one of four last 16 first leg matches played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Odion Ighalo slammed home the opener via the underside of the bar just before the half-hour, and Daniel James added a second with a sharp run and finish just before the hour mark.
Juan Mata bagged a third eight minutes from the end and Mason Greenwood and Andreas Pereira struck in injury time, as United extended their unbeaten run to 11 matches, with nine clean sheets in that time.
"I think the quality in our play was good. We were well prepared for them and they did fantastic," United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told BT Sport.
"There was some high-class finishing in the goals ... It should have been more goals before half-time, but we got the goals we needed."
Manchester United's manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer applauds for his players during the Europa League match with LASK in Linz, Austria, March 12, 2020. /VCG
The game was played without fans in line with the guidance of the Austrian government -- one of four matches held behind closed doors on Thursday.
UEFA on Wednesday confirmed that the first legs between Inter Milan and Getafe in Italy, and between Sevilla and Roma in Spain, would not go ahead as planned.
The announcement came after Spanish authorities suspended flights until March 25 to the country from Italy, which has been the worst hit European nation by the spread of the virus.
With the second legs due to be played next week, it is unclear how the ties will be resolved.
Bayer Leverkusen beat Glasgow Rangers 3-1 during their Europa League match in Glasgow, UK, March 12, 2020. /VCG
Ibrox stadium in Glasgow was one of the two grounds where fans were allowed to attend, but the presence of the Scottish club Rangers' home support couldn't stop them losing 3-1 to Bayer Leverkusen.
Bundesliga outfit Bayer are now favorites to progress should the second leg matches take place thanks to Kai Havertz's penalty eight minutes before the break and two lovely second-half strikes from Charles Aranguiz and Leon Bailey.
George Edmundson had briefly given Rangers hope in the 75th minute when he pulled the scores back to 2-1 with a well-placed header, but manager Steven Gerrard's side could not capitalize.