Full-time: United 1-0 Zorya Luhansk
A win is a win is a win, even when it’s very boring. Ibrahimovic’s scrappy goal was enough to give victory to a United team that only looked like a United team in patches. Mostly there were stodgy and unimaginative.
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90 min: Kamenyuka booked for a foul on Rashford. Freekick to United wide on the left. They’ll run down the clock, which is ticking towards Zzzzzzzzz....
89 min: Martial wins a freekick. Ibrahimovic curls it into the keeper’s arms from 25 yards.
88 min: Paulinho digs out a cross from near the left-hand corner flag. Lipartia gets his nut to it, but Romero makes a comfortable save.
87 min: United defending deep to hold on to their lead...
85 min: Rooney delivers an outswinging corner. Fellaini volleys over.
84 min: Ibrahimovic switches play to Rooney on the right. Prime counter-attacking chance. But Rooney donks the ball way beyond Rashford. His touch remains scruffy.
83 min: Bailly cuts out a cross by Petryak. But Zorya come again ...
82 min: Zorya are not out of this yet.
Zorya substitution: Gordyienko on, Chaycovsky off.
79 min: Turns out it wasn’t interesting at all. Lipartia curled the freekick way over the bar.
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78 min: Aye, aye, this could be interesting. Zorya have a freekick a few of yards outside the United box following a foul by Fellaini.
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Zorya substitutions: Lipartia on, Ljubenovic off.
75 min: Elsewhere, in case you’re interested, Dundalk are deservedly leading 1-0 against Maccaabi Tel Aviv. What a season they’re having.
United substitutions: Young and Martial on, Mata and Fosu-Mensah off. The latter had a particularly good game.
71 min: The goal should settle United down. OK, that’s just something people say; fact is United looked settled to the point of idleness for most of the match. Still, the goal could lead to more opportunities if Zorya decide to loosen up in the search for an equaliser.
GOAL! United 1-0 Zorya (Ibrahimovic 69)
Fosu-Mensah created it down the right, swapping passes before picking out Rooney in space 10 yards in front of goal. Rooney fluffed his shot but it ran to Ibrahimovic, who buried it from close range. That’ll go down as an assist for Rooney. Let that be a warning to anyone who swears by statistics.
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United substitution: Rooney on, Lingard off. Mata shifts wide. The stage is set ...
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65 min: Freekick to Zorya in a dangerous position, wide on the right, in line with the 18-yard line. It’s pinged in to the danger zone but Ibrahimovic heads it away. Zorya gets it back and work an opening for Paulinho, who sends a curler towards the far corner from 16 yards. Romero flings himself across his line to push it away.
63 min: Bailly booked for a raising his foot high to make a tackle. Not nasty but not allowed.
62 min: Excellent tackle by Fellaini to regain possession as Zorya tried to mount a counter. Pogba then tried to thread a pass through to Lingard. It was a fine attempt but foiled by an even better interception by Sobol.
61 min: Cross by Lingard. Easy catch for the keeper, whose name I’ll check as soon as he gets something difficult to do (OK, it’s Shevchenko).
Zorya substitution: Paulinho on, Kulach off
57 min: United need Carrick now. Fellaini can be dispensed with. Pogba could be withdrawn as well, to be fair. He’s been far too peripheral.
55 min: Fosu-Mensah gets forward down the right then passes to Lingard. The winger pings a low cross into the six-yard box, but the keeper cuts it out.
54 min: “United, United” shout a smattering of the home fans in a pleading tone.
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52 min: A tame United attack breaks down, Petryak lashes on to the ball and skins Fellaini down the left before going down under a challenge by the Belgian, though I’m not sure there was any contact. The visitors have been the better side so far in this half.
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50 min: More sloppiness from United, this time by Rojo. His error gifts Zorya a chance to cross from the right, which they duly do. But the ensuing header is weak. Lucky United.
48 min: Pogba gives away possession in midfield and fails to win it back. Zorya tear forward, Sobol flying down the left. He plays it in-field to Petryak, who decides to try to play it back to Sobol rather than drive into the area. An uncharacteristically poor decision.
47 min: In this group’s other match Fenerbahce are beating Feyenoord 1-0. That kicked off at the same time as this one, which was about six hours ago I think.
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46 min: Let’s try again.
“Chaykovsky? It sounds like United will need a Nutcracker to prise open this opponent!” says Peter Oh, because someone had to.
“This is a far superior cover of The Sound of Silence,” insists Armor O’Malley, who’s not wrong.
Half-time: Manchester United 0-0 Zorya Luhansk
United were ponderous for much of that half but perked up towards the break - playing with more speed and a touch of unpredictability - and the strain began to show on the unheralded visitors, who, until then, had been tidy, dynamic and quite dangerous on the break. If they continue in this vein in the second half they will eventually edge in front, but the risk of an upset remains for now.
