Manchester United were beaten 2-1 by Istanbul Basaksehir in the UEFA Champions League at the Fatih Terim Stadium in Istanbul on Wednesday evening. It was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first defeat in the competition this season and his second defeat in a row following the defeat to Arsenal in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Sunday. United’s defence lost the match with them not present twice in the first half, resulting in Dean Henderson conceding his first two goals for United. Anthony Martial scored a consolation at the end of the first half to get his club back into the match, which was fruitless for United. They face Everton on Sunday.
United started in lukewarm fashion in Turkey with Basaksehir getting on the front foot after Rafael da Silva intercepted the ball from a Nemanja Matic error in the fifth minute of the match. That resulted in nothing but United broke forward minutes later with Harry Maguire lifting the ball into Bruno Fernandes from deep with the ball going over Boli Bolingoli’s head reaching the Portuguese midfielder who then volleyed the ball but it was not on target. The Turkish side then had a chance through Edin Višća who had 30-yards of space only for him to hit the bar. United’s defence then made an error with Višća playing the ball to Demba Ba, who scored.
Basaksehir looked to be the better side after opening the scoring and were pressuring United for the remainder of the half. Rafael showed his ability by getting a block on Anthony Martial’s shot just before the half hour stage of the match. The Bolingoli, who was full of energy saw an effort saved by Henderson a minute or two later. The Turkish side went 2-0 up in the 40th minute of the match after Juan Mata was robbed of the ball and it found Višća, who slotted home past Henderson. United got themselves back into the match in the 43rd minute with Martial scoring his second goal of the season after Luke Shaw took on Rafael and clipped the ball into Martial.
At the start of the second half, Solskjaer made his first substitution with Scott McTominay replacing Axel Tuanzebe. Both teams then got into the match with United seeking to find an equaliser and the Turkish side looking to stay in the lead. In the 61st minute, Paul Pogba and Edinson Cavani replaced Donny van de Beek and Mata with United looking to throw all they could at their opposition in their hunt for the elusive equaliser. In the 76th minute of the match, Solskjaer made his final two substitutions with Mason Greenwood and Tim Fosu-Mensah replacing Marcus Rashford and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. United did not have much time to waste.
United had some late opportunities in the match to get the equaliser but nothing was going to get them back into the match. Basaksehir showed United what they were made of, even if United did gift them two goals with the defence not present on two different attacks in the first half. United had a very late chance which saw the ball cleared from the line in added time, winning a corner, which again came to nothing. It was not meant to be for United. Solskjaer’s side failed to recover from their Arsenal defeat and will now head to Goodison Park in the Premier League to face an Everton side that need to get back to winning ways after their good start to the season.
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Goals: Demba Ba 13′, Edin Višća 40′; Anthony Martial 43′
Assists: Edin Višća 13′, Deniz Türüç 40′; Luke Shaw 43′
Manchester United: Henderson; Wan-Bissaka (Fosu-Mensah 76′), Tuanzebe (McTominay 46′), Maguire, Shaw; Matic, Van de Beek (Pogba 61′); Mata (Cavani 61′), Fernandes, Rashford (Greenwood 76′); Martial
Substitutes Not Used: De Gea; Lindelof, Williams, Mengi; Fred, James; Ighalo
Bookings: Martin Škrtel 89′; Axel Tuanzebe 20′
Written by John Walker
