Report: United 2 Galatasaray 3

Erik ten Hag’s men went in front through goals in either half by Rasmus Hojlund, but we were pegged back soon after each strike by Wilfried Zaha and Kerem Akturkoglu respectively. 

The visitors were awarded a penalty in the last 10 minutes at the expense of Casemiro, who received his second yellow for the challenge in the area, but Mauro Icardi flashed his effort wide. 

Moments later, the Argentine was on target as he dinked the ball over Andre Onana to give the Turkish side all three points on the night, leaving the Reds still looking to get off the mark in Group A.

Our first home game in this year’s edition of the Champions League started in electric fashion, with Hojlund powering down the left before fizzing a ball into the box. Bruno Fernandes attempted to guide his effort on target with a deft touch, but it bounced wide of the mark. 

Just over 10 minutes later, Hojlund would go from creator to goalscorer, opening his account at the Theatre of Dreams in the process. The move, which came on the back of one-way traffic from the Reds, began with Casemiro playing Marcus Rashford in behind down the right. Our no.10 drove towards the byline before picking out the onrushing Hojlund, whose thumping header opened the scoring. 

Our lead would last just six minutes, however, with former Crystal Palace talisman Zaha pulling Galatasaray level.

 

Davinson Sanchez played a direct ball over the top to his team-mate, who got the better of Diogo Dalot in a one-on-one battle, hitting the ball into the ground and over Andre Onana. 

Ten Hag’s men went in search of a second to put us ahead once more, with the best of the chances falling to Mason Mount on the half-hour mark.

Some excellent hold-up play from Hojlund saw the Dane switch the play to Rashford out wide, who in turn rolled the ball into the overlapping Sofyan Amrabat. Our no.4 pinged it into Mount, but his effort was deflected behind for a corner by Abdulkerim Bardakci. Casemiro also saw an effort strike a Galatasaray defender - this time it was former defender Davinson Sanchez - and go behind.

Mount had a golden opportunity once more in the lead-up to the interval, as the ball fell to him in the box, but his effort ricocheted unfortunately off Hannibal, despite the Tunisia international's best efforts to move out of the way.

Galatasaray started the second half the more promising of the two sides, seeing Victor Lindelof make a crucial block to deny Akturkoglu immediately after the interval, but the Reds would go on to establish a period of real dominance. 

We had a golden chance to restore our lead with a sublime counter-attacking move that saw second-half substitute Christian Eriksen play Rashford in behind with a first-time pass. Our no.10 attempted to square it to the arriving Bruno, but it was nicked off his feet by the recovering defenders. 

The Reds thought our lead had been restored through Hojlund after he showed great composure to fire home a well-worked move, but the flag denied the Dane. Our no.11 would not be kept at bay much longer, though, picking the ball up in our own half after a Sanchez slip before bearing down on goal and dinking it over Fernando Muslera.

For the second time, however, Galatasaray levelled the score soon after we notched in front as Kerem Akturkoglu made up for missing a golden opportunity by carving through our defence and finishing beyond Onana. 

Our shot-stopper's misplaced pass then resulted in Casemiro making a last-ditch challenge on substitute Dries Mertens, giving the referee no choice but to point to the spot for a penalty and give the Brazilian his marching orders, after his second yellow card.

Icardi flashed his spot-kick wide of Onana’s goal, much to the Cameroonian's delight, but the former PSG man ended up the matchwinner anyway, showing composure to finish after being played onside by Sofyan Amrabat.

A flurry of changes saw Ten Hag’s side attempt to find an equaliser and Anthony Martial came close in the dying stages, though the Frenchman was ultimately flagged offside, rendering Muslera's superb stop moot.

MATCH DETAILS 

United XI: Onana; Dalot, Varane, Lindelof, Amrabat (Martial 89); Casemiro, Hannibal (Eriksen 45); Fernandes, Mount (Antony 84), Rashford (Garnacho 67); Hojlund. 

Unused substitutes: Bayindir, Vitek, Maguire, Evans, McTominay, Pellistri. 

Goals: Hojlund 17, 67.

Bookings: Casemiro, Dalot.

Sent off: Casemiro.

Galatasaray XI: Muslera; Boey, Sanchez, Bardacki, Angelino (Ndombele 84); Ayhan (Nelsson 84), Torreira (Oliveira 62); Tete (Yilmaz 62), Akturkoglu, Zaha (Mertens 72); Icardi.

Unused substitutes: Demirbay, Guvenc, Bakambu.

Goals: Zaha 23, Akturkoglu 71, Icardi 81.

Bookings: Torreira, Boey, Oliveira.