Mason Greenwood’s Getafe debut met with chants calling for him to die

Mason Greenwood was greeted with chants calling for him to die from visiting supporters as he returned to the field for the first time in a year and a half but was defended by his own fans – and inside seven minutes had won the corner from which Getafe scored the winner against Osasuna at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez.

Greenwood’s new coach, José Bordalás, admitted he was “pleasantly surprised” after the on-loan Manchester United forward produced an impressive 25-minute debut in the 3-2 win despite not having played since January last year. Bordalás also apologised for a “misunderstanding” in which he mistakenly claimed that Jude Bellingham had encouraged Greenwood to come to Spain.

“Mason is a great player, we have a lot of trust in him and I think it will be very positive for Getafe and for Spanish football,” he said.

Greenwood was charged with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault in October 2022 after allegations were made against him online. The charges, which he denied, were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service in February. Despite that, United did not return him to the squad, meaning that his last game was a 1-0 win over West Ham over a year earlier, in January 2022. But he showed little sign of inactivity in his first game since joining Getafe on a year’s long loan the final day of the transfer window.

When he was introduced with the score 2-2 in the 77th minute of a game in which there would be almost 13 minutes of added time, a small pocket of Osasuna supporters briefly chanted “Greenwood, muérete!” [Greenwood die].

They were immediately drowned out by whistles from the Getafe fans, who were left excited by a debut in which Greenwood showed flashes of speed and a willingness to run at opponents. Every time he got the ball, there was a sense of anticipation around the ground. Playing off the front to the right, he had already gone at his full