Key events
That’s all, then, on another difficult night for Manchester United at their “Theatre of Nightmares”. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night.
Erik ten Hag is asked to reflect on the game by TNT. “Do you have one hour?! … we played very good until the red card … the red card changed everything … it became a different game … but then you concede two goals that never should count … it’s very disappointing … in this moment we have to deal with many decisions against us … the season is long and at one point it will turn in our favour … [the Rashford red card] was a very harsh decision … I am sure he was going for the ball … the refereeing was not sure … after half-time it went better, but first the two goals should not count … first is offside, there is a player in front of Onana … the second, what can you do for that? … I have seen a lot of positives from the game … but at the end we lose some focus … it is hard when you have to play for so long with ten men … with ten we were still controlling the game … it is very disappointing … we fought so hard, we played so good, but still we don’t have one point.”
Erik ten Hag reaction still to come. We’ll be here for it, though with the game running late, we’ll have to wait for AC Jimbo’s goals show to rumble into town. Shouldn’t take as long as it sounds. In the meantime, Jamie Jackson’s report is here.
Rasmus Højlund speaks to TNT Sports. “We started very well … we controlled the game until the red card and that changed the game … if you don’t look at the result [wry, knowing smile] we did quite well … we switched off a little bit … I know how the crowd can help the team here … we did quite good at the beginning of the second half … it’s unfortunate that we are here with zero points again.”
TNT show a replay of the incident (66 min) that won United a penalty in the second half. It certainly was handball … but not by Lukas Lerager! In fact Harry Maguire headed it down onto his own hand, the ball pinging upwards from his fingers and above Lerager’s forearm. Just another surreal twist to a wacky game.
That is one of the great Champions League games. Manchester United played their best 40 minutes of football this season, Rasmus Højlund scoring his fourth and fifth goals of the tournament, and looked to be coasting to victory … until Marcus Rashford was sent off for standing on Elias Jelert’s ankle. After which, bedlam. Copenhagen were level before the break, Bruno Fernandes re-established United’s lead after it from the spot, and then the visitors collapsed at the back over the home stretch. Two late goals turned it around for the hosts, and now United are in all sorts of bother with a trip to Galatasaray coming up in three weeks and Bayern Munich still to come to Manchester.
FULL TIME: Copenhagen 4-3 Manchester United
A player called Roony condemns United to defeat. It seems Parken is their “Theatre of Nightmares” after all.
90 min +5: Fernandes launches a Hail Mary forward. United win a throw on the left. Dalot to fling long … but no! He flips to McTominay, who tees up Fernandes for a long-distance whack. Grabara fumbles but recovers, and that is surely that!
90 min +4: Copenhagen keep the ball in United’s half and the clock ticks on.
90 min +3: Maguire wears an affronted look, though the decision didn’t really make much difference. Goal kick or free kick? Copenhagen’s turn to take their time.
90 min +2: A loose ball drops to Maguire on the edge of the D. He’d won it himself in a challenge with Lerager. Maguire sends a rasping, rising drive off the top of the crossbar. What an attempt! But it wouldn’t have counted anyway, because the referee awards a very soft free kick for the initial challenge.
90 min +1: The first of five added minutes sees a dropping ball shave Larsson’s arm on the edge of the box. Fernandes is livid, he wants another spot kick, but he’s not getting one. Larsson’s arm was tucked into his body.
90 min: Almost an afterthought, but it’s ended Bayern 2-1 Galatasaray. Bakambu had snatched a consolation for Gala in the third minute of stoppage time.
88 min: Parken is pumping. This is one hell of a game of football.
GOAL! Copenhagen 4-3 Manchester United (Bardghji 87)
Varane’s loose pass allows Bardghji space down the right. A low cross. Claesson should score, but slices so badly that the ball doesn’t even go out of play to the left. Copenhagen recycle possession. A cross from the left this time. Maguire can only eyebrow it across to Bardghji, who hits a first-time shot down and up into the top right. A player called Roony could have settled it! Beyond absurd, no?
86 min: Copenhagen press United back into their final third. There doesn’t seem to be a way out for the visitors at the moment. The hosts probing hither and yon.
84 min: Hojlund is sacrificed for Mount.
