Man United Falls Short Of Expectation In Match Against Twente FC
On a drenching rainy night at Old Trafford, the Danish international gave United the lead with a thunderous first-half shot.
However, on 68 minutes, Sam Lammers equalized for Twente after Eriksen was caught in possession. Erik ten Hag, the manager of United, put together a formidable team to play Twente, a team he joined through the development system and played for three times before switching to coaching in the Eredivisie.
Following his bench debut in Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace, Marcus Rashford was back in the starting lineup. Manuel Ugarte took Kobbie Mainoo’s position in defense, and Harry Maguire replaced Matthijs de Ligt.
After some careless play by Diogo Dalot, Lammers gave United a slight lead, but Twente goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall made a spectacular save to deny Mees Hilgers from opening his own goal.
The ball broke to the midfielder inside the Twente area, but Eriksen’s thunderbolt beat him well.
Near the hour mark, Andre Onana deflected a low free-kick from Sem Steijn around the post, but Lammers, a former Rangers forward, dispossessed Eriksen and sprinted through to fire home to tie the score for Twente.
Bruno Fernandes had a near attempt, and Unnerstall turned Joshua Zirkzee’s blistering shot over the bar. In stoppage time, Unnerstall made an incredible reflex save to keep away a header deflected by Gijs Besselink, which was headed by Maguire.
In the end, United had to make do with a lackluster point to begin the 36-team league round, which is modeled after the redesigned Champions League.
Winners of the second-tier European competition in 2003 and 2011, Porto, fell short 3-2 away to Bodo/Glimt, the champions from Norway, who used ten men for the whole of the second half.
The son of former Netherlands international Mark van Bommel, Ruben van Bommel, scored twice as AZ Alkmaar defeated Elfsborg 3-2.
Troy Parrott, a former Tottenham attacker, scored the game-winning penalty. Galatasaray defeated PAOK 3-1 in Istanbul thanks to a last-minute goal from Mauro Icardi, while Nice was left to lament a missed penalty in their 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad.
References and Citation
channelstv.com – Uninspiring Man United Stumble Against FC Twente In Europa League
pulsesports.ng – Man Utd vs FC Twente: Wasteful Red Devils stumble in Europa League opener
sportsration.com – Manchester United 1-1 Twente: Red Devils stumble in Europa League opener
theguardian.com – Manchester United 1-1 FC Twente: Europa League – as it happened
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