Europa League: Fenerbahçe and Manchester United end match in a draw
A flashback to old ties occurred when José Mourinho, who was dismissed from Manchester United nearly six years ago, was handed a red card against his former club. That’s for raising a hue and cry when his Fenerbahçe team was, according to him, denied a penalty. Despite the incident, his team managed to secure a point with an equaliser by Youssef En-Nesyri, responding to Christian Eriksen’s opening goal for United.
This result, marking a third consecutive tie in the contest, has positioned Erik ten Hag’s team between Viktoria Pilzen and Elfsborg in the playoff ranks of the Europa League. Ten Hag, the Dutch manager, took an unexpected decision to assign Noussair Mazraoui, usually seen in a different role, to a surprising offensive position. He will likely defend this decision by highlighting the enhanced performance of his team—which previously had 17 goals scored against them in their past five Europa games. Bracing the blow of Mourinho’s unaddressed protest, the club fared better than their 3-0 defeat in 2004 under Sir Alex Ferguson. This time, at least, United made a safer exit, much unlike their ex-staff member.
Erik ten Hag views this championship as a significant goal for the season. However, he sprung a shock by placing Mazraoui in the place of suspended captain Bruno Fernandes at No 10 in the starting line-up. The Moroccan, who has played in that position under ten Hag at Ajax, was among the four new additions following the weekend win over Brentford with Victor Lindelöf, Manuel Ugarte and Joshua Zirkzee.
Consequently, Rasmus Højlund, despite his victorious score against Brentford, was relegated to the bench. Ten Hag justified this by stating that the Danish striker needed “to build his fitness” post-injury.
The match ended with Manchester United held to a draw by Fenerbahce amidst Mourinho’s dismissal. The competition continued, with Tottenham maintaining a perfect beginning with Richarlison’s decisive penalty against AZ. Chelsea sailed smoothly to a win against Panathinaikos with Joao Felix scoring twice. Under the influence of Graham Burke, Shamrock Rovers brushed aside Larne with barely an effort in Belfast.
There were recognisable faces around, not just in the away dugout, with former United midfielders Fred and Sofyan Amrabat to name a few ex-Premier League players who form part of the Fenerbahce team. This town has often shown little sympathy to the visitors over the years, tracing back to the notorious “Welcome to Hell” match with Galatasaray in 1993
Minor injuries were inflicted on a few United fans on Wednesday night, who were targeted by some of Fenerbahce’s most extreme fans. The venue was filled with an intimidating atmosphere, one where they only tasted victory once prior to this – a memory dating back to October 1996 where both David Beckham and Eric Cantona contributed to a 2-0 win.
United were explicitly advised to try and silence the boisterous home crowd, and almost fell behind early on when former Queens Park Rangers defender Bright Osayi-Samuel chose to take a chance from a narrow angle rather than passing the ball. André Onana had to remain vigilant to deflect a cross from Sebastian Szymanski as the host team began to gain momentum, all under the watchful eye of Mourinho.
Yet his spirits dipped when Eriksen scored the opener for United after a swift counter-attack involving Alejandro Garnacho, Mazraoui and Zirkzee. The home fans and their manager claimed two infringements took place leading up to the goal but referee Clément Turpin thought differently.
Marcus Rashford was a mere hair’s breadth from doubling United’s lead after finding his way into the penalty box, but a splendid block from Ugarte denied Dusan Tadic following Onana’s misdirected cross, leaving the net unguarded. The Fenerbahce supporters were in awe when Onana delivered two exceptional saves – the first bearing resemblance to Gordon Banks’ save in a match against Brazil – keeping En-Nesyri at bay with two close-range headers as their team ended the first half on a high note.
As he entered the tunnel for the half-time break, Mourinho congratulated the Cameroonian goalkeeper after initially showing his disbelief at the double save. However, Onana had no defense for En-Nesyri’s equalizer when Allan Saint-Maximin found an opening on the left wing and provided a precise cross to the Moroccan’s forehead.
Ten Hag countered this by tossing aside his previous tactic involving Mazraoui and substituted Højlund and Casemiro. However, the most controversial moment of the match arrived shortly after.
Osayi-Samuel fell due to a heavy tackle from Ugarte, although Turpin dismissed the objections. Mourinho exhibited shock at receiving a red card for disputing and took a considerable amount of time to exit the field before he eventually observed from the stands. Subsequently, Rashford embarrassingly missed an open shot after being assisted by Diogo Dalot’s strong pursuit – a seemingly certain opportunity to regain United’s advantage.
The team seemed more threatening when they used the traditional line-up at the end of the match but failed to generate much, despite Garnacho’s best efforts. Ten Hag will be worried after having to stretcher off a wounded Antony, a substitute who had his hands covering his face. This concern intensified as he was already short of 10 senior players that night. Once again, Mourinho exposed his true persona. – Guardian