MAN UNITED 4, ISTANBUL BASAKSEHIR 1
The two sides of inconsistent Manchester United were on display in their Champions League match against Istanbul Basaksehir at Old Trafford.
Brilliant in the opening period, United established a commanding 3-0 interval lead through two goals from Bruno Fernandes and a Marcus Rashford penalty.
It was the first time since 2007 they had such a lead in a Champions League match and, on that occasion, they went on to beat AS Roma 7-1.
There was no repeat this time as United, who made five second-half substitutions, lacked the intensity of the opening period and allowed to Turkish side back into the match.
Deniz Turuc reduced the deficit to 3-1 and Edin Visca struck the crossbar. Had that gone in, it would have made for an interesting last 14 minutes.
United rode their luck and substitute Daniel James added a fourth goal in stoppage time as 4-1 was a slightly flattering scoreline given the goal attempts were 15-13 in United’s favour.
Fernandes once again gave a masterclass – that’s 21 goals and 13 assists in his 35 games since arriving in February as he is proving an indispensable figure as United remained in pole position in Group H.
They only need one point from their last two games – away to RB Leipzig and home to PSG – to qualify for the knockout phase.
Embed from Getty ImagesSolskjaer described some of his side first and second touch attacking play as “excellent” saying his side deserved the win.
“I felt in first half we saw the intent straight away, they wanted to play and they enjoyed it. It’s a Champions League night at Old Trafford and you’d expect them to enjoy themselves. We scored some very nice goals, I’m pleased,” he said.
Solskjaer admitted the second half lacked the sparkle of the opening period.
“It is always difficult to keep the tempo up when you have a 3-0 lead,” he explained.
Solskjaer added the group remains open, but one point from their two remaining games ought to be enough to qualify – three would guarantee it.
On starts for Donny van de Beek and Edinson Cavani, he said: “The two are getting used to how we want them to play – Donny can play in different positions and Edinson is a good old fashioned number nine and we haven’t had that for a while and I was happy with how Anthony [Martial] played off the left.”
Solskjaer confirmed Victor Lindelof came off at half time with a bad back while Aaron Wan-Bissaka picked up an ankle knock.
Solskjaer made two changes from the side that earned a first home win of the season against West Brom on Saturday.
There was a first Reds’ start for Uruguayan Cavani and recall for Dutchman van de Beek as Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata lost out.
Solskjaer also confirmed Paul Pogba’s continued absence was through an ankle injury.
Istanbul made one change from the side that beat the Reds 2-1 less than three weeks ago as former Tottenham and West Brom winger Nacer Chadli replaced Danijel Aleksic.
There was a return to Old Trafford for Brazilian Raphael da Silva while the visitors also included former Newcastle striker Demba Ba and ex-Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel.
The United wore black arm bands in memory of former player Maurice Setters who has died at the age of 83.
United began with an intensity they lacked in the loss in Turkey.
Marcus Rashford could have given United a second minute lead after making a slalom run any skier would have been proud of as he evaded three defenders only to over-run the ball as goalkeeper Mert Gunok made an easy block.
The breakthrough came five minutes later through Fernandes’ eighth goal of the season.
Alex Telles’ corner was headed out by Alexandru Epureanu to the Portuguese whose found the top corner of the net with a screamer. Surely he has never had a sweeter strike.
Rashford had the ball in the net sliding the ball under Gunok from a tight angle, but he was correctly flagged for offside.
Fernandes’ driver flashed wide before he doubled the lead in the 19th minute.
Telles’ cross slipped through the hands of Gunok, an unbelievable fumble, only to fall at the feet of Fernandes who had a simple tap in from six yards.
It got better when United were awarded a 35th minute penalty when Rashford was shoved in the back by Boli Bolingoli.
Fernandes initially took the ball looking to complete his hat-trick but, while the incident was checked by VAR, handed it over to Rashford who sent Gunok the wrong way for his eighth goal of the season and fifth in four Champions League matches.
Istanbul, despite being comprehensively outplayed, were at times dangerous and Ba had two good chances, a free header clearing the bar and then slicing a shot wide.
United made a change at the break as Victor Lindelof was replaced by Axel Tuanzebe.
David De Gea’s first save came in the 50th minute, a brilliant stop low to his right to keep out a fierce drive from Edin Visca.
Solskjaer made a triple change just short of the hour as Rashford, Fernandes and Aaron Wan-Bissaka made way for James, Mason Greenwood and Brandon Williams.
With a three-goal lead and having made four changes, the second half was more disjointed and fragmented as United had the game won and Istanbul were never going to wipe out such a deficit.
Istanbul pulled a goal back in the 75th minute when De Gea was caught out by a Turuc free kick whipped into the near post from the left.
De Gea clawed out the ball but replays showed it had clearly crossed the line as the keeper will be disappointed to concede such a goal.
Istanbul almost reduced the deficit further with 10 minutes left when Visca cut in from the right and struck the bar with a terrific strike.
It would have been game on had that gone it as suddenly the visitors sensed a comeback.
Solskjaer responded by sending on Matic for Martial to help shield the back four.
In stoppage time, United added a fourth goal on the break as Greenwood squared a pass for James to slot home a simple finish.
Remarkably it was the Reds’ first on target goal attempt in the second half which was quickly followed by a second as Greenwood was denied by the legs of Gunok.