MANCHESTER UNITED’S revenge mission is complete against Istanbul Basaksehir.
Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford gave the Red Devils a comfortable lead after just over half an hour.
Deniz Turuc scored a cracking free-kick that was awarded thanks to goal-line technology before Daniel James bagged a fourth for the Red Devils.
THAT’S ALL, FOLKS
Another night at Old Trafford, another Manchester United win.
Yet this one had none of the disappointment, good fortune and controversy that clouded Saturday evening’s victory over West Brom.
Instead, the Red Devils flew out of the traps this evening, eager to make amends for their Istanbul nightmare earlier in the month.
Bruno Fernandes revelled, naturally, and had the hosts 2-0 up within 20 minutes; his first a sensational half-volley, the second courtesy of a goalkeeping howler.
The Portuguese playmaker passed up the opportunity for a first half hat-trick, handing over a penalty to Marcus Rashford. The English forward made no mistake in scoring the spotkick he had won.
Dan James came off the bench to bag a confidence-boosting goal in injury time, and sealed the dominant victory that the English side’s performance in the first 30 minutes deserved.
Basaksehir were not without their chances, however, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team know that they will have to do better against a higher calibre of opposition if they hope to go far in the competition.
Deniz Turuc’s free-kick could have been more than a consolation had his teammates – Demba Ba, in particular – not passed up a number of decent opportunities.
United now need just one point from their final two games to qualify for the knockout stages, and given the difficulty of their group, they would have settled for that when the leagues were drawn.
Maybe, just maybe, this Manchester United season won’t be the underwhelming experience that so many expected.
Thanks for reading, we’ll be back with more Champions League action tomorrow night.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Neil Custis has been our man at Old Trafford tonight. Read his match report of Manchester United’s 4-1 victory over Basaksehir, hot off the press.
SOLSKJAER SO HAPPY
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has lauded his players after four goals and three Champions League points at Old Trafford. He’s been discussing the match with BT Sport.
“You saw the intensity straight away, the boys wanted to play. It’s a Champions League night at home at Old Trafford and you’d expect them to enjoy themselves.
“We created some great chances and scored some very nice goals. It was very pleasing.
“[Edinson Cavani and Donny Van de Beek] are getting used to how we want them to play.
“Donny can play in different positions while Edinson is a good old-fashioned number nine and we haven’t had that for a little while. I was very also happy with how Anthony [Martial] played off the left hand side again.
“When you are 3-0 up and you take your foot off the pedal a little bit, you give them something to play for. They enjoyed the second half more, but you’re happy with a 4-1 win in the Champions League.
“It’s a back problem for Victor [Lindelof] and an ankle problem for Aaron [Wan-Bissaka] so there was no point taking any more chances with. Hopefully, they will be ready for the weekend.
“We need one more point to go through, but of course we want to be top of the group – that’s our aim – so we’ll take one game at a time.”
SKIPPER SATISFIED
Manchester United captain Harry Maguire is a happy man after his side eased to victory – eventually.
RED DEVILS RATED
See how we scored each Manchester United player during tonight’s 4-1 Champions League win against Basaksehir.
DELIGHTED DAN
Dan James came off the Manchester United bench to bag himself an injury time confidence booster after a long spell without a goal.
FERNANDES’ THOUGHTS
Bruno Fernandes scored two more goals during another Man of the Match display in the Manchester United midfield.
The Portuguese maestro has now been involved in 34 goals in 35 games in all competitions (21 goals, 13 assists) since joining the club.
UNITED CLOSING IN
Manchester United have taken another step towards qualifying for the knockout stages after tonight’s result, banishing their Istanbul nightmare from three weeks ago. The English club lead the way and require just a point from their final two games, but do face PSG at home and Leipzig away.
Elsewhere in Group H tonight, PSG beat Leipzig 1-0 at the Parc des Princes.
DONNY ON THE BALL
A rare 90 minutes of action for Donny Van de Beek in the Manchester United midfield, and it’s fair to say the Dutchman took his opportunity to impress.
FT: MAN UTD 4-1 BASAKSEHIR
Manchester United return to winning ways in Group H with a thumping 4-1 win. Bruno Fernandes sent them on their way with a blistering first half brace before Marcus Rashford’s penalty and a late goal from substitute Dan James sandwich a long range reply from Deniz Turuc.
PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
THE FINAL WHISTLE GOES!
90+2. Manchester United add gloss to the scoreline with a tremendous counter-attack in added time.
Basaksehir had men committed forward and find themseves in real trouble as soon as Nemanja Matic wins the ball back in his own half.
The Serbian feeds Edinson Cavani, who lays a pass back to Donny Van de Beek. The Dutchman then slips a through ball out to Mason Greenwood on the right, and his centre to Dan James is perfect.
The Welshman keeps his cool as he arrives in his box, and expertly steers a shot beyond Mert Gunok.
A decent evening’s work.
MAN UTD 4-1 Basaksehir
GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLL!!
DAN JAMES SEALS THE VICTORY!!
MAN UTD 3-1 BASAKSEHIR
90. Four minutes of added time are signalled by the fourth official.
If there were home supporters inside Old Trafford, that would have probably brought groans in unison.
MAN UTD 3-1 BASAKSEHIR
89. It’s a frantic finish.
First, Cavani tries to catch Gunok off his line with a 45-yard volley, and then Turuc goes into the referee’s book for a foul.
MAN UTD 3-1 BASAKSEHIR
88. Another shot from Visca fires into De Gea.
It’s not of his best, but that’s probably because it was from inside the box. Thirty yards out and that would have swerved into the top corner, maybe.
MAN UTD 3-1 BASAKSEHIR
87. A last throw of the dice for Basaksehir as Carlos Ponck comes on for Martin Skrtel.
The latter, sporting a luxurious head of hair, is almost unrecognisable from his Liverpool days.
MAN UTD 3-1 BASAKSEHIR
86. Now Maguire gets receives a yellow card for delaying the subsequent free-kick.
That should probably tell you the manner in which United are seeing this one out.
MAN UTD 3-1 BASAKSEHIR
85. Tekdemir goes into the book for clattering Fred after he had overrun the ball.
MAN UTD 3-1 BASAKSEHIR
83. On the bench, the United manager looks a combination of terrified and furious.
Seconds later, James gives the ball away unnecessarily.
MAN UTD 3-1 BASAKSEHIR
81. A final change for Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer and it’s a move to shore up his midfield.
Anthony Martial goes off with Nemanja Matic coming on.
MAN UTD 3-1 BASAKSEHIR
79. Crossbar! The visitors come so close to a second!
A rasping long range shot from Visca has De Gea beaten all ends up, but cracks back off the frame of the goal much to the relief of those in red.
The Bosnian’s technique when striking the ball has caused the home side many problems this evening.
75. Consolation goal or grandstand finish?
Deniz Turuc has pulled one back for the visitors with a fine free-kick from 25 yards.
To the left of the penalty area, the Fenerbahce loanee curled a crisp shot over the wall towards goal.
Although De Gea dived down to his right to push out, the ball had clearly travelled behind the line, and the goalline technology quickly confirms as much.
Man Utd 3-1 BASAKSEHIR
GOOOOOOOOOAAAAALLL!!
DENIZ TURUC PULLS ONE BACK FOR BASAKSEHIR!!
MAN UTD 3-0 BASAKSEHIR
72. Two more changes for the visitors with Hasan Ali Kaldirim on for Boli Bolingoli and Guiliano replacing Berkay Ozcan..
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
