Jose Mourinho sees red as Fenerbahce and United play out draw

Fenerbahçe’s coach Jose Mourinho was sent off against his former club Manchester United on Thursday. The 1-1 draw meant the Red Devils tied all their first three Europa League games.

Underwhelming United ahead at the break

As expected, Mourinho picked Manchester United’s former players Fred and Sofyan Amrabat in the middle of the park. Youssef En-Nesyri, a two-time Europa League winner with Sevilla, starts ahead of Edin Džeko up front.

With Bruno Fernandes suspended, Lisandro Martínez captains United for the first time in his 70th appearance for the club. The Argentinian once again deployed at left-back. But the biggest surprise of the lineup came with Noussair Mazraoui drafted to replace Bruno.

Fenerbahçe won the midfield battle in the opening ten minutes, but the visitors handled the pleasure well. And they took the lead from their first chance courtesy of Christian Eriksen. The Danish midfielder briefly played under Mourinho at Tottenham Hotspur.

Marcus Rashford, whose half-time substitution cost the Red Devils two points against Porto, nearly doubled the lead moments later. But the hosts once again took control of proceedings to end the half strongly.

Andre Onana maintained United’s lead with a couple of impressive saves from En-Nesyri’s headers in a matter of seconds. But nothing was going right for Erik ten Hag’s men in Fenerbahçe’s box. From out-of-position Mazraoui to out-of-form Joshua Zirkzee, United’s attackers had an underwhelming 45 minutes in İstanbul.

Mourinho sees red, but United still held to draw

Meanwhile, the tough-tackling Manuel Ugarte was Manchester United’s best player. The Uruguayan took the ball off Fred to start an attack that resulted in Eriksen’s goal on his first start since the 3-0 home defeat to Spurs.

However, once again, United started the second half on the wrong foot. And, at the third time of asking, En-Nesyri beat Onana with a well-timed header inside the first ten minutes. It’s an expected outcome when you keep allowing time and space in aerial duels for the Moroccan international  

Similarly, there was little surprise when Mourinho saw his marching orders via a red card against Manchester United. The controversial figure had enough of it when Clement Turpin decided against a penalty kick for Ugarte’s challenge on Bright Osayi-Samuel.

Fenerbahçe’s coaching staff consistently approached Mourinho for advice, but Manchester United grew into the game afterward. Martínez and Mazraoui were back to their preferred roles after Casemiro’s entrance, And Rasmus Højlund fared much better after coming on in Zirkzee’s place.

Nevertheless, they couldn’t find the winner in a game with fewer chances. Both teams are unbeaten after three rounds of fixtures in the Europa League, but United is still looking for its first win in a competition they won with Mourinho back in 2016/17.

What’s next for Fenerbahçe & Manchester United?

After consecutive draws, Mourinho’s team will aim to return to winning ways when they host Bodrum on Sunday. Bodrum is playing in top-flight soccer for the first time in their entire history. Fenerbahçe currently sits fourth in the Super Lig, eight points behind Galatasaray.

Manchester United will play West Ham in Sunday’s early fixture. It’ll be a contest between two underfired coaches with Julen Lopetegui’s difficult start at the East London club. Ten Hag’s side only won one of their six away games in all competitions this season.

PHOTOS: IMAGO