GOAL! Copenhagen 3-3 Manchester United (Lerager 83)
The corner’s only half cleared. Falk, on the left-hand corner of the box, crosses towards the back post. Lerarger, who gave away the penalty, opens his body and sidefoots home from close range. Simple as that. Dalot asleep, like the red devil on that Nightmare banner.
82 min: Wan-Bissaka’s excitable backpass needs to be dealt with by Onana, else it sneak into the bottom left. Onana chests down calmly but can’t clear to deny the corner. And from that …
81 min: Send it into the mixer, that’s what, forcing Grabara to drop the ball. Maguire bundles home, but the keeper had been impeded before dropping and the goal won’t stand.
80 min: Garnacho dribbles purposefully down the left and wins a corner off Boilesen. Fernandes refuses to take it under a barrage of plastic cups and fag lighters. The home crowd aren’t happy, but what’s Fernandes to do?
79 min: Grabara clanks the ball carelessly to Fernandes, who could shoot but decides to tee up the in-rushing McTominay instead. McTominay finds the top right … of the stand behind the goal. That could easily have been a nerve-settling fourth.
78 min: Some good work from Achouri wins a corner down the left. Before it can be taken, Boilesen and Larsson come on for Vavro and Achouri. Nothing comes of the corner.
76 min: Harry Kane has doubled Bayern’s lead with his second goal of the evening against Galatasaray, on 86 minutes. The six-time champions will surely be winning Group A.
74 min: A deep cross from the left for Bardghji at the far stick. He crosses back. Onana punches away. Achouri tries to bring the ball down on the edge of the box, only to be blown for a high kick. His foot was not particularly high, the same height as Wan-Bissaka in fact, so he’s apoplectic with annoyance. But the referee’s not for turning. The pressure on United released.
72 min: … and replaced Gonçalves with Tanlongo.
71 min: Copenhagen have sent on Sørensen in place of Ankersen.
70 min: In the other Group A game, Harry Kane has given Bayern Munich the lead against Galatasaray on 80 minutes.
GOAL! Copenhagen 2-3 Manchester United (Fernandes 69 pen)
Fernandes sweeps majestically into the top-left corner, and ten-man United are back in front! Grabara had no chance!
Penalty for Manchester United!
68 min: VAR summons the referee to the screen. He has a long, long look. Eventually he draws a TV screen in the air, then points to the spot! Fernandes grabs the ball and prepares to take.
66 min: … the resulting free kick is pumped into the Copenhagen box. Maguire heads down onto Lerager’s outstretched arm, and VAR will take a look at a potential penalty.
65 min: Vavro, on a booking, wrestles with Hojlund from behind. It’s a foul. United want a second yellow, because Vavro’s arm brushed the side of Hojlund’s face, but they’re not getting one. However …
64 min: A loose pass by Amrabat is pounced on by the aforementioned Bardghji, who then slices an overly ambitious effort high into the stand.
63 min: Elyounoussi is replaced by the 17-year-old prospect Roony Bardghji. United aren’t going to be undone by someone called Roony, are they? That would just about put the tin lid on tonight’s absurdity.
62 min: There’s a sense both teams fancy their chances of snatching victory … but also that both realise there will be a level of embarrassment, for differing reasons, if they don’t. Hence all the players taking perhaps more care than they normally would.
61 min: Falk slips Elyounoussi into the United box down the right. His low drive is blocked bravely by Maguire, who needs a little bit of treatment. But he’s OK to continue.
59 min: Claesson has a lash at goal from 25 yards, but it’s straight at Onana, who claims calmly. “Were the players listening to the half-time relaxant during the break?” asks Joe Pearson. “They seem surprisingly subdued compared to the first half.”
57 min: United take their time over a goal kick. Their antics dull their senses, and upon their playing it out slowly, Dalot ships possession lazily to Claesson, 25 yards from goal. Dalot and United are very lucky that Claesson can’t take advantage, giving the ball back with a loose pass of his own. This game is very strange.
55 min: Garnacho tries to release Dalot down the left with a clever header, but gets too much on it and Vavro is able to usher the ball out for a goal kick. United appear to have come out with a positive mindset, though, which is super-admirable seeing the preposterous manner in which the first half ended.
Sophie Anderson, a UK-based writer, is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
