Manchester United agony goes on after Casemiro red and Galatasaray winner
Welcome to hell: Manchester United’s notorious introduction to Galatasaray from 1993 has a new twist. Back then, it was an away goals defeat in Istanbul that saw United knocked out of the Champions League, their players knocked about by the local constabulary during a post-match fight in the tunnel.
Here, it was a continuation of the agonies of the season, Erik ten Hag’s players doing plenty to raise the hopes of their fans, particularly Rasmus Højlund, who twice put them in front, his second a beautiful mix of pace from the halfway line and composure in front of goal.
The two English team lost tonight. Other scores from the 8pm games:Inter 1-0 Benfica, Copenhagen 1-2 Bayern Munich, Napoli 2-3 Real Madrid, PSV 2-2 Sevilla.
How United destroyed them. Not only did they reinforce the notion that they are never more vulnerable these days than when they are ahead, they offered a masterclass in how not to defend, the concessions getting more and more brutal to leave theirChampions Leaguehopes hanging by a thread.
There was another horror moment for the unconvincing André Onana, a dreadful pass out straight to the substitute, Dries Meertens, who was fouled inside the box by the chasing Casemiro, who was sent off. Mauro Icardi drilled the penalty wide but there would be no reprieve for a United team that defended as haplessly as this.
There were 81 minutes on the clock when Davinson Sánchez sent a simple header forward, United’s defensive line was in tatters and Icardi eased through to beat Onana. The full-time whistle was the prompt for frustration and more Old Trafford boos.
Galatasaray had brought an unbeaten record for the season to Old Trafford and, of course, a few thousand of their diehards, who appeared intent on making it feel like a home fixture for them. They started to bellow their anthems a good hour before kick-off. There would be little letup from them.
Manchester United 2 vs 3 Galatasaray
Mount saw a shot deflect over on the half-hour after a neat move that was sparked by Højlund and Mount, again, went close before the interval, his effort this time hitting his own teammate – Mejbri – in front of goal. United had to be better.
It was an open game and it was possible to feel that it was there for United to seize. They needed greater clarity in the final third, more precision with the last action. And yet it was also easy to fear that Ten Hag’s team could be unhinged at the back. Casemiro was not always on top of Akturkoglu. Did Zaha have another moment in him?
Rashford’s lack of confidence has been a theme in recent weeks; there were one or two groans when he took bad decisions here – and especially in the 53rd minute. Christian Eriksen, on as a substitute, released him with a wonderful pass as United broke but, instead of going for goal, Rashford waited for Fernandes and tried to square to him. It was telegraphed, the execution poor. Sacha Boey got back to clear.
United pushed, creating more and more chances. The crowd responded. Højlund had the ball in the net only to be pulled back for offside. The grandstand finish loomed.
