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Manchester United hosted Swiss club Young Boys yesterday for their final UEFA Champions League group stage match and were eventually held to a 1-1 draw. Mason Greenwood ensured his presence on the scoresheet with a superb bicycle kick to convert Luke Shaw's cross as early as the 9th minute.
Young Boys went on to draw level just before half-time when Fabian Rieder capitalized on a mistake from Manchester United to fire home a glorious shot past Dean Henderson. The second half failed to provide a deciding goal and the match ended as a stalemate.
The Red Devils will, however, remain group toppers heading into the draw for the next round.
Having already secured a place in the next round, Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick took the opportunity to assess the rest of his squad. With as many as 11 changes, the German tactician fielded an entirely different side from the one he fielded in his first game against Crystal Palace last weekend.
Notably, senior, fringe and Manchester United academy players were given an opportunity to showcase their abilities. Youngsters Amad Diallo and Junior Elanga were handed their debut UEFA Champions League starts, while Zidane Iqbal and Charlie Savage made their debut appearances towards the end of the second half.
35-year-old goalkeeper Tom Heaton was also given a rare chance when he was brought on to replace Dean Henderson in the 68th minute.
After the match, manager Ralf Rangnick shared his thoughts in an interview. Speaking to BT Sport (via Daily Express), he said:
"We should have been 2 if not 3-0 up,"
“We had two great opportunities from Amad and Juan Mata. We were a bit sloppy in these situations. We had a third one from Elanga in the second half.
"We were not defending high enough, not proactive enough.
“We also could have conceded two or three goals. If the final score was 3-3 or 4-3 to us no one could have complained."
"What was annoying was how we gave the goal away. We played too many balls into the first line of their pressing area and this was also the case for the goal we conceded," he lamented.
"We could have cleared the ball easily. Whenever we played the ball into the second or third line we were always dangerous."
Manchester United boss Rangnick admits Aaron Wan-Bissaka sustained knocks but is happy to see Luke Shaw back
Luke Shaw returned to action for the first time since sustaining an injury against Watford on 20th November. Speaking about his return, Rangnick said:
"It was great to see Luke Shaw back. Hopefully he can be a candidate for the Norwich game in the squad."
The Manchester United manager was also asked for an update on Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who sustained a late knock last night. In response, Rangnick said
"He got two knocks, one on the wrist and knee. We have to see how this develops by Saturday."
