Champions League: Man Utd let two-goal lead slip in match with Galatasaray
Manchester United’s Champions League hopes suffered another setback as a horror show from goalkeeper Andre Onana allowed Galatasaray to earn a draw in a classic match in Istanbul.
Erik ten Hag’s side did so much right and twice held a two-goal lead but errors from Onana threw Galatasaray lifelines to leave United bottom of Group A with their hopes of reaching the knockout phase in the balance before their final game at home to Bayern Munich.
After Bayern Munich’s draw with Copenhagen later in the evening, Manchester United will be knocked out of the competition if they fail to beat the German champions and there is a winner between Galatasaray and Copenhagen in a fortnight.
United, as they did in their last Champions League game in Copenhagen, were in a commanding position early on after superb strikes from Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes inside the first 18 minutes.
Onana’s poor attempt to stop Hakim Ziyech’s free-kick got Galatasaray back in the game before half-time but United looked to have gained control again in what was a hostile atmosphere when Scott McTominay turned in Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s cross 10 minutes after the break to make it 3-1.
However Ziyech was gifted a second goal from another free-kick after an even more stark blunder from Onana, who made a hapless attempt to keep the ball out, before Galatasaray substitute Kerem Akturkoglu’s explosive finish brought them level with 19 minutes left.
In a dramatic end-to-end finale, Wilfried Zaha missed a glorious chance for Galatasaray and Fernandes struck the upright as United’s Champions League destiny was taken out of their own hands.