Manchester United’s nightmare season continued on Wednesday night as they were beaten by FC Copenhagen in the Champions League by seven goals.
A goal from 17-year-old Roony Bardghji in the 87th minute gave Denmark a dramatic victory, beating the three-time champions 4-3.
In the first half, Manchester United took the lead thanks to two goals from their Danish player Rasmus Hoylund. However, United’s momentum changed towards the end of the half when Marcus Rashford was sent off for stepping on a Copenhagen player’s ankle.
Copenhagen tied the score before half-time, but a controversial penalty gave United the lead again. Immediately afterwards, Manchester United scored two more goals to turn the score back in the home team’s favor.
The defeat leaves Group A uncertain – Copenhagen and Galatasaray have both accumulated four points, with Manchester United bottom of the table with just three points, both behind unbeaten leaders Bayern Munich, who sit top of the table on 12 points ——But it also puts more pressure on Manchester United coach Eriksen.
Wednesday’s defeat was their ninth in the team’s last 17 games, including humiliating defeats at the hands of Manchester City, Brighton and Crystal Palace in the Premier League as well as being knocked out at home by Newcastle United. A loss.
It was the first time since the 1973-74 season that the team had lost so many games at the start of a new season, when the club suffered relegation.
According to Ten Hag, although his team’s performance was poor, some positive aspects can still be seen in the game against Copenhagen.
This team is very tough. We’ve had a lot of bad decisions throughout the season, a lot of setbacks and injuries,” he told reporters afterwards. “As long as there’s a spirit there, we’re going to keep fighting because I believe, like I said before , the situation will turn around. We’re going to build on a certain point in the season that will be very beneficial to us. “
Ten Hag added: “In my opinion, the attitude of these youngsters is outstanding and they work very closely as a team. They work together and fight for every inch of the pitch. So I don’t have any criticism of the team. .”
This has nothing to do with football
After a frustrating few weeks, Manchester United appeared to have a new lease of life on Wednesday, thanks to the Dutchman’s leadership.
Hojlund scored two goals at the beginning of the game, coupled with Manchester United’s calm possession of the ball and solid defense, the team as a whole showed a completely different situation from recent weeks.
However, in the 42nd minute of the game, the situation changed and Rashford was sent off.
The player from England appeared to be protecting the ball but accidentally stepped on the ankle of Copenhagen’s Elias Jellet while using his foot to maintain possession. Rashford was initially given a yellow card, but further checks were carried out on the advice of the video assistant referee (VAR) and the result was upgraded to a red card.
However, criticisms of this review have also emerged. Referee Donatas Rumšas showed static images and a slow-motion replay of the incident rather than a full-speed replay. Former Manchester United players and TiT Sports football experts Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves believe reviewing events at a slower pace could have an impact on the actual perception of the game and therefore the referee’s decision-making. Indeed, after the game, Owen Hargreaves called the red card “too harsh”.
He said: “I think he took a long time to referee the game. It took them a long time to give the red card.”
It always looks worse after freezing. Like I said earlier, they worked hard and ended up getting ejected from the game. I’m very disappointed with this decision and I don’t think the game should have turned out like this. This has nothing to do with football. Although decisions had to be made, I admit there were wrong ones. To summarize, you made three very difficult decisions at this level… You controlled the game, which I don’t think it should have been.
The hopeful shot gave a glimmer of hope to the home side, who made clever use of their numerical advantage. Mohamed Elyounoussi pulled a point back just minutes later and Diogo Gonçalves equalized with a penalty kick in the ninth minute of first-half stoppage time.
All the hard work United put in to win the game seemed to be wasted in just a few minutes. So many were surprised when England regained the lead in the second half.
Controversy arose again due to the change in situation. Although the ball appeared to touch Harry Maguire’s fingers first, United were awarded a penalty after VAR ruled it a handball.
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes had no trouble switching positions during the game and looked superb as they were on the verge of victory, so he needs to rediscover his form and silence his critics.
However, in the final 20 minutes of the game, the home team began to increase the pressure on the 10-man lineup, and it finally paid off.
First, Lucas Leilage scored from close range to level the score again. Badji then fired a powerful shot towards the end of the game to the delight of the home fans at Parken Stadium.
Baddji became the youngest player to score against Manchester United, only 17 years and 358 days old.
Manchester United’s prospects of advancing to the group stage are now very uncertain, with two games still to play. The first game is an away game against Galatasaray, and the second game is a home game against Bayern Munich. Both teams have already beaten English teams.
This time, Manchester United lost for the first time in the Champions League after leading by two goals or more. This was also the first time the team had led by two goals since the 5-3 defeat at Leicester City in September 2014. Failure.
After Wednesday’s defeat, Fernandez was unwavering in saying that despite the defeat, the team’s goal remains the same: to win the remaining games.
“Even before the game started, that was still the belief; to win the last three games in the group. Now we only have two games left and if we want to stay in the Champions League and stay at the highest level, we have to To win these two games, we have to beat the strongest team among our opponents,” the Portuguese midfielder said.
We have a very difficult away game against Galatasaray and then we face the group leader. We hope to win both games but at the moment we have to focus on Luton as it will be a tough game as well. We need to fight for three points in the league. We must regain our winning pace after this defeat and continue to maintain our leading position in the Premier League.
