Man United 1-1 Galatasaray – Champions League LIVE: Wilfried Zaha equalises against his former club after Rasmus Hojlund had got Red Devils off to perfect start… with Antony back on the bench of Erik ten Hag’s side
Follow Mail Sport’s live blog for the latest scores, team news and updates from the Old Trafford where Manchester United host Galatasaray in Champions League action.
United 1-1 Galatasaray
Zaha is clattered, much to delight of most of Old Trafford and the disgust of the Galatasaray boss Okan Buruk, he of former Inter Milan fame.
Dalot is booked for the challnege, but so is Buruk for his remonstrations.
United 1-1 Galatasaray
It’s now Casemiro’s turn to get booked as he’s penalised for a high boot and can have absolutely no complaints about it. Just because I mentioned earlier the rain hadn’t dampened the pace of the game, both teams have slowed things down a tad.
United are marginally on top, but Galatasaray look dangerous on the counter.
United 1-1 Galatasaray
Lucas Torreira goes into the books for clattering Casemiro, who looks in discomfort here. Or perhaps he’s just taking a breather.
United 1-1 Galatasaray
It’s absolutely lashing it down in Manchester, but that has done nothing to dampen the pace of game. United have looked far better than in recent weeks – although that was an admittedly low bar to clear – with Hojlund and Casemiro particularly impressive.
GOAL! United 1-1 Galatasaray – Zaha 23'
Galatasray are level and guess who? But of course, it’s Wilfried Zaha. A long, hopeful punt from midfield finds United completely unprepared to deal with the bouncing ball, as Varane leaves Dalot isolated against Zaha, who holds him off and forces the header past Onana.
The former United wheels away in celebration and cups his ears to the crowd as boos rain down on him.
Game on!
United 1-0 Galatasaray
United almost have a second as Hojlund pounces on a through ball from Mount, but doesn’t quite manage to get it past Muslera. The Dane has made a flying start to his United career in the Champions League.
GOAL! United 1-0 Galatasaray – Hojlund 17'
United are ahead! And what a superb goal it is. A lovely ball over the top picks out Rashford in acres of space on the right wing. The England international motors away and delivers a superb cross for Hojlund, who heads home.
VAR checks for an offside, but the goal stands and we have lift off at Old Trafford!
United 0-0 Galatasaray
United enjoy a good spell of possession, with Casemiro doing really well to pick out Hannibal in the box, after the Tunisian had drifted left and behind the Galatasaray defence.
Hannibal can’t quite get the shot away and United have to settle for a corner, which is then cleared.
United 0-0 Galatasaray
Fernandes looks to pick out Rashford with a long diagonal ball, but his effort is undercooked and the move comes to nothing.
United 0-0 Galatasaray
United have a corner, but it comes to nothing and Galatasaray break quickly upfield, slicing through the hosts’ midfield as Premier League clubs have done time and again this season.
Eventually Lindelof stop sKerem Akturkoglu, who should have done better with Zaha and Icardi either side of him.
United 0-0 Galatasaray
United’s bright start has somewhat petered out, with Galatasaray looking more comfortable in possession. Zaha looks to give Dalot something to think about, but the Portuguese wins the ball well off the former Palace man.
United 0-0 Galatasaray
United are on the front foot from the off, as Hojlund breaks down the left with great purpose and squares a lovely ball towards Bruno Fernandes, who looks to guide the ball into the bottom corner but can’t quite connect.
Less than a minute later, Bruno is again in space down the right, but his cross is cleared.
KICK-OFF
We’re underway at Old Trafford and a loud rendition of ‘We want Glazers out’ rings around the ground within 10 seconds.
The teams are out on the pitch
This Is The One rings out at Old Trafford as the team make their way out onto the pitch on what looks to be a cool Manchester evening. United need a win after losing to Bayern in the opening fixture of Group A.
Galatasaray have never won at Old Trafford but are unbeaten in 14 games this season.