43 min: United have increased the tempo and are starting to stretch the visitors, who are beginning to look in need of half-time.
41 min: Fellaini gets his head to a corner without even jumping. He powers a header downward from seven yards ... but it bounces up over the bar.
40 min: Rojo plays a lovely cross - yes! - to Lingard, whose header is deflected out for a corner.
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38 min: Yelps! Actual yelps of delight as United create a chance! It came from a dash into the box by Mata, who was served by a lovely cross from the right by Pogba. But the Spaniard steered his header just wide from 12 yards.
36 min: The band Disturbed copied a song about the atmosphere at Old Trafford on European nights such as this. Here it is:
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33 min: United continue to stroke the ball about in front of Zorya. No hint of a breakthrough.
31 min: Ibrahimovic falls to the ground in the vicinity of a defender. The ref, possibly star-struck, awards a freekick. Ibrahimovic clambers to his feet to take it. And bogs it straight into the wall.
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28 min: Pogba shows some initiative, making a run from midfield into the box. Mata spots him and tries to drop a long pass in front of him. It’s slightly too long, allowing the keeper to come claim it. But it was a good idea, and United haven’t had many of those so far. They’ve been predictable and their only real chance came from a corner.
26 min: Bailly dives in to concede a freekick wide on the left. Grechyshkin’s delivery is plod.
23 min: Zorya are very nimble technicians and exceedingly well drilled and determined. There’s every sign that they are capable not only of frustrating United but beating them. There’s not much creativity or pace in this United side at the moment. Pogba isn’t pulling many strings at the moment.
20 min: Pogba meets a corner from the same position as he scored his goal against Leicester, but this time his header is not clean. But the ball runs towards the edge of the area, where Rashford arrives like a train and smashes a ferocious shot off against the crossbar!
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19 min: Ibrahimovic has a blast from 25 yards. It cannons off a defender and out for a corner.
18 min: Fosu-Mensah tries a direct approach, flighting a good long pass into the penalty box. The only problem with his plan, however, was that Mata was never going to win the header against two centrebacks.
15 min: United are looking stodgy. They’ve yet to find the pace or imagination to infiltrate a very well organised Ukrainian team, who, in contrast, have real verve on the break. I can’t see the dugout, but Mourinho’s thunderous disposition is unlikely to have cleared.
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13 min: Zorya give another demonstration of their counter-attacking skill. Petryak, a nippy schemer, zips in from the left and then slips a pass wide to Chaykovsky. His dangerous cross is headed away at the near post by Smalling.
10 min: Nice zigzag passing between Mata and Lingard down the right, followed by a decent cross from Mata. Well defended by Zorya.
9 min: Fellaini heads over from a Mata corner.
7 min: Pogba sprays a long diagonal pass wide to Rashford on the right. Rashford traps it nicely and then dashes past the defender before running into trouble.
5 min: The first chance of the game is created by Zorya. Petriak lashed in behind Rashford and Fosu-Mensah and cut a cross back to Ljubenovic. The forward is 16 yards out and has a clear view of goal. But excitement overcomes him and he skies his shot!
3 min: Already a pattern has become clear: Zorya are massed deep behind the ball, allowing United to knock it about in front of them. This is actually a test for United, then, because without Blind, Carrick or Herrera, there are questions about their ability to build from deep. Bailly and Smalling don’t do it and nor does Fellaini.
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1 min: We have kickoff! United begin what they hope will be 90 minutes of dominance.
The teams take to the pitch. United are wearing their usual home kit. Zorya Luhansk, Cure fans to a man, are dressed all in black. Mourinho has a face like thunder, which has been his default expression for over a year now.
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Mourinho could have rested the world’s most expensive player, of course, but the inclusion of Pogba suggests that he wants as many opportunities as possible to assess the player and figure out how best he can fit into the team. You’d have thought he’d have had a clear idea of that before buying him but that wasn’t evident at the start of the season. Last weekend, however, Pogba played in something close to a playmaker role, and the manager will presumably want to see how well he can pull strings tonight.
Scholes reckons that Mourinho should have deployed the same team that did so well against Leicester last weekend because that is a formula that should be given time to gel. It’s a fair point but this match is one of the opportunities in a hectic season to give players a rest so it makes sense to leave a couple out, especially full-backs given the amount of ground they have to cover.
Paul Scholes, a-punditing on BT, says of Rooney’s bench duty: “He’s not in great form at the minute and it’s the right time to leave him out. They’ve got an easy game tonight and it could be an easy game on Sunday. When the big games come around he’ll be back.” Poor Stoke. Guess that’s his point.
