Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
6 6 6 6 65 6 6 65 67 6 6
Another denied when one-on-one with Vaclik early in the game
SUBS: Rashford (Lingard 63) 6 Matic (Pogba 65) 5 Ibrahimovic (Martial 74) 5 IT was a case one step forward, two steps back for Manchester United as they were made to wait to seal their Champions League knockout place.
Having dispatched Newcastle 4-1 at the weekend, normal service seemed to have resumed for Jose Mourinho’s side.
But another case of missed opportunities in front of goal was compounded when Michael Lang grabbed a late winner for Basel.
That means the Reds go to the last group game to confirm their place in the last 16. For the second game running, Henrikh Mkhitaryan failed to make the bench, the midfielder’s dramatic loss of form leading manager Mourinho to administer another dose of his tough love.
Luke Shaw, himself a victim of Mourinho’s brutal approach to players he does not feel are giving him enough, made the bench, while David De Gea was rested for this game, with Sergio Romero taking over in goal.
Mourinho, who made seven changes from the side that swept aside Newcastle on Saturday, viewed this fixture as an opportunity to give some of his players much-needed respite, ahead of a gruelling period that will see them play 13 games in 40 days.
With just a point needed to ensure they progress in the competition as group winners, Mourinho felt sufficiently emboldened to rotate, with Marcus Rashford and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who made his return at the weekend after a seven-month injury lay-off, among his substitutes.
Marcos Rojo (right), who like Ibrahimovic suffered a cruciate ligament injury in the same game in April, made his first appearance for seven months, starting alongside Chris Smalling in central defence, while Jesse Lingard was recalled for his 100th appearance for the club.
United conjured up the first chance in the 12th minute, Paul Pogba threading a sublime reverse pass through to Romelu Lukaku, who seemed to do all the hard work