Time for the Champions League anthem now, which was last heard around here in March 2022 against Atletico Madrid.
Erik ten Hag: 'Injuries are delaying progress'
United have been beset by injuries this season and Erik ten Hag believes they are responsible for his team’s regression.
‘Absolutely and we all know that also you know you have to win here [Old Trafford] and it doesn’t matter who is on the pitch it is delaying the process and things are not going as quick as you want,’ he tells TNT.
‘But that’s a demand and I want to have better games and make more progress and better results. At the moment we have to be creative and make compromises but we have to and we have to win games.’
The warm ups are almost complete
Erik ten Hag on team selection
Erik ten Hag has also explained why he’s brought Hannibal back into the team, noting he hopes the Tunisian’s energy will liven up United, who have been largely sophorific to watch this season.
‘We thought bring that energy but also Hannibal is a very young player,’ he says.
‘He’s not able to play three times in one week he’s not at that experience. So we want to keep his energy and we have to manage the squad in that perspective.
‘We have some more players who are not used to it but you want to have the best team and from a tactical approach it fits very well.
Erik ten Hag: 'We take Antony allegations seriously'
Erik ten Hag has been speaking about reintegrating Antony in the team after three weeks out.
‘Of course, our minds were with him and of course the allegations, you think about it, is serious. We took them very serious,’ he says when asked about the allegations of assault.
‘So we had a leave of absence to deal with this and he was fully cooperative with police in Brazil and in Manchester and he’s not accused he’s available.’
Rio Ferdinand: 'United lack confidence'
Rio Ferdinand has been speaking on TNT Sports ahead of kick-off and has singled out United’s issues. Of which, there are many.
‘The lack of confidence is the biggest thing for me at the moment. […] There’s other things that have gone on around that and I’m not creating excuses for the club,’ he says.
‘I don’t think I know another manager who’s come into a job and has had to deal with so many problems off the pitch. You know you’ve got problems on the pitch and stuff to work off.
‘But the stuff he’s had to deal with off the pitch is a huge huge element in terms of taking his mind and his eye off what is essentially his main main port of call which is the football.’
The Champions League is back Old Trafford
The Champions league is back at Old Trafford, and for all of United’s current struggles it’s always a special occasion.
What's the story in Group A so far?
While United were going down 4-3 to Bayern two weeks ago, Galatasaray and Copenhagen played out a 2-2 draw in Istanbul that certainly didn’t lack drama.
Galatasaray created chance after chance but couldn’t score, while the Danes packed their shooting boots to go 2-0 ahead through Moi Elyounoussi and Diogo Goncalves.
But the momentum shifted when Copenhagen’s Elias Jelert was shown a second yellow with 17 minutes to play.
The hosts needed until the 86th minute to score, however, through Sacha Boey and then two minutes later, Tete volleyed home Wilfried Zaha’s cross to steal Galatasaray a point.
Wilfried Zaha is back at Old Trafford
Wilfried Zaha says he returns to Manchester United as a player who refused to let his career ‘die out’ a decade on from his failed move to Old Trafford.
The 30-year-old is back in Manchester with Galatasaray ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League Group A clash, and it was put to him that he may well still have a chip on his shoulder about his miserable spell in a United shirt.
Asked if he is still irritated or frustrated that his £10million move in 2013 resulted in just four appearances for United, he said: ‘I’ll be honest, when you look at my face, do you think I’m bothered?
‘Realistically, I think I went through a phase where you either build from it or you die out from it and me personally I was never going to die out from it.
Read more here
What about Galatasaray then?
Galatasaray are the champions of Turkey after clinching the title last season and their teamsheet reveals quite a few familiar names, none more so than bonafide Crystal Palace great Wilfried Zaha.
Former Serie A stars Mauro Icardi, Dries Mertens also play for the Istanbul giants.
Having won their 24th Turkish league title in 2019, they saw Istanbul Basaksehir, Besiktas and Trabzonspor all lift the trophy before claiming No 25 last season.
