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Manchester United hit back in stoppage time to secure victory over Rangers in Thursday night’s Europa League clash at Old Trafford.
Bruno Fernandes kept his cool in the box in the 92nd minute to put Ruben Amorim’s side ahead while Cyril Dessers equalized for Rangers moments later.
Before that, a brace from Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland, who spent the first six months of 2023 on loan with the Red Devils, was enough to decide the contest.
How the game unfolded
The first big chance went to Rangers within ten minutes. United contributed by losing the ball in their own half, with Toby Collier crowding out in midfield after receiving a pass under pressure, resulting in Nicholas Raskin’s pass on goal. Altai Bayandir raced out and the United goalkeeper got on top of Raskin’s stumble at the crucial moment.
Bayandir was soon called into action again, stopping international teammate Ridwan Yilmaz’s volleyed effort.
United dominated possession without much notice until midway through the first half when Alejandro Garnacho’s shot on goal deflected off the side of Raskin’s head. Matthijs de Ligt headed in the resulting corner, but was denied by a soft foul from Lenny Yoro.
A fine team move into the latter stages before half-time, slipping in a pass from Bruno Fernandes to give Amad Diallo a sight of goal. Butland turned out well. He also got the upper hand on a powerful Lisandro Martínez drive, either side of Hamza Igamane’s heavily deflected shot, which Beindir sprawled out to push away from goal after wrong-footing it.
Just minutes into the second half, Igaman was responsible for an outstanding save in his own box when he cleared an in-swinging corner from the right almost under the crossbar.
United’s early pressure continued and Fernandez’s goal-bound shot was agonizingly deflected by Robin Propper, following Butland’s nightmare moment with a corner. The former England international never quite took off and was under the ball as he tried to punch clear, inadvertently sending it spinning backwards into goal.
On the hour mark, Propper was the reason why Garnacho couldn’t make it 2-0 with a clever shot from Amad’s cutback crossing the goal, clearing the ball with his head off the line. There was also a chance for Harry Maguire with a back-post header that narrowly missed the target. Butland redeemed himself somewhat with a reflex save to deny Manuel Ugarte’s diving header and Garnacho’s parry.
Rangers struggled to create in the second as United’s superior depth showed, although there were warning signs before the equaliser, first with Jeft firing a diving shot straight at Bayandir from outside the box, and later Dessers hitting the post with a clever lift. . United No. 1. His goal in the 88th minute was well taken, picking off Maguire, controlling a dropping ball and shooting hard and low into the far bottom corner.
But the proceedings were not over. United pushed back and Martinez stepped up from behind to deliver an inviting cross into the penalty area into the path of Fernandes, who met the volley to squeeze the ball through Butland’s feet and claim victory.
Check Manchester United vs Rangers player ratings from the match here.
After last weekend’s painful defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion, Ruben Amorim said he wanted the players to recapture the feeling he felt when they came back from two goals down to earn a draw against Liverpool earlier this month.
At the weekend, United played reasonably well in the first half, but let their heads drop when Brighton regained the lead shortly after the interval. Lack of resilience is a criticism that has been leveled at the team for many years and conceding a Rangers equalizer late in this game could have been a killer blow in other circumstances.
But, here, the players rallied, went all the way to the end of the pitch and scored again to claim victory.
The first half was largely an even contest and Rangers were well-priced to be level at the interval, having largely done well to keep United at bay and create their own chances.
But neither midfielder Conor Baron nor centre-back Leon Balogun, who were both crucial to those tries in the opening 45 minutes, returned to the pitch. By the hour mark, Vaclav Cerny was also forced off injured, leaving Philippe Clement to send on the inexperienced youngsters in his place.
The equalizer was in the blue, a long punt forward and a moment of individual skill from Cyril Dessers. Rangers weren’t really in the game for a while at that stage.
Andre Onana has generally been allowed in the Europa League this season and has sat in the substitutes for this one. Altai Bayandir, usually the local cup goalkeeper, started instead.
It was not lost on the fans that Onana was guilty of a costly mistake against Brighton just days earlier, coming under fresh scrutiny in recent weeks after the mistakes that characterized his early United career seem to have returned to his game. .
Amorim played down the importance of changing goalkeepers, describing it pre-game as a “normal rotation” and explained the importance of keeping Bayandir fresh and sharp with meaningful game time, keen to rule out the idea of consequences for Onana.
Bayindir had a good game on the whole, beaten by Dessers but another key save.
Alejandro Garnacho’s presence in the starting lineup was somewhat of a surprise given his recent lack of starts and speculation surrounding his uncertain future.
Amorim could not have picked the winger if there was even a shred of doubt that he was not up to the task and the faith was repaid.
Garnacho didn’t score or assist but was still a constant threat and attacking outlet, registering more dribbles than anyone else on the pitch, hitting five shots and making nine touches of the ball inside the Rangers penalty area.
