Istanbul Basaksehir 2-1 Manchester United: Champions League – as it happened – The Guardian

Here’s our Manchester correspondent’s take on another humbling defeat for United:

Thanks for all your emails. It’s been fun*.

* Unless you support Manchester United

Ole Gunnar Solskjær has emerged: “The performance wasn’t good enough against a team that worked and ran and hit us on the break. They scored two goals that teams do when you don’t defend well. We played a short corner and forgot about the man up front and that’s unforgivable. Two soft goals. And then we didn’t have enough to come back in the second half. We threw everything at it but couldn’t break them down. We were not good enough. That’s it. It’s not easy to be positive when we’ve lost the way we have but these players are good players and we have a chance on Saturday to get going again.”

Kai Havertz has tested positive for Covid-19 and has been excluded from Chelsea’s squad for their game against Rennes this evening. The match has just kicked off and you can follow it with Rob Smyth here:

While we wait for some reaction I’ll throw in some more of your footballers seen in transit stories, which I have throughly enjoyed this evening. “My biggest claim to fame is ordering a pint in the VIP lounge at Old Trafford flanked by George Best on my left and Bobby Charlton on my right,” writes Malc Suttleworth. “Ron Atkinson, dressed up to the nines in gold and fur, was behind me chatting to Elton Welsby.” Ah, Elton Welsby, the legend himself.

“I sat by Eric Cantona on an early Sunday morning flight from Manchester to Paris, just a few days after the infamous Kung Fu kick incident,” writes Steve Markey. “I was reading the Sunday Times sport section when he sat down, and the headline was ‘Ou est Cantona?’ accompanied by a photo of him flying into the crowd. I looked at him, he looked at my newspaper, smiled his enigmatic smile, closed his eyes and went to sleep.”

“Met Pat Jennings at Dublin airport about 15 years ago,” writes Richard Duerden. “He looked exactly the same as in his playing days. Lovely thick hair and the deepest voice in the world. Nice fella.” But did he use his legs to stop a loose bottle of beer rolling down the aisle?

And this from Gautam Grover: “I met David Moyes at Chicago O’Hara. Was in a hurry so I just yelled his name. I think he was surprised someone in the US knew who he was.”

If United defend anything like they did tonight against Everton on Saturday they will be in trouble. Demba Ba gave them problems and he is almost twice as old as the in-form Dominic Calvert-Lewin. “They were second best in virtually every phase outside possession,” says Owen Hargreaves. That’s the worry. They bossed possession but wandered forwards and were caught out of position countless times when they lost the ball. Everton will punish them in the transitions unless they get organised.

Rafael is fouled by Martial and shortly after the whistle is blown. Cheers from the handful of fans ring around this little stadium. It’s Basaksehir’s first ever win in the Champions League. And what a win! United’s defending was diabolical in that first half, though. That’s a soul-sapping defeat to take into the game against Everton on Saturday lunchtime. Basaksehir defended like lions and deserved the win. They counter-attacked intelligently and with purpose.

90+2 min: Maguire heads towards goal, the ball loops up off Cavani (I think) and is about to cross the line when Epureanu wallops the ball from under the bar and out for a corner. The referee looks at his clever watch. No goal. It’s about an inch away from being fully over. The corner is headed down by Pogba towards Martial’s outstretched leg but drifts out for a goal-kick.

90 min: I’ve barely seen Cavani touch the ball. Skrtel clatters into Martial and gets booked for his efforts. The free-kick is knocked into the box and cleared again.

88 min: Shaws curls a cross to the back post but it is cleared easily, then Fernandes finds Maguire at the back post but the centre-back’s header across goal is collected by Gunok. United are applying pressure but it doesn’t feel like it is going to overwhelm Basaksehir.

87 min: Mehmet Topal, who has played since time began, replaces Ozcan as Basaksehir look to waste a little more time.

84 min: A long clearance drops to Gulbrandsen, who is clean through on goal if he can sprint clear of Fosu-Mensah. He can’t. The replacement full-back’s legs spin like crazy to eat up the ground and snuff out the danger.

82 min: Nathan Dalton has a good one: “In 2014, I met then-senator George Weah at a meeting while I was working with the United Nations in Liberia. He’s now president.” Ah, but was he in transit, Nathan? United are camped out on the edge of the Basaksehir area. Greenwood looks lively but Fernandes and Pogba are yet to find the space to slip the ball through to him. Skrtel has done an outstanding job in marshalling the his defence.

80 min: Rafael has shown all the attributes that led him to be considered as a bit of a cult hero by United fans. He clatters into both Pogba and Martial and emerges with the ball before springing a counter-attack from which Gulbrandsen wins a corner with a deflected shot. the corner comes to nothing. Pogba finds Maguire, who overhits yet another cross-field pass intended for Martial on the left.

