VALENCIA 2, MANCHESTER UNITED 1
Manchester United contrived to lose to a Valencia side floundering in La Liga after a Phil Jones own goal ultimately condemned the Reds to a shock Champions League defeat.
Embed from Getty ImagesJones, who scored United’s last own goal in the competition – in November 2011 against Benfica – was one of only three Reds players to keep their place in the side that beat Fulham in the Premier League last weekend alongside Romelu Lukaku and Juan Mata.
Paul Pogba was amongst the recalled players given a chance to keep their place in the side for the trip to Liverpool on Sunday but United got off to a poor start.
In the end, though, United boss Jose Mourinho can point to another successful navigation of the Champions League group stage when he looks back on his statistics as a football manager but the 2-1 defeat in Valencia was an unedifying spectacle for many.
Mourinho has the unlikely victory at home to Young Boys and an epic away win at Juventus to thank for the Reds safe passage to the knockout rounds where they face a potentially fearsome draw against the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, Paris St Germain, Porto, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid.
Carlos Soler’s drive and a Phil Jones own goal put United on the back foot in a barren first half.
Pogba had already contrived to miss from 4 yards out by the time Jones had managed to redirect a through ball past Sergio Romero from outside his own box as the Argentine goalkeeper raced off his line to try and intercept it.
United picked up in the second half and were presented with a chance to beat Juventus to top spot in Group H after the Old Lady was surprisingly beaten in Bern by Young Boys tonight.
The Reds could not convert any of their chances until Marcus Rashford’s late header from Ashley Young’s cross set up a late surge for United but two more goals was too steep a task.
There will be precious little time to recover before the Reds have to make the trip to Liverpool where a win over their old rivals could allow Manchester City to retake top spot in the Premier League.