Manchester United‘s woes continued as the Red Devils were beaten 3-2 by Galatasaray in the Champions League, on a miserable night in the Manchester rain for Erik ten Hag’s men.
The hosts drew first blood when Rasmus Hojlund thundered Marcus Rashford‘s perfect cross beyond Fernando Muslera, only for Galatasaray to level within six minutes as United old boy Wilfred Zaha shrugged off Diogo Dalot to fire home his third goal in as many games against his former side.
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Hojlund restored United’s lead with a moment of magic when he burst free of the visiting defence and calmly lifted the ball over Muslera, but Kerem Aktürkoglu converted to make it 2-2 just four minutes later. Things got even worse for the hosts when Casemiro was shown a second yellow card for hacking down Dries Mertens in the box and — despite placing the resulting penalty wide — Mauro Icardi completed a stunning comeback when he beat the outrushing Onana to make it 3-2 and give the visitors their first win on English soil.
Positives
Rasmus Hojlund, remember the name. The remarkable 20-year-old has been quick to hit the headlines since his move to Old Trafford, but this felt like a real coming of age display as he danced past defenders and mesmerised the home crowd, capped by a stunning second goal.
Negatives
The Red Devils have now recorded just one win in seven outings across all competitions to leave them languishing at the bottom of Group A, four points adrift of the top two. Their first lead lasted six minutes, their second didn’t even make it that far.
Manager rating (out of 10)
Erik ten Hag, 4 — It never rains, but it pours. There were spells when United looked so good, but ultimately this will be remembered as another hapless display as pressure continues to mount on the underfire Dutchman.
Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best, players introduced after 60 minutes get no rating)
GK André Onana, 3 — Dropped an absolute clanger when he gave the ball straight to Mertens, which forced Casemiro into a clumsy challenge. He was given a let off from the spot, only to be easily beaten by Icardi three minutes later.
DF Diogo Dalot, 3 — Rule one of defending: don’t let the ball bounce, but that’s exactly what Dalot did as he allowed ex-United man Zaha to nip in front of him and fire a bouncing effort over Onana. A poor display from Dalot who was held off all too easily, and he saw yellow for clattering the same man.
DF Raphaël Varane, 4 — Failed to show his experience or take charge at the back. As poor as Dalot was, he was offered no support when he was taken out of the game by a simple ball forward as the hosts levelled for a second time.
DF Victor Lindelöf, 4 — It was a night when United needed their experienced players to stand up, but the 29-year-old was nowhere in sight as Akturkoglu tapped beyond Onana to make it 2-2.
MF Sofyan Amrabat, 6 — The Morocco star was absolutely everywhere in a breathless first half that saw him playing about three different positions, but fizzled out after the break, allowing the visitors to get on top.
MF Hannibal Mejbr, 4 — Less Messi, more Messy from the young midfielder who presented the visitors with an opening was robbed of possession on the edge of the box following a poor corner, before he got in the way of a goal-bound Mason Mount effort.
MF Casemiro, 5 — Curled a beautiful ball in behind to unleash Rashford who needed no second invitation to charge through and assist the opening goal. Dismissed for wiping out Mertens in the box after a shocker from Onana.
MF Mason Mount, 7 — A bright performance from the England man, who was involved in some neat exchanges with Hojlund and twice went close to striking gold, only to be thwarted by a couple of unfortunate deflections.
MF Bruno Fernandes, 6 — Got into all the right areas without inflicting any damage, although Rashford should have picked him out for a tap in in the first half. Produced the best pass of the game deep into the dying emebers, but it was too little too late.
MF Rasmus Hojlund, 9 — An ever-growing spark of brilliance. Emphatically crashed home Rashford’s cross to open the scoring and the second was out of this world as dazzling Dane ran half the length of the pitch before dinking over Muslera.
FW Marcus Rashford, 6 — Showed all his best attributes when he raced in behind and arrowed a pinpoint cross into the box that was converted by Hojlund, but he was far to slow to square to Fernandes when clean through later in the game, which allowed Boey to recover and cost United a share of the spoils.
Substitutes:
MF Christian Eriksen, 7 — Replaced Hannibal at the break with the hosts in desperate need of a spark, and he provided just that when he turned a stunning pass around for corner to play Rashford clean through, only for Rashford to dawdle and squander the chance.
MF Alejandro Garnacho, 7 — Lively. Made a nuisance of himself, but couldn’t quite craft the goal United so badly needed.
MF Antony, NR — Little opportunity to make an impact.
FW Anthony Martial, NR — Forced a dramatic last-gasp stop from Muslera, but he was offside anyway.