79 min: Demba Ba is replaced by Gulbrandsen. He played very well this evening considering he is about 376 years old and doesn’t regularly start. He limps off after overstretching in an attempt to tackle Maguire but instead fouling him.

76 min: Kahveci shows some lovely footwork as he races up the right before cutting inside two Manchester United players (one of whom is Pogba, who doesnlt do much to stop him). He finds Visca on the left. The attacker drops a shoulder and zips to the byline but his cross is blocked diligently by Fosu-Mensah. A double-ricochet means it’s a United goal-kick. That’s the first attack Basaksehir have had in ages.

75 min: Wan Bissaka has space on the right but hits the first man with his cross. It’s his last act of the night. Two more changes for Manchester United. Greenwood, who starred as the lead image for this MBM as he got cosy on the flight to Istanbul, is on for Rashford, who has barely had a sniff. And Wan Bissaka is replaced by Fosu-Mensah.

73 min: Pogba wallops a hopeless cross or shot (I’m not sure which), high into the Instanbul night that may end up the Bosphorus for all I know. “Fred is a much maligned but necessary part of any United team that wants to be successful,” reckons paulsutc1. “He does the dirty work and gets it in the neck from the fans. The ‘flair’ players in the more attacking positions, both midfield and attack, don’t do much work off the ball when under pressure and tend to wait for the next turnover/transition to happen. A glance at the league leaders would show that good teams are the sum of their parts and cannot rely on players to just limit themselves to what they feel they can do the best. United play a brand of football where every player seems to have a clear position and demarcated area on the pitch.”

71 min: Martial is clattered as he pops the ball inside to Pogba, who races forwards to the edge of the box and shapes to shoot before failing in an attempt to dink a too-clever pass through to Fernandes. Basaksehir are defending ever deeper, though, and United are in total control of the ball.

68 min: Fernandes floats a cross in towards Pogba at the back post but Basaksehir’s defence stands strong. They have an average age of about 967, so they are holding their line well with all that experience. “I can’t see the Ba goal from here (Vancouver) but was it anything like the space given to Jordy Reyna in this move?” asks Wayne Ziants. Yes, it certainly was, Wayne.

66 min: There’s audible laughter as Demba Ba tries to beat Henderson from the halfway line only to scuff his shot and watch it dribble through to the United keeper. to be fait he slips on his arse as he hits it. Somebody should create a catchy song about that.

65 min: Wan Bissaka makes a trademark stretch to prevent a Bolingoli cross reaching Ba in the box after a lovely reverse pass from Visca on the edge of the area.

63 min: Fernandes drops a shoulder and glides past two defenders on the edge of the area before watching his shot cannon off Epureanu. He never stops trying. He’s such a brave player, always willing to try something when others won’t. Martial then tries to nutmeg Rafael but fails and then drags the former United full-back down to prevent a counter-attack.

60 min: Cavani is on for United in place of Mata and Pogba will have half an hour to show his worth after replacing Van De Beek, who was ineffective in a deeper position this evening.

59 min: Mata’s quicksilver feet lay the ball off to Fernandes on the edge of the area. He fires a low shot towards the far corner but Skrtel’s buttocks take the sting out of the shot and the ball drops into Gunok’s hands.

57 min: Visca finds Bolingoli on the overlap but the on-loan Celtic full-back, who has been impressive tonight, dribbles a weak cross in that is hacked clear. Basaksehir win back possession and a deep cross is aimed at Turuc. The ball squirts clear and Kahveci thrashes a shot wildly over from the edge of the box. Meanwhile, the footballers spotted in transit continue to flood in:

55 min: Fernandes whips it over the wall but it’s too central and Gunok smiles for the cameras as he parries it away.

53 min: Rafael throws himself into a challenge against Fernandes, winning the ball with his toe but clattering into Fernandes in a way that just isn’t allowed these days. Ten years ago that was seen as a clean tackle. Fernandes and Mata stand over it, 20 yards out in a central position …

50 min: Mata plays a clever pass inside to Fernandes on the right. The playmaker steams up the right and cuts a ball back towards the penalty area, but it’s a low one and easily cleared. Given the fine headed goal Martial scored, they could do worse than try to hand a few balls up in the air. I’m sure slightly smaller, younger legs could outjump longer, older ones if you give them the chance.

49 min: Shaw fires a low ball up to Martial, who tries to hold the ball up but loses concentration and watches it squirt through his legs and back to Gunok in the Basaksehir goal. It’s not happening for United. They are at least winning possession back quicker now, with McTominay snapping into tackles like a faithful dog hungry to find his favourite ball.