“What do you mean there are no defenders on the bench?” demands Elijah Miranda. “Surely you recall Carrick making a hash of it as an emergency centreback nd Ashley Young as our starting leftback under LVG? Defenders Galore!”
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“Why did Mourinho give a contract extension to Carrick to leave him on the bench?” fumes Brian Kitt. Carrick has the vision and precision to move United forward with the speed and menace that their fans demand but not on a regular basis so he must be preserved for certain matches. But by being around the club he has tutor the younger midfielders so that they may do his thing when he can’t. That, at any rate, is one possible reason for the extension. Another may be that Mourinho envisages using him more frequently as the season progresses. The player himself did not seem to perturbed when asked about the matter after his excellent performance against Northampton last week. “The manager knows what I can do ... Sometimes players play, sometimes they don’t, that’s how it is. Everyone needs to calm down a bit,” he said.
“No manager in their right mind can start Rojo in a match and truly want to win it!” storms Jiffy. Come, come: Shaw is injured and Blind needs a rest before facing Stoke’s Shqiri and Arnautovic this weekend. Blind has become increasingly important to Mourinho, who didn’t seem to fancy him at first, and he’ll welcome the chance to give him a rest. And Rojo deserves another chance to impress ... potential January buyers.
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“Tens of mbm readers? Ha!” snorts Ian Copestake. “Say hi from me to the other one.” Hi mum!
So what do you make of United’s lineup? As expected, Rooney is on the (defender-free) bench. Mourinho’s spin yesterday was that it would be a risk to the player’s confidence to deploy him at the moment, especially as he had a back niggle earlier in the week. But this match would surely have been an excellent chance for Rooney to bang in a goal or two and restore that confidence. The probability, then, is that Mourinho would prefer Ibrahimovic to avail of that chance because the Swede will be more important to United this season than Rooney will. And Ibrahimovic could do with a good performance because he’s been sub-standard in recent outings, raising tentative questions as to his ability to sustain the bright form he showed at the very start of his United career.
Teams:
United: Romero; Fosu-Mensah, Bailly, Smalling, Rojo; Fellaini, Pogba; Lingard, Mata, Rashford; Ibrahimovic
Subs: Johnstone, Carrick, Schneiderlin, Martial, Young, Memphis, Rooney
Zorya: Shevchenko; Sivakov, Chaykovsky, Kamenyuka, Petriak, Kulach, Forster, Karavaev, Ljubenovic, Grechyshkin, Sobol
Subs: Chuvayev, Sukhotsky, Gordiyenko, Lipartia, Paulinho, Opanassenko, Chercher
Referee: O Greinfeld (Israel)
Referee observer: L Medina Cantalejo (Spain), thousands of fans at Old Trafford, millions of TV viewers and tens of mbm readers.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to a meeting of unequals. Manchester United are embarrassed to be in the Europa League again, whereas Zorya Luhansk are thrilled to be in it for the first time ever. A win for the Ukrainian club would make this one of the most memorable nights in both clubs’ histories for very different reasons. But that seems a highly unlikely outcome, unless Jose Mourinho secretly wants his team to be eliminated so he can be rid of a pesky competition and concentrate on getting back into the Champions League via the Premier League. On the face of things, however, Mourinho is deadset on victory, both to make up some of the ground lost against Feyenoord in the first group game and to avert another outbreak of the negativity with which he says some of his tender young players struggle to cope. United are expected to field a strong lineup and we’ll go through it as soon as it’s revealed. In the meantime, here’s Jonathan Wilson on Zorya Luhansk’s success in exile:
“I’m very pleased with the fact that United sent their scout to watch our game against Vorskla,” the Zorya Luhansk coach, Yuriy Vernydub, said this week, which makes a change from those managers who try desperately to hide themselves away from future opponents. “Before, they used to say that no one knew about Zorya, whereas now scouts are watching our boys. It means that the players deserve that.”
Zorya have particular reason to want to be known: their very existence in European competition feels like a triumph. In June 2014, the Ukrainian club were forced to flee Luhansk because of the conflict with pro-Russia separatists who founded the Luhansk People’s Republic. Zorya’s home ground, the Avangard Stadium, suffered heavy shelling.
They moved to Zaporizhzhya, 400km to the south-west, where they play home games at the Slavutych Arena. Its address, just over the road from the Museum of the History of Warfare on Bulvar Lobanovskoho, gives an indication of Zaporizhzhya’s main place in Ukrainian football history: it was there in May 2002, leading his Dynamo Kyiv side against Metalurh, that Valeriy Lobanovskyicollapsed in the dug-out, dying a few days later in hospital.
Vernydub’s spirit of openness also makes a significant change from how things used to be in Zaporizhzhya. In Soviet times it was closed down because of its role in the energy industry, the site of both Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and a huge hydroelectric dam (Zaporizhzhya means “beyond the rapids”).
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