Manchester United’s poor European record away from home continued as they were defeated by 2-1 Turkish club Fenerbahce SK at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in their Europa League fixture.
Also Read: Mourinho slams United attitude after Fenerbahce defeat
A jaw-dropping overhead kick by Moussa Sow opened the scoring for the hosts within 70 seconds, before Jeremain Lens’ free-kick midway through the second half doubled their lead. Wayne Rooney’s sweet strike from 25 yards brought United back into the mix, but Fenerbahce’s defence held on to register a famous victory.
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Here are the player ratings from the game at Istanbul.
Fenerbahce SK
Volkan Demirel – 7.5
The veteran shot-stopper made a good save to prevent a Marcus Rashford ball from finding Zlatan Ibrahimovic and even made a couple of crucial catches from set-pieces to bail his defenders out. He was powerless to prevent Rooney’s consolation strike from going in.
Sener Ozbayrakli – 7.5
Sener had an excellent night for Fenerbahce, ensuring the likes of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial rarely got what they crave – space in front of their feet.
Simon Kjaer – 7.5
It was a much improved display by Kjaer following his disastrous outing in the first fixture between these two sides. He maintained his discipline and composure against increasing Manchester United pressure.
Martin Skrtel – 7.5
The ex-Liverpool defender was strong – particularly against Zlatan Ibrahimovic – and led his defence to a deservedly match-winning performance against Jose Mourinho’s side.
Hasan Ali Kaldirim – 8
The left-back made a bright start up the field, sending in the cross for Sow’s wonderful opening goal. Post that, he was influential in preventing Matteo Darmian, Marcus Rashford and Henrikh Mkhitaryan from finding any space on the wing.
Mehmet Topal – 7.5
Topal was instrumental in midfield, making vital interceptions in the defensive half and driving forward when in possession to threaten United.
Josef Souza – 8
The Brazilian defender shielded his defence beautifully, breaking up promising United attacks and initiating counter attacks for the hosts.
Alper Potuk – 7
Potuk – who started in a number 10 role behing Sow – worked hard in defence to help Fenerbahce defend their lead and aso linked up well with Lens on a couple of occasions on the right to ring alarm bells for Luke Shaw .
Jeremain Lens – 8.5
The Sunderland loanee was at his imperious best at Istanbul, worrying Luke Shaw throughout the game thanks to his dangerous movement into the Manchester United penalty area. His free-kick to double the Turkish side’s lead was a thing of beauty that completely deceived the United wall.
Though Fenerbahce attacks were few and far between, Lens took every opportunity with both hands and threatened to increase his side’s lead thanks to his pace and fleet-footedness down the wing.
Moussa Sow – 8
Robin van Persie’s replacement got the stadium bouncing within the opening 90 seconds with an incredible overhead kick from Ali Kaldirim’s cross. His positioning to execute the shot was perfect – in between the two central defenders. He was isolated by a Fenerbahce side mostly sitting on the lead provided by him, but managed to chip in defensively as well.
Volkan Sen – 7
A winger by nature, Sen was mostly doing defensive duty in front of Kaldirim, shutting out any space for Darmian to make any purposeful runs.
Substitutes:
Emanuel Emenike – 7
Emenike was devastating on the break, getting behind the defence on three occasions after coming on. His finishing needed more polishing, however, as he saw both his efforts saved by David de Gea when most expected him to score.
Roman Neustadter – N/A
The defensive midfielder was brought on with eight minutes to go to run down the clock.
Ismail Koybasi – N/A
The fullback replaced goalscorer Sow in the 89th minute, hence was unable to make any significant impact.
Manchester United
David de Gea – 7
The Spaniard was taken by surprise by Moussa Sow’s overhead kick to give Fenerbahce the lead. He was left rooted to the spot as he watched Lens’ free kick go in for the Turkish side’s second. He made two good saves late in the game to thwart Emenike thereafter.
Matteo Darmian – 6
It was a fruitless night for the full-back, as he was constantly harassed by Volkan Sen and Hasan Ali Kaldirim on the right flank. He was also guilty of losing possession in important attacking positions for United.
Daley Blind – 5.5
It was one of Blind’s worst performances in a United shirt. He failed to mark Sow for the first goal and looked vulnerable to the pace of substitute Emenike in the latter stages of the game.
Marcos Rojo – 7
The Argentine made clearances and interceptions to foil the hosts’ counter-punches and was one of United’s better performers on the pitch. This could have easily have been a heavier defeat for Jose Mourinho’s side but for Rojo’s timely interventions.
Luke Shaw – 5.5
The young left-back was kept on his toes by the pace and guile of Lens throughout the game. He never looked comfortable defensively and offered very little in attack.
Morgan Schneiderlin – 6
The Frenchman had a solid 45 minutes, completing all his passes and finding advancing teammates with long balls. A desperate move by Mourinho to get United back in the game saw Schneiderlin taken off at the break.
Ander Herrera – 6.5
The midfielder tried his very best to set United on the front-foot from the heart of United’s shape.However, he found himself out of position in the second half, having to fill in for the withdrawn Schneiderlin in a defensive midfield position in order to accommodate Mata in attack.
Marcus Rashford – 6
The teenage senation failed to find his rhythm at Istanbul – unable to pull off his trademark dribbles to break through Fenerbahce’s focused defence. He was hauled off for Henrikh Mkhitaryan soon after United fell two behind.
Paul Pogba – 6.5
The world-record signing looked promising in a free role in midfield, locating his teammates on the wing with some good passing. However, a foot injury ended his night early.
Anthony Martial – 6.5
The 20-year old made a couple of forays early in the second half across the left byline to test the Fenerbahce fullbacks, only to be double-manned and left frustrated at the end of the game.
Wayne Rooney – 6.5
A long-range screamer to pull United back into the contest will renew the confidence of the skipper after an alarmingly poor first touch in the first half with only the keeper to beat and a large number of misplaced passes.
Substitutes
Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 6
The star striker was well marked by Martin Skrtel throughout the 60 minutes he was on the pitch. At times he dropped too deep, leaving no one up front to get on the end of a cross.
Juan Mata – 6
Mata cut a defeated figure at the end of the game, with every potential chance creating pass intercepted by Sousa or Topal.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 6
Sent on by Mourinho for the remaining 20 minutes to save the game, Mkhitaryan found all channels blocked by an outstanding Ali Kaldirim.