It was a sweet success for the club, who finished a commanding eight points clear of bitter rivals Fenerbahce and 10 ahead of Besiktas.
It put them only three shy of Fenerbahce’s 28 title successes in the all-time leaderboard in Turkey.
Galatasaray team news
Wilfried Zaha and Mauro Icardi both start for Galatasaray.
Galatasaray XI: Muslera, Boey, Sanchez, Ayhan, Angelino, Torreira, Bardakci, Tete, Akturkoglu, Zaha, Icardi.
Subs: Gunay, Demirbay, Mertens, Nelsson, Oliveira, Yilmaz, Ndombele, Bakambu
Erik ten Hag unhappy with United
Erik ten Hag hasn’t pulled any punches in his programme notes.
‘Our start to the season has not been good enough,’ he said.
Although there are reasons, we will not attempt to hide behind excuses.
‘It is up to us to now to turn our fortunes around. What happens next is up to us and nobody else.’
Manchester United team news
Hannibal returns to the starting XI, while as expected Antony is on the bench.
Manchester United XI: Onana, Dalot, Lindelof, Varane, Amrabat, Casemiro, Hannibal, Mount, Fernandes, Rashford, Hojlund
Subs: Bayindir, Vitek, Evans, Maguire, Eriksen, McTominay, Antony, Garnacho, Martial, Pellistri.
A history lesson
United vs Galatasaray is not one of the classic European rivalries, but there’s plenty of history here – and it’s a history for the most part of naked hostility.
The 3-3 draw at Old Trafford mentioned above was followed by a 0-0 in Istanbul, which cut United’s return in Europe’s premier competition short.
The game, however, is best remembered for the reception Galatasaray fans reserved United in Istanbul, where they were famously ‘Welcome to Hell’ at the airport.
The two teams met again the following season in the group stages of the Champions League, with the Turks again holding United to a stalemate draw in Istanbul.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s men were already eliminated by the time they thrashed Galatasaray 4-0 in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford, with a young David Beckham making his Champions League debut.
Whatever happened to him, I wonder?
Will Antony return for United?
United desperately need a result tonight and Erik ten Hag may be able to count on Antony for the first time in three weeks.
The Brazilian has missed almost a month of action as he continues to deal with allegations of assault he steadfastly denied.
And no sooner had ten Hag confirmed that Antony was 'in consideration' for the clash with Galatasaray at Old Trafford, the United boss was challenged over what message he would be sending to victims of domestic abuse if the Brazilian plays.
Ten Hag asked for the question to be repeated before offering a rather faltering response, alluding to the fact that Antony has neither been arrested or charged over claims that he attacked three women, which the player strongly denies.
‘He co-operated fully, it came out he’s not charged, so…’ said Ten Hag.
Antony has spoken to police in Sao Paulo and again in Manchester on Thursday following his return to the UK after a three-week absence.
You can read more here.
Preamble
Almost exactly three decades ago, United made their Champions League debut with a thrilling 3-3 draw at Old Trafford against Galatasaray.
That team included the likes of Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona and Mark Hughes, all of which United could do with on current form.
Erik ten Hag’s side arrive into their meeting against the Turkish giants on the back of a 1-0 defeat against Crystal Palace at home on Saturday, their fourth defeat in seven Premier League games.
United struggle to create chances and score goals, but have developed a worrying habit of conceding with alarming regularity and have the worst goal difference of any top-12 in the Premier League.
They are bottom of Group A after losing 4-3 to Bayern Munich in their opening fixture, while Galatasaray are a point above them after drawing 2-2 against Copenhagen.
Good evening!
Good evening and welcome to our coverage of Manchester United vs Galatasaray.
Champions League football returns at Old Trafford this evening after an 18-month hiatus and Erik ten Hag will be hoping the famous anthem can inspire his beleaguered troops.
Coming up we’ll have all the latest from Old Trafford in the lead-up to kick-off, which is scheduled for 8pm, and then all the action.
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