Fenerbahce 1, Manchester United 1
Youssef En-Nesyri cancelled out a Christian Eriksen opener as Manchester United completed an unwanted year without a win in Europe at Fenerbahce.
Embed from Getty ImagesEn-Nesyri already has a track record of thwarting United – he scored twice as his former club Sevilla dumped the Reds out of the Europa League in April 2023.
Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho, once a United manager himself, was dramatically sent off during a tie which he relished against his former club – fielding a side that included former Reds Fred and Sofyan Amrabat, plus players with Premier League experience in Dusan Tadic, Allan Saint-Maximin, and Caglar Soyuncu while veteran former Manchester City player Edin Dzeko came on as a late substitute.
Under fire Erik Ten Hag might have earned himself a stay of execution flowing a 2-1 win over Brentford at the weekend but the dark clouds are gathering again after they couldn’t hold on to an early lead laid on by Christian Eriksen after 15 minutes and have now failed to win in European competition for a year.
Joshua Zirkzee had set up Eriksen with a neat lay off following early pressure by their hosts and the midfielder obliged with a screamer from range.
The early goal, a cracker for the Dane, from United’s first real attack settled the nerves and Marcus Rashford could have doubled that lead but rolled his shot wide.
But there is never room for complacency for United and Manuel Ugarte denied Dusan Tadic a first half equaliser by sliding in to block his goal bound shot from 7 yards out.
Reds goalkeeper Andre Onana pulled off a fantastic double save to deny En-Nesyri from close range.
But he could not deny the Moroccan who duly levelled the scores after 49 minutes after the United defence parted to allow a cross from Saint-Maximin to reach him for an unchallenged header.
Noussair Mazraoui, who bizarrely was played as a number 10, at least forced a rare save from Dominik Livakovic after 68 minutes but questions will remain aboutt.
Predictably, United had folded again and despite a sending off for the animated Mourinho as he protested for a handball against the Reds who could not breach the home defence again – Livakovic saved from Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho as United could not rouse themselves and now find themselves languishing in the lower reaches of the Europa League after a third straight draw.