Key events
A long ball upfield to nobody in particular wasn’t dealt with by either centre-back leaving Dalot in a tussle with Zaha, who managed to get a boot to it, sending a shot into the ground that loops over Onana and into the corner! There was a bit of grappling, but not enough to call a foul – Dalot had to be stronger there.
GOAL! Man Utd 1-1 Galatasaray (Zaha 22′)
From pretty much nowhere, Galatasaray are level! It’s Wilfried Zaha, and it’s a bit of a defensive disaster for Manchester United.
20 mins: Oof! Close to a second for Højlund, who continues to impress early in his United career. A simple through-ball from Mount cuts through the defence and Højlund just fails to flick the ball beyond Muslera, who raced out smartly to clear the danger.
There’s a VAR check to see if Rashford was offside, but Davinson Sánchez was playing him on – news that may not come as a surprise to Tottenham fans.
GOAL! Man Utd 1-0 Galatasaray (Højlund 16′)
Marcus Rashford pops up on the right, picks up Casemiro’s pass and whips in a cross that looks too high – but Rasmus Højlund takes flight to head emphatically beyond Muslera! United lead, and deservedly so.
15 mins: Amrabat wins the ball back to set up a United attack, which ends with a foul on Zaha. Not to worry …
Arsenal lead 1-0 in Lens through Gabriel Jesus. You can follow that one with John Brewin here:
13 mins: After a spell of United probing and passing, Casemiro plays Hannibal in with a lovely lofted ball – but he fails to bring it down, winning only a corner which is punched clear by Muslera.
10 mins: Fernandes’ long diagonal ball towards Rashford, pushing up to support Højlund, is undercooked.
“I would have thought the bigger worry about having Amrabat at left-back is for the player’s own health,” notes David Wall. “The position seems to be cursed. The two left-backs in their squad both get injured, then the guy they bring in as cover the position only lasts a couple of games himself.”
8 mins: The corner is cleared and with both United centre-backs upfield, Galatasaray have a chance to break. Kerem Akturkoglu charges downfield but, with Zaha and Icardi on either side, he overruns the ball.
6 mins: Dalot holds off Zaha in their first tussle down the United right – and then gets forward to win a corner as Angeliño, once of Manchester City, deflects his cross behind.
4 mins: Davinson Sánchez (formerly of Spurs), plays a weak through ball that’s picked up by Lindelöf. Amrabat, filling in at left-back, has made a couple of runs in to central midfield to support Casemiro and Mason Mount.
2 mins: Bruno then finds space on the right side of the area – his first cross is blocked, and then a rabona on the rebound is intercepted by Lucas Torreira.
1 min: Early chance for United! Højlund finds space down the left and produces a fine pull-back into Bruno Fernandes’ path – but he scuffs his shot wide.
Peep!
We’re under way at Old Trafford, United in red shirts and black shorts, Galatasaray in all white.
In Tuesday’s early matches, Braga came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Union Berlin with Andre Castro’s late winner shaking things up in Group C. Elsewhere, Real Sociedad won 2-0 at Salzburg to go top of Group D.
Ten Hag on Antony: “Our minds were with him, and the allegations – you think about it, it’s serious. He had a leave of absence, and he was very cooperative with police in Brazil and in Manchester, and he’s not accused, so he is available.” This is similar to what he said yesterday, although he previously said “not charged” which is more accurate.
As for the game, he wants improvement in “both boxes” – he is unhappy Palace were able to win on Saturday despite hardly creating any chances, in his opinion. “You have to win here – [results] are delaying the process, and I’m very impatient. We have to be creative, make compromises, but we have to win games.”
Some pre-match, on-pitch thoughts from Erik ten Hag.
These two sides’ first-ever European meeting came in the 1993-94 Champions League, when United let a two-goal lead slip in a 3-3 first-leg draw in Turkey.
In the second leg, “Welcome to Hell” and all that, Gala went through after a goalless draw in Istanbul. They moved on to the eight-team group stage – where they failed to win any of their six games.
“Not optimistic,” mutters Niall O’Keefe. “Amrabat at left-back again when he is one of the best defensive midfielders in the world. The excellent Garnacho and Pellistri again on the bench. Rashford off form. Oh dear.”
I know they have injuries, particularly in that left-back position, but it does feel like a waste of Amrabat’s abilities to be filling in there. That team looks a bit underwhelming to me – so you can expect United to be three up by half-time.
Wilfried Zaha starts for Galatasaray at his old club tonight – yes, he did play for Manchester United, but you could be forgiven if it slipped your mind. Here’s Michael Butler on why he is the danger man tonight.
Antony is on the bench tonight, after Erik ten Hag confirmed the player was available for selection on Monday. If he is brought on, this will be Antony’s first appearance for Manchester United since allegations of assault first came to light.
The Brazil winger returned to training on Sunday, following a leave of absence granted by the club after the accusations of violence were made by three different women. Antony has denied all allegations against him in an interview with Brazilian TV.
The teams
Man Utd (4-2-3-1): Onana; Dalot, Varane, Lindelöf, Amrabat; Casemiro, Mount; Mejbri, Bruno Fernandes (c), Rashford; Højlund.
Substitutes: Bayindir, Vitek, Maguire, McTominay, Eriksen, Martial, Garnacho, Antony.
Galatasaray (4-2-3-1): Muslera (c); Boey, Sánchez, Bardakci, Angeliño; Torreira, Ayhan; Tetê, Akturkoglu, Zaha; Icardi.
Substitutes: Guvenc, Demirbay, Nelsson, Oliveira, Alper Yilmaz, Ndombélé, Bakambu, Mertens.
Preamble
Amid Manchester United’s many off-field issues, their problems on the pitch have almost gone under the radar. Where results like Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace would once have been the weekend’s big story, events at Molineux and Stockley Park meant that particular shock was not seismic.
Erik ten Hag will be happy to keep a relatively low profile (and this is United, so it is relative) before what could be a crunch game in Europe. After being held at arm’s length by Bayern, a home win over Galatasaray is a must to stop Champions League progress becoming a battle United could really do without.
Galatasaray, who ended a four-year wait for a Turkish title last season, pose a threat to United’s fragile disposition. They rallied to scrape a 2-2 draw at home to Copenhagen in their first game but are flying in the league, bolstered by eye-catching recruits including Mauro Icardi and former United winger Wilfried Zaha.
Injuries and a tricky fixture list are factors in United’s historically bad start to the season – but a kinder run of games is coming, with Brentford (H), Sheffield United (A) and Copenhagen (H) before the Manchester derby at the end of October. A chance to release the pressure this evening, but one they have to take.