Cristiano Ronaldo paid credit to Manchester United's supporters following Thursday night's 1-0 Europa League win over Real Sociedad at the Reale Arena in Spain.
Youngster Alejandro Garnacho, who was awarded his second consecutive start in the competition, scored his first senior goal to seal a winning conclusion to the Reds' Group E fixture list. However, it was not enough to claim top spot in the group, as they needed to win by two clear goals to pip Sociedad to the prize.
It means that United, who won five of their six group games, must now navigate their way through a two-legged play-off fixture against a third-placed Champions League club in February to try and reach the last 16. They could face one of the likes of Barcelona or Juventus.
READ MORE: Who United could face in their Europa League play-off tie
Although it was a disappointing outcome, in terms of not doing enough to win the group, the victory did stretch United's winning run to three matches in all competitions and their unbeaten run, also in all competitions, to nine games. The Reds' Europa League dream, although it must now take a slight detour, is still alive and kicking, and they are continuing to make progress under Erik ten Hag.
And for Ronaldo, who earned his third successive start since being axed from the squad for the draw with Chelsea almost a fortnight ago, United remain in a healthy position to achieve their ambitions this season.
Taking to social media after the game, he posted on his Instagram page: "We move on and we keep going after our goals this season! Thanks to our supporters that never give up on us!"
United, who will discover their opponents for their two-legged play-off showdown on Monday, have made encouraging progress under Ten Hag in recent weeks. They have lost just one of their last 11 matches in all competitions, that being the 6-3 defeat to Manchester City in the derby at the start of last month.
The Reds have three more games before the season pauses for the start of the World Cup, starting against Aston Villa in the Premier League at Villa Park on Sunday. Ten Hag's side then face Villa again a few days later, locking horns with them at Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup, before travelling to Craven Cottage to face Fulham less than 72 hours later.
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