YEAH BABY!
CHILD’S PLAY FOR TWO-GOAL BRUNO IN UNITED STROLL MAN UTD.... . . . . . . . . . . 4 ISTANBUL BASAK.. . 1
ON THE one hand, this was an emphatic and thoroughly deserved win for Manchester United. On the other, it was a reminder of just how wretched they were in Istanbul three weeks ago.
The real United turned up at Old Trafford last night and so too did the real Basaksehir, a team so poor for 75 minutes that you wondered just how they registered their first Champions League group win over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.
Redemption was swift and never really in doubt from the moment Bruno Fernandes scored with a stupendous shot from a seventh-minute corner.
Having comically conceded from their own set-piece in Istanbul, it was an apt way for United to go ahead. From the ridiculous to the sublime.
Fernandes got another to make it five goals in three games for him, and passed up the chance of a hat-trick by inviting Marcus Rashford to convert a penalty that made it 3-0 before half-time.
Bizarrely, a United team that struggle to score at Old Trafford in the Premier League have now won their last seven home games in Europe by an aggregate of 24-2.
More importantly, they have reassumed control of Group H after that embarrassing defeat in Turkey threatened to undo the good work that went into beating Paris Saint- Germain and RB Leipzig in the opening two games. Another victory over PSG here next week should guarantee a passage into the knockout phase.
This was a dominant United three days after they staggered over the line at home to West Brom. Fernandes was the standout performer once again in the continued absence of Paul Pogba in an attacking line-up that had Cavani as its spearhead.
‘We want to dominate the game,’ said Solskjaer before kick- off. ‘Hopefully we can provide the balls into the box for Edinson. The start of his career here has been positive and he deserves to start.’
Having urged Anthony Martial to improve his goal output — even though, curiously, he was bidding to become the first United player to score in three straight Champions League matches since Wayne Rooney a decade ago — Solskjaer moved the Frenchman to the left wing from centre forward to accommodate Cavani and brought Donny van de Beek into midfield.
It felt like enough against a Basaksehir side whose only other visit to this part of the world ended in a 1-0 Europa League defeat at Burnley in 2018, and so it proved.
Rashford had already danced through the heart of their defence and scooped a shot into the chest of goalkeeper Mert Gunok when United went in front. Alex Telles swung over a corner from the left and Alexandru Epureanu’s header only went as far as Fernandes on the edge of the box.
Others may have taken a touch but the Portuguese is playing with such confidence at the moment that he hit it first-time on the half volley. The connection was sweet and the ball catapulted into the roof of the net.
Rashford had an effort ruled out for a marginal offside, but it already felt like it would be a long night for the Turks and Fernandes got his second in the 19th minute.
Telles was again the provider from the left, but Gunok was the fall-guy, catching the Brazilian’s cross, then inexplicably spilling the ball at the feet of Fernandes, who slotted it into an empty net.
Having scored two, you would have expected United’s talisman to seize the chance of completing his hat-trick from the spot when Rashford was barged to the floor byBoliBol in go li in the 33 rd minute.
But after seeing Rashford hand a similar opportunity to Martial in a 5-0 rout of RB Leipzig here last month, Fernandes did likewise and Rashford sent Gunok the wrong way.
The game was as good as over, but United were given a wake-up call when Demba Ba went close twice before half-time.
Still, Solskjaer felt comfortable enough to send on Axel Tuanzebe at the interval so Victor Lindelof could rest his troublesome back, and Mason Greenwood, Brandon Williams and Dan James followed before the hour mark to give Fernandes, Rashford and Aaron Wan-Bissaka a breather.
It felt like a safe move even though Edin Visca had forced David de Gea into a fine save at the foot of his near post at the start of the half.
But Basaksehir began to fight back and reduced the deficit in the 75th minute. Deniz Turuk curled a free kick over the wall and De Gea was halfway inside his own net when he clawed the ball back from behind the line, the buzz on Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan’s watch confirming the goal.
Visca then rattled the bar with a fine effort and it was no surprise when Solskjaer sent on Nemanja Matic in place of Martial to shore things up.
It was an unnecessarily nervous end to an otherwise impressive performance that was capped off by James’s goal in the second minute of added time, slotting home Greenwood’s cross after a breakaway.