It looks as though Manchester United’s curse of dominating games but failing to win has followed them to the Europa League. Jose Mourinho’s men were well on top throughout their 1-1 draw with Anderlecht but conceded an equaliser four minutes from time.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan had another fairly quiet game, as he did against Sunderland at the weekend, but like in that game, he scored an important goal. United went on to dominate the game but threw their lead away when leaving Leander Dendoncker to get on the end of a cross.
Mourinho’s team still have the advantage, thanks to an away goal and the second leg being played at Old Trafford, but they should have put the tie to bed in Belgium.
Manchester United played especially well in the first half, with some really nice attacking football and great one-touch passing.
Marcus Rashford was very impressive on the attack. His pace made him a real asset, with him getting on the end of some good balls forward, as well as racing back to pinch the ball off Anderlecht attackers.
The away goal is important and United would probably have been happy enough with that result ahead of kickoff.
United threw away yet another win when they deserved a victory. The frustration mounting at their inability to see out a game is huge. Mourinho’s team created plenty of chances, played some really good football, yet only managed the one goal. This happens week after week and nothing that happens off the field is having an impact on this.
Mourinho picked more or less the right team to get a resultbut made incorrect substitutions. This isn’t the first time he’s brought on Marouane Fellaini to see out a game, only for it to backfire. To then take off the goalscorer for a more defensive player, settling for the draw instead of going for the win in injury time, was disappointing.
GK Sergio Romero, 6 — Shaky clearance early on but then had little else to do until the equaliser, which he couldn’t be expected to do anything about.
DF Antonio Valencia, 7 — Great defending to hook a chance away from the line, followed up immediately by a block. Got forward well and it was his cross to Rashford that led to the goal.
DF Eric Bailly, 6 — Where was he for the equaliser? He had been pulled out wide and watched the cross go in, leaving a player inches shorter to deal with it. He didn’t have much else to do, although did give away a silly foul just outside the box.
DF Marcos Rojo, 6 — A decent performance from the Argentinian and he wasn’t at fault for the goal. The odd wayward pass but he was reasonably sound.
DF Matteo Darmian, 5 — Outmuscled and outjumped for the equaliser, after trying to cover for players who should have been there instead of him. He never plays well enough to deserve a start for United. He was fine but nothing special.
MF Michael Carrick, 7 — The captain put in a good performance. Defensively, he made some important interceptions, as well as some great balls forward. His vision to spot Rashford from one in particularly was brilliant.
MF Paul Pogba, 5 — His first half was better than his second. He saw lots of the ball but didn’t do enough with it. Had a good opportunity to put United 2-0 up after Zlatan Ibrahimovic played him in but his shot went straight at the goalkeeper.
MF Jesse Lingard, 6 — Another hard-working performance from Lingard but he didn’t have the end product so was substituted. He hit the woodwork inside 20 minutes.
MF Henrikh Mkhitaryan, 7 — A fairly quiet game for Mkhitaryan but he showed up to put United ahead. He coolly scored from a tight angle but with no goalkeeper to beat.
MF Marcus Rashford, 7 — Following a few average performances, Rashford did really well for United before he was replaced with some top movement off the ball. He worked hard to track back as well as sprinting forward to get on the end of passes forward. He put in a brilliant cross to set up a chance for Ibrahimovic after a fantastic first touch, but his key contribution was the shot that forced a good save in the lead up the Mkhitaryan’s goal.
FW Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 6 — Involved in quite a lot of United’s attacking moves. He was denied by a great save from a few yards out, although maybe he could have done better.
MF Anthony Martial, 5 — Brought on with half an hour to play but wasn’t an improvement on Lingard.
MF Marouane Fellaini, 4 — Greeted by boos from the home fans thanks to his Standard Liege days. Stung the fingers of the goalkeeper with a shot from outside the box, then directed his header on target from a corner but it was an easy save for the goalkeeper. He allowed Dendoncker to stroll in behind him to score the equaliser.
MF Timothy Fosu-Mensah, NR — Replaced Mkhitaryan in injury time. Booked moments after coming on, although his challenge looked a good one.
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