Mourinho rocked as Feyenoord down Man United
Manchester United went down to defeat in their opening Europa League group game on Thursday, while Premier League rivals Southampton won and Irish champions Dundalk claimed an impressive draw in the Netherlands. AFP Sports picks out the best of the action on matchday one:
United’s European nightmare continues
Jose Mourinho’s reluctant return to the Europa League ended in embarrassment as Tonny Vilhena fired Feyenoord to a 1-0 win over Manchester United in their Group A opener in Rotterdam. Mourinho sent out a much-changed line-up that could not prevent United slipping to a second consecutive defeat after their painful loss to bitter rivals Manchester City in the Premier League. With only David de Gea, Paul Pogba and Eric Bailly retained from the side beaten by City, it was little surprise to see United deliver a disjointed performance. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team had swept to the top of the Dutch league with five successive victories and they made their lethargic opponents pay when they got the only goal with 11 minutes left. Exposed down the right flank by Nicolai Jorgensen’s run that beat the offside trap, United’s defenders were noticeable by their absence when the unmarked Vilhena swept home from just inside the penalty area and the De Kuip arena exploded. United next host Zorya Luhansk, who drew 1-1 at home to Fenerbahce in Ukraine.
Dream start for Sassuolo
While Inter Milan were beaten at home by Hapoel Be’er Sheva and both Roma and Fiorentina drew on the road, it was a great night for another Italian side. Sassuolo, appearing in Europe for the first time, started their Group F campaign with a rousing 3-0 home win against 2012 Europa League runners-up Athletic Bilbao. Teenage Spaniard Pol Lirola put Sassuolo ahead on the hour mark and they did not look back, Gregoire Defrel making it two on 75 minutes before Matteo Politano sealed the win.
Zenit’s stunning comeback
The performance of the night came in the other game in the group as former UEFA Cup winners Zenit St Petersburg stormed back from three goals down with less than a quarter of an hour remaining to beat Maccabi Tel-Aviv 4-3 in Israel. The hosts had appeared to be on easy street as two goals by Haris Medunjanin either side of a Vidar Orn Kjartansson header had them 3-0 in front. But Russian international Alexander Kokorin pulled one back on 77 minutes before Eli Dasa was red-carded for Maccabi. Substitute Mauricio further reduced the deficit and Giuliano equalised on 86 minutes, leaving plenty of time for the Montenegrin Luka Djordjevic to score the winner in injury time with a diving header.