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The Red Devils were abject on defense and toothless on offense, as they suffered a surprising 2-1 loss to the Turkish champions.
‘Welcome to Hell!’ It used to be the message that Turkish fans – that is, those of Galatasaray – used to welcome teams like Manchester United in Istanbul in years past.
Although the atmosphere inside soccer fields is now more like the Garden of Eden, there are some United fans who would be happy to see their team doomed to eternal damnation after a lousy performance against Istanbul Basaksehir on Wednesday.
While United’s 2-1 loss might not be terminal in terms of their hopes of qualifying from their Champions League group, it was another performance on both ends of the field that will have done little to ease the mounting pressure on them. coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. .
After the loss to Arsenal on Sunday, the Norwegian manager drew his knives again, and the blame for United’s inconsistent form began to fall on his doorstep, but even his most ardent critics will fight to hold Solskjaer accountable for the defense that led to goals from Basaksehir at Fatih Terim Stadium.
Former United midfielder Paul Scholes described the pace of the game that led to Demba Ba’s first game as “like U-10 football” in his role as an expert on BT sport, and even that might have been nice.
Since Steven Gerrard wailed over the Anfield turf in 2014, Ba hadn’t had as much room to run towards goal and score, with the entire United team hopelessly trapped on the field despite the game being only 12 minutes long. .
If that concession was comically bad, then the second goal that followed wasn’t much better as Juan Mata was stolen before Ba’s dummy fooled three United defenders and allowed Edin Visca to have acres of space to shoot past. Dean Henderson.
The young goalkeeper, making his Champions League debut, expressed dismay at the mess in front of him, and he was right to be angry.
Roy Keane lamented the lack of leaders on the United side over the weekend, and here again there was a lack of damning responsibility on the part of United’s defenders or top midfielders.
Although United’s failures behind in the first half can be blamed on the players, their inability to get back into play against an inferior team in the second is why Solskjaer will be called up.
After retiring a goal shortly before halftime with an Anthony Martial header from a Luke Shaw cross, the Red Devils were able to get just one more shot on goal from a Bruno Fernandes free kick.
While they dominated after the break, there was no precision in United’s play in the final third, meaning they couldn’t really threaten Basaksehir’s goal.
Paul Pogba and Edinson Cavani were given a half hour off the bench to make an impact, while Mason Greenwood was also thrown before the end, but the team was largely heavy and unimaginative, and their failure to get behind. Defense was a recurring theme of Solskjaer’s management when facing sides that defend in depth.
The hosts should take credit for the way they saw the game and deserved their luck as Harry Maguire’s effort was cleared from the line in injury time, but United will know this was a missed opportunity.
Their wins over Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig in the first two matchdays mean they still lead the group in the middle of the stage, but the two games against Basaksehir were meant to offer them “easy” points. Instead, they and Solskjaer will face more criticism.
He suffers a third straight loss at Everton on Saturday, and hell might not sound too bad for Solskjaer as an alternative to the hostile environment he will find himself in.
