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Manchester United came close to a mob during a terrible display that raises serious questions about where their season is headed.
Istanbul Basaksehir make their Champions League debut and had neither scored nor won a point in Group H before taking on Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side. However, in the interval, two barely credible errors gave Okan Buruk’s side the goals that led United to their first defeat of the stage.
The first was a junior defending when Demba Ba went unmarked to run and score. The second featured a sleeping Juan Mata being robbed and Edin Visca finally punished the Spanish.
Solskjær’s six changes on the team that lost 1-0 to Arsenal were led by Dean Henderson, who was given the first start in a major competition, in scoring with Axel Tuanzebe in the XI for the second time this season. Basaksehir, the Turkish champions, included names familiar to English soccer: Ba, Martin Skrtel and Rafael da Silva, the last once from United. United’s 4-2-3-1 form had Donny van de Beek as the creative midfielder alongside Nemanja Matic, the starter. The Dutchman will have admired Harry Maguire’s diagonal pass that fell on Basaksehir on Bruno Fernandes, but the Portuguese’s volley went wide. Istanbul sought to defend itself in depth, so here was proof of United’s ability to overcome a challenge it finds difficult.
One move included Van de Beek passing Luke Shaw, whose cross shot was simply missed by Marcus Rashford. What followed was amateurish. All United players were ahead of Basaksehir’s semicircle when the ball was caught by Berkay Ozca after a corner kick and hit Ba, who was lurking near the middle and was not scored by anyone. This allowed the center forward a clear run to Henderson and when United’s closest man Matic couldn’t catch him, Ba slid home.
More disorder followed when Tuanzebe, who was a disappointment throughout, fouled Ba when the 35-year-old tried to pass again. Ba was not happy that the center-back received only the yellow and Tuanzebe was relieved that the free kick hit the wall. United lacked spark and execution. Fernandes hit a man and then found a dead end. Matic hit a ball from the left that was easy to clear.
These forays were from static starting positions, so it was instructive that power was only apparent when a Basaksehir move was broken and United was able to counter via a Wan-Bissaka-Rashford one-two that had the former pick. to Martial. His effort went to the finish line before da Silva’s jump blocked him. Less positive was Basaksehir’s attack that moved quickly through United and had a Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo cross that ran into Danijel Aleksic’s head, and Henderson saved sharply at the bottom. As the break drew near, United reverted to unwanted sham mode. Mata allowed Irfan Kahveci to steal the ball and run down the left. His delivery was kindly faked by Ba and Visca was there to shoot past Henderson. Solskjær was livid in his seat.
United had to respond, which they did two minutes before the break. This was simple: Shaw got to his feet and an unmarked Martial jumped out and made his way impressively past Mert Gunok. In the second half, Tuanzebe was replaced by Scott McTominay, and Matic returned to teammate Maguire. The dislocation still remained: Matic went straight to an orange shirt; Rashford, Martial, and Shaw wandered down dead ends.
Composure and fluidity eluded Solskjær’s men. When Da Silva was (wrongly) penalized for an entry to Fernandes, there was a rare opportunity to threaten Gunok. Fernandes’ free-kick put the number one to the test, but he aimed too close to him and the ball was rejected. McTominay had brought a supplement to United. His harassment inspired Van de Beek and now the visitors were gaining possession higher up, their pace of play quickened.
By the time Edinson Cavani and Paul Pogba replaced Mata and Van de Beek, then Mason Greenwood and Timothy Fosu-Mensah replaced Rashford and Wan-Bissaka, so the coach had used all five substitutes. However, calling in the cavalry failed. Basaksehir was more incisive than United, as illustrated by their inability to again bring down an opponent who fell back. Alexandru Epureanu’s late clearance from the goal line secured a famous victory. Solskjær’s men still have six points in the group, but on Saturday they are at Everton, where they must improve on their seven points from six Premier League games.