47 min: Van De Beek swivels in possession and looks up. Nothing on. He knocks it back to Maguire, who wallops it out of play. Oh dear! “Hopefully a mention of the great George Best will change United’s luck,” writes John Hubbard. “My wife and I were on our way through Gatwick on our way out to Ibiza in the early 80s, and saw George Best, thick beard days, sitting alone in the departure lounge, nursing an orange juice (it was morning). Being an even bigger fan of George than me (or I bottled it), my wife approached him and asked for his autograph. Best was happy to oblige, but the only paper she had on her was her holiday novel, The Magus by John Fowler. He signed and was absolutely charming.”

45 min: Peep! Axel Tuanzebe, one of the Manchester United centre-backs who was awol for much of the first half, has been replaced by Scott McTominay. Matic appears to have gone back into central defence.

And yes, that Demba Ba clear run and finish was reminiscent of a moment made famous in song involving Steven Gerrard.

“A picture of Tuanzebe on a milk carton would be appropriate, he’s a totally lost boy out there,” writes Peter Littley. “Would have thought Maguire could do more to support but maybe he’s already child minding for Shaw and Matic. What a sorry performance, this surely can’t be what OGS drew up?” I suspect he will end up using more substitutes than he would have liked with a trip to Goodison just over 60 hours away. I have this in my head now. It’ll do as a half-time musical interlude:

I’ve just seen a replay of the first goal that United conceded. It really is ridiculous. It came after United played a short corner and kept every player in the Basaksehir half, even when they were just keeping possession on the edge of their opponents’ area. They could sell this as a Christmas comedy DVD:

A few more for the collection of players spotted while travelling:

And here’s Simon Kerr with a couple of crackers: “My experience with footballers on the travel makes me realise just how important Mr 10% is to them, otherwise they’d sign any old crap. I saw Bryan Robson in the 80s next to a conveyor belt at the checkout of Roy Halls (does that count as travelling)? He signed the back of a 5kg tub of marge which was all we had to hand at the time. And on a train from Manchester to London to watch the 2002 WC and visit my long suffering Oldham fan brother, I sat opposite Iain Dowie. Dowie who sporting called my brother, after which he put his scribble on the inside cover of a Dan Brown book.” Dan Brown? Seriously?

Manchester United have not found Europe to be a comfort zone away from their domestic travails. They’ve defended atrociously. That Martial goal will just have lifted the mood a little at half-time, mind. Solskjær still has some tinkering to do, though. Back in a bit.

44 min: I think a more direct approach may suit United. Every time they go forwards in numbers they seem to forget that they have to leave some players back to defend.

Well, this has gotten lively! Shaw cuts inside Rafael and floats a lovely cross right on to Martial’s head. The striker guides his header into the far corner with nonchalant ease. They made scoring look easy, then.

Fernandes does invent something … for Basaksehir. He miscontrols in midfield and the ball pops backwards to Mata, who is on the back foot and is outmuscled by Kahveci. He races up the left wing and pulls a low ball back for Ba, who cleverly steps over the ball and allows Visca to fire home powerfully from the edge of the area. A fine finish.

38 min: Fernandes is at the heart of everything inventive that United are doing. He looks up and wants Martial and Rashford to show for him. With nothing on he throws Bolingli a dummy before crossing to the near post. Martial and Rashford just don’t seem to be anywhere, though.

37 min: Fernandes picks out Mata in the box with a clever dink forwards. The Spaniard lays the ball off to Wan Bissaka, who knocks teh ball out of his feet before dinking a ball nto the box to … nobody. Basaksehir break and United are slow in the defensive transition again. Kahveci shuffles up the left and cuts inside. He’s at the edge of the box and should shoot … but instead plays a weak ball inside and United clear.

35 min: Which is why United will be grateful that Aleksic overhits the cross in, which is deemed to have gone out of play behind the goal before Visca could head it back across goal.

33 min: Visca heads straight at Henderson from 10 yards out after a delicious cross from the left from Bolingoli. Safe hands from Henderson but Wan Bissaka is struggling a little over on the right. Moments later Matic fouls Turuc on the edge of the box when he really didn’t need to. This is a dangerous position for a free-kick.

30 min: Wan Bissaka skidaddles up the right wing and cuts a cross back towards Martial at the back edge of the box. The striker takes a touch and unleashes a fierce shot that Rafael dives into like he’s trying to stop a grenade going off. That’s a brave block and the kind of thing a ninja turtle would do.

29 min: I’ve been trying not to mention the US election.