Champions League: Galatasaray Claim Well-deserved Victory Against Manchester United

 

Manchester United are having a disappointing start to the Champions League after losing 3-2 to Galatasaray in a comeback that saw them played 10-man in the late stages of the game. 

Galatasaray started off trailing United from Rasmus Hojlund' header after Marcus Rashford picked him out with a cross from the inside the box following a fast break. The lead was later leveled just five minutes later as Wilfried Zaha outpaced Dalot to a loose ball and slammed the ball to beat Onana. 

United retook the lead yet from Hojlund's finish following a loose pass that he latched on to score in the second half, and that was soon leveled Kerem Akturkoglu'stap in from Yilmus' cut-back.

Shortly after Mauro Icardo lost a penalty drawn from Casemiro's challenge for which he got red-carded for, the forward delivered the victory to the Turkish side after he latched on with a header pass from Davisnson Sanchez and beat Onana to the goal. 

The loss sent United to the bottom of their group making it their second defeat in two games played so far. The Turkish side moved up to second behind Bayern Munich who are the table leaders. 

Quick Over View of the Game

Galatasaray found initially Old Trafford a tough turf with United using both wings to get into their box and putting them under consideration pressure. They soon braced up to that.

Luckily for United, the had taken the lead before Zaha struck putting their defense to the test. The goal was not just an equalizer but a display competence from an experienced striker. 

Holjund's goal came off a good positioning for Rashford's cross following a fast break. He could not have done it better. His second goal was just classic and optimally utilizing the fast break from passing flop between Oliveira and Sanchez. 

United might have found the right centre forward for the team even though they let blow the lead afterwards. The Turkish side were not a team to take for granted. 

Just after United let loose of the composure over the lead, the Turkish side found the weak spot on Amrazat and twice wrench the side with two goals. By the way, United were playing one man down after the red carding of Casemiro. Nevertheless, the visitors took the pressure to United and earned a deserved victory. 

More so, the winning was not only Icardi making up for losing a spot-kick, Sanchez who missed the back pass from Oliveira that led to United's second goal also made up for his error. His header pass went loosely unchallenged through the midfield to meet Icardo. That soon proved too costly. It was disappointing how United let it slide.

United allowed a lofty chance slide off their reach for having to lose to their opponents that was swift and technical in a comeback. The equalizer was Galatasaray first goal in the compeition since 2018, and besides that, they managed to earn their first victory since then.