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Manchester United plunged into an embarrassing Champions League boilover at the hands of Turkish minnow Istanbul Basaksehir, whose 2-1 victory at home marked the first victory in the competition.
A show of defensive horror from the Red Devils gave the underdog hosts two ‘unforgivable’ goals in the first half, as manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer called them, with United’s defenders deservedly punished for leaving the attackers unmarked in multiple occasions.
Meanwhile, Chelsea has taken the lead early after a COVID-19 hit, with Lionel Messi’s Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus also in action on a busy morning.
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United’s defensive nightmare!
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First up was ex-Chelsea striker Demba Ba, 35, who was left completely alone near the midline as United attacked a corner. Ba ran to a long ball for the easiest of counterattacks, scoring the team’s first goal in the Champions League in the 13th minute. He beat goalkeeper Dean Henderson, making his European debut in place of David de Gea.
Axel Tuanzebe, who impressed in Paris, had a heart attack after he threw Ba back but escaped with a yellow card.
Basaksehir continued to threaten at halftime, with United worryingly wide open at the back, and they were caught sleeping again five minutes before halftime.
Deniz Turuc took possession from Juan Mata on the left and ran forward, sending a cross that Ba took a step and Visca crashed.
United loses by centimeters
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United crucially cut the deficit in the 43rd minute when Martial headed a cross from Shaw.
Solskjaer hooked Tuanzebe in the interval, with Scott McTominay coming in and Nemanja Matic falling back to play center-back alongside Harry Maguire. He then pitched Edinson Cavani and Paul Pogba in place of Mata and Donny van de Beek, and Mason Greenwood replaced Rashford, but United couldn’t break through.
In the closing seconds of the game, United appeared to have scored in a fight on the goal line only for the ball to be dramatically cleared from the line.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team had beaten Paris Saint-Germain (2-1) and RB Leipzig at home (5-0) in a brilliant start to their Champions League campaign, and a victory would have guaranteed their progression to the Champions League. next stage.
Solskjaer said United’s performance “was not good enough, against a team that worked and ran.”
“They beat us at halftime a couple of times and scored two goals, as happens sometimes in Europe when you don’t defend well enough. We play a short corner and forget about the man in front and that’s inexcusable. Two soft goals. “He told BT Sport.
He added: “You don’t just show up and get three points in the Champions League, and it shows here today. We weren’t good enough, that’s all. “
With a trip to Everton on Saturday, they appear to be as far as ever from finding a consistent winning formula.
CRUISE THROUGH CHELSEA DESPITE THE CONTROVERSY
Timo Werner scored two penalties and Chelsea managed a 3-0 win against 10-man Rennes, and defender Dalbert conceded both penalties.
Frank Lampard’s team is leading Group E with seven points after three games and seems to be well prepared to qualify for the knockout stage.
Chelsea have started a Champions League campaign with three clean sheets in a row in the group stage for the first time since 2009-10.
Chelsea midfielder Kai Havertz tested positive for COVID-19 and misses the Champions League clash with French Rennes. The 21-year-old newcomer isolates himself.
In his absence, star forward Timo Werner won a clear penalty from Dalbert and converted from the spot in ten minutes, giving the Blues the perfect start at Stamford Bridge.
Dalbert’s disastrous day was completed in the 41st minute when he reached out to block Abraham’s shot and deflected it into his arm.
After a video review, the sentence was awarded and Dalbert was fired for his second warning.
It was a tough decision, but Werner shot the penalty high over the net for his seventh goal of the season to add salt to Rennes’s wounds.
Tammy Abraham arrived at three and five minutes into the second verse, finding a cross from Reece James with a shot from close range for her third goal of the season and her first since September.
Chelsea’s controversial gift
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OTHER RESULTS:
Lionel Messi scored when Barcelona beat Dynamo Kiev 2-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday, while Juventus sidelined Ferencvaros and Manchester United fell in an unexpected defeat in Turkey.
The nine-man Paris Saint-Germain lost to RB Leipzig in a replay of last season’s semi-final.
In his 150th appearance in European competition, Messi sent an early penalty at the Camp Nou after being fouled in the area and Gerard Piqué headed into an Ansu Fati cross on the hour.
Viktor Tsygankov found consolation for the coronavirus-stricken Dynamo when Barça, winless in four La Liga games, recorded their third consecutive victory in Group G to stay within three points of Juventus.
Cristiano Ronaldo made his first outing with the Italian champion since September after testing positive for Covid-19 in a 4-1 win over Hungarian Ferencvaros.
However, the Portuguese star was overshadowed in Budapest by Álvaro Morata, whose two goals put Andrea Pirlo’s team in command.
Paulo Dybala added a third before an own goal by Lasha Dvali, with Franck Boli scoring for the hosts in the final minute.
Emil Forsberg’s penalty earned Leipzig a 2-1 victory as they came back to beat a weakened Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a major blow to the aspirations of the Champions League runners-up.
Angel di Maria had given PSG an early lead in Germany, but then crucially missed a penalty for the French champions, who missed both Neymar and Kylian Mbappé due to injury and finished the match with nine men.
Christopher Nkunku leveled before half-time for Leipzig and Forsberg converted from the penalty spot in the 57th minute before the visitors sent off Idrissa Gueye and Presnel Kimpembe.
“It’s difficult. Maybe it’s our fault because we didn’t get the second goal and then we made a mistake on the penalty,” PSG coach Thomas Tuchel told RMC Sport.
“There was a red card, then it is difficult, 10 against 11. There were too many things against us.”
Sevilla rallied to defeat Krasnodar 3-2 despite the dismissal of captain Jesús Navas late in the first half.
Goals from Magomed Suleymanov and Marcus Berg, the second from a penalty, put Krasnodar ahead in Spain, but Ivan Rakitic scored a goal for Sevilla before the break.
Moroccan striker Youssef En-Nesyri scored two goals in four minutes of the second half to topple Krasnodar and leave the Russians alongside Rennes with just one point.
Erling Braut Haaland scored a double to lead Borussia Dortmund to a 3-0 win at Club Brugge and send the Germans to the top of Group F. Thorgan Hazard had opened the scoring in his native Belgium.
Felipe Caicedo’s late tying goal earned Lazio a 1-1 draw at Zenit St. Petersburg after Aleksandr Erokhin scored in the first half in front of some 17,000 fans in Russia.
10 days, 4 games, 6 goals
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COMPLETE RESULTS AND ACCESSORIES:
Zenit Saint Petersburg 1 – 1 Lazio
Istanbul Basaksehir 2 – 1 Manchester United
Chelsea 3-0 Rennes
Seville 3-2 Krasnodar
Club Brugge 0-3 Dortmund
Barcelona 2-1 Dynamo Kiev
Ferencvaros 1-4 Juventus
RB Leipzig 2-1 PSG
