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TNT Sports pundit Rio Ferdinand blasted Manchester United for their poor defending as they succumbed to a 3-2 defeat against Galatasaray in the UEFA Champions League yesterday (October 3).
Rasmus Hojlund looked impressive in attack for the Red Devils, scoring both their goals in the 17th and 67th minute. However, his performance was overshadowed by Manchester United's atrocious defending.
Wilfried Zaha shrugged off Diogo Dalot to score an unorthodox goal in the 23rd minute. Kerem Akturkoglu brilliantly finished into the bottom left corner in the 71st minute following a counter-attack from a throw-in.
Andre Onana played a loose pass that was intercepted by Dries Mertens. Casemiro tackled the latter in the box, resulting in Galatasaray winning a penalty and United being reduced to 10 men.
Mauro Icardi missed his spot-kick in the 78th minute but was able to make up for it three minutes later. Davinson Sanchez's header dissected United's entire backline, falling into the path of Icardi. The latter was played onside by Sofyan Amrabat, dinking the ball over Onana to secure all three points.
The defensive line of Diogo Dalot, Raphael Varane, Victor Lindelof, and Sofyan Amrabat lacked cohesiveness and had a game to forget at the back. Ferdinand said (via Daily Mirror):
“You’ve got to give Galatasaray credit because they kept themselves in the game, and when the chances came their way, they punished Man United."
The former Manchester United captain continued:
“But that was a serious rollercoaster of emotions for me because at one moment, I’m sat there thinking about how we look like a unit, cohesive and a team with shared potential, something to be positive about. And then the next, I have my head in my hands because there’s a lack of organisation, there’s no leadership, there’s nothing defensively."
He added:
“As a kid, you’re told that you’re the most vulnerable after just scoring and that happened twice tonight, we fell asleep! At times, it looked far too easy and they went through us like a hot knife through butter and it’s embarrassing."
"This is the Champions League, it’s not school football or anything. The lack of positional awareness, spacial awareness, at this level you’ll be punished for that and they were tonight,” Ferdinand concluded.
Manchester United have now lost their first two opening games in the Champions League for the first time in the club's history. They are at the bottom of Group A with zero points.
Manchester United vs Galatasaray: Exploring the stats from UCL clash
Galatasaray were able to get their first win on English soil in 117 years last night by defeating Manchester United 3-2 at Old Trafford in the Champions League. Let's take a look at the stats to see how both teams performed.
Ten Hag and Co. dominated possession, controlling 55% of the ball. They completed 459 passes with an accuracy of 75%. In contrast, Galatasaray had 45% of the ball and registered 386 passes with an accuracy of 69%.
To their credit, Manchester United looked more threatening in attack as well, landing a total of 16 shots with five being on target. On the other hand, the away side had 14 shots in total, with four being on target, and were the more prolific team on the night.
