Another chapter of woe in Manchester United’s dismal start to the season was penned with a chaotic 3-2 defeat at home to Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Erik ten Hag’s side recorded their sixth defeat of the season despite twice taking the lead through Rasmus Hojlund, one of the few United players to emerge with any credit from a helter-skelter evening.
Casemiro, who collected yet another red card, and the uninspiring Andre Onana, only damaged their broken reputations further on another night at Old Trafford to forget.
How the game unfolded
Casemiro, who started the night with a strut and ended it in an early shower, set Marcus Rashford away with a regal swat of his right boot. Haring into a scantily clad opposition half, Rashford tickled a perfect cross into the box which Rasmus Hojlund, blitzing through the middle of the pitch, nodded in.
United’s lead lasted just six minutes. On his return to England and Old Trafford, Wilfried Zaha was always likely to cause Diogo Dalot some headaches. Zaha’s fleet of foot is his most fearsome weapon but the Crystal Palace icon had the beating of United’s right-back above the waist as well. Positioning himself between Dalot and a bouncing ball, Zaha muscled his way into a position to swipe an effort which crashed into the ground and over a stranded Andre Onana.
Encouraged by an even first half, Galatasaray pushed for the victory that their manager Okan Buruk demanded pre-game. Yet, that left space for United to attack in the only way they know how; on the break.
Rashford belied a lack of confidence by weakly squaring for Bruno Fernandes after spearheading another breakaway but Hojlund showed no such hesitancy minutes later. Taking advantage of Davinson Sanchez’s slip, Hojlund ran half the length of the pitch before deftly dinking Fernando Muslera.
With their lead restored, United folded embarrassingly.
Kerem Akturkoglu tiptoed around the final third unnoticed by most in red throughout the night. Finally one of his teammates managed to spot him just four minutes after Hojlund’s second of the night, with Baris Yilmaz coming off the bench to square for Akturkoglu.
Onana had escaped unscathed from a shaky parry but Dries Mertens was not as forgiving when he gobbled up a wayward pass from United’s error-strewn keeper. Casemiro tried to rectify the gaffe with a lunge which only served to concede a penalty and earn himself a second yellow card.
Mauro Icardi dragged the spot-kick wide but made up for his miss with a delicate scoop in the 81st minute, striding through the evaporated United backline which parted like the Red Sea.
GK: Andre Onana – 2/10 – Another Champions League night and another glaring error.
RB: Diogo Dalot – 4/10 – A first-half yellow card didn’t help Dalot but he wasn’t completely knotted by Zaha outside the goal.
CB: Raphael Varane – 4/10 – Lacked his usual composure in possession.
CB: Victor Lindelof – 5/10 – Popped up with a couple of key blocks but hardly encouraged a great deal of confidence in a desperately shaky backline.
LB: Sofyan Amrabat – 4/10 – Covered plenty of ground but rarely in the right position defensively.
DM: Casemiro – 2/10 – Undid all of his good work with a red card forced by Onana.
CM: Mason Mount – 5/10 – Got forward regularly as the second wave of United’s attacks but didn’t take advantage of his advanced positioning.
CM: Hannibal Mejbri – 3/10 – The most impactful moment of an outing that was cut short at half-time was to block Mount’s goal-bound shot.
RW: Bruno Fernandes – 5/10 – Skirted around the fringes of the contest out wide.
ST: Rasmus Hojlund – 8/10 – Galatasaray couldn’t contain the man that lived up to his nickname of ‘the Hellhound’.
LW: Marcus Rashford – 6/10 – Kept his cool at the sharp end of a fast break to expertly pick out Hojlund but fluffed his lines spectacularly after the break.
Substitutes
Christien Eriksen (46′ for Hannibal) – 7/10 – Amid the fury of midfield, Eriksen brought an extra layer of calm.
Alejandro Garnacho (69′ for Rashford) – 5/10
Antony (85′ for Mount) – 5/10
Anthony Martial (89′ for Amrabat) – N/A
Subs not used: Vitek (GK), Bayindir (GK), Evans, Maguire, McTominay, Pellistri
Manager
Erik ten Hag – 2/10 – Had no clue how to set his side up to hang onto any of their leads.
Player of the match – Kerem Akturkoglu (Galatasaray)
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