BELGIANS LEAND A SUCKER PUNCH
Dendoncker gives his side lifeline as Utd rue late goal
LEANDER DENDONCKER’S late goal threw a spanner in works for Manchester United to set up a thrilling return at Old Trafford.
The midfielder rose to thump home a header, his first ever European goal, with just four minutes left to cancel out Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s opener.
It was a blow for United and changed the complexion of the tie, with the Red Devils so close to making it a job well done on a tricky night in Brussels.
Instead, they will now face a nervy second leg in Manchester with Anderlecht’s confidence restored by a moment of slack defending.
Frustrated United boss Jose Mourinho said: “We have to kill matches. We had chances, we had control, but in one mistake we were punished.
“There was lots of space to kill, good chances. Lots of chances that we don’t get because of a bad touch, sloppy touch, a flick, bad decisions in the last third.”
The Red Devils had expected a tough encounter and the hosts asked questions in the early stages with some probing attacking play.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic claimed the Europa League had become the Champions League since he started playing in it this season but his ragged early touches belonged in the Sunday league.
The Swedish superstar stuttered early on but came close to opening the scoring in the 17th minute when he got a touch on Marcus Rashford’s cross, only for keeper Ruben Martinez to save at close range.
Jesse Lingard followed up the loose ball, only for it to hit the frame of the goal, the brightest passage of play in the early stages ultimately yielding nothing for United.
Ibrahimovic’s touch improved and his link-up play with Mkhitaryan, Lingard and Rashford created openings for United, who were thwarted by Anderlecht’s stuffy defence.
United continued to frustrate with poor decision-making, never more so than in the 32nd minute when Ibrahimovic and Antonio Valencia combined to give Mkhitaryan a sight of goal.
The Armenian was only 12 yards out but, rather than have a crack at the target, he chose to indulge in an over-elaborate dink over the defence which found no one in a red shirt.
But he atoned for that error of judgment four minutes later with the opener. He reacted quickest to steer in from a tight angle after Rashford’s shot from Valencia’s cross had been palmed away by Ruben.
Impressively, it was his fourth goal in his last four away games in the competition and provided exactly what United needed.
They ended the first half in complete control of the tie, ahead with a vital away goal, but Anderlecht came close to equalising soon after the restart.
Valencia twice came to United’s rescue by hooking the ball off the line and blocking a goalbound shot from Frank Acheampong, as the Belgians hit back with real vigour.
Mkhitaryan had a chance to claim his second of the night in 55 minutes, after build-up play from Michael Carrick and Matteo Darmian set up a volley that he smashed wide.
Marouane Fellaini came on as a sub and became the villain of the piece, home fans booing his every touch because of his time with rivals Standard Liege.
United remained vulnerable to the counter-attack and were finally undone in 86 minutes by Anderlecht’s only effort on target when the 6ft 2in Dendoncker beat Darmian in the air to nod past Sergio Romero.
Carrick echoed his manager and said: “It’s frustrating. We were so in control but got sloppy, we have to kill teams off.
“We should have won. They had one chance and scored a header. We need to be ruthless, it’s that simple. It’s not the end of the world but we’re better than that.”