Europa League: Fenerbahce 2 United 1

We always make life difficult for ourselves, Fergie used to say.  In his day, more often than not, we fought through those self-imposed difficulties to confound rivals and media commentators alike to come out on top.  Nowadays, the difficulties just seem to lead to yet more difficulties.  Here, even a draw would have left the Reds potentially one game away from qualification from the group.  Now, it looks like it could go to the wire.

The goal that put United behind after just ninety seconds was, to put it mildly, a bit special.  With his back to goal, Sow got his foot to a left-wing cross with the kind of exquisite overhead kick that even keepers as good as De Gea can do nothing about.

Although Fenerbahce continued to carry a real threat on the break - more of which later - the Reds dominated possession for the remainder of the first half, only to see their often incisive passing play fail to yield a result.  When United carved out a real clear-cut chance, Rooney's touch let him down after being set clear by Martial.

A limping Paul Pogba left the field to add to a growing United injury list and his replacement Ibrahimovic immediately brought a fiery presence to the field, in all senses of the word.  You felt he was bound to have some sort of impact on the game.  

Sadly, he faded out of it in the second half, but no more than the rest of the United team.  If the half-time substitution that brought Mata on for Schneiderlin was intended to introduce a more attacking formation, somehow it had the reverse effect.  The Reds looked nervy and struggled to string a decent series of passes together.  Fenerbahce were set up to hit them on the break and that's exactly what they did, Ibrahimovic finally having the wrong kind of impact on the game when he committed the foul that allowed Lens to step up and score from one of the most perfect free kicks you'll ever see.

The two goals will probably give De Gea nightmares for weeks.  His team mates looked like they were in the midst of one of their own as they struggled to get any kind of hold on the game and the most likely outcome seemed to be a third for the Turks, who squandered a series of chances as they broke freely through the gaping holes in the United midfield.

Out of the blue, it was Rooney who scored with the night's third terrific goal, a stunner from outside the box.  He might even have snatched an equaliser when Ismael rose to clear with his head from just inside the post.   However, it was a late flurry rather than the sustained onslaught United had needed and the Reds stand probably only one further poor performance away from Europa League elimination.

Europa League: United 1 Zorya Luhansk 0

United were forced to work hard for this win by well-organised opponents who defended stubbornly and frustrated the Reds until Ibrahimovic's second half strike broke the deadlock.

Chances were at a premium throughout the game and, aside from a shot from Rashford that crashed against the bar, United's dominance of possession brought them few chances.  Mata in particular was given little space in which to operate while Ibrahimovic was frequently forced into deep positions.  Some of the Swede's touches were sublime, however, and it always seemed likely that, should the Reds made a breakthrough, he would be involved.

It was the second half introduction of Rooney that brought the crucial goal in the 69th minutes.  His arrival saw Mata move to the right and, for the first time in the match, the Spaniard broke free of the tight marking and, when the ball arrived in the box, it fell to Rooney.  He snatched at the chance but his shot bounced towards the far post where Ibrahimovic was on hand to score with his head.

Zorya threatened occasionally on the break, on one occasion forcing a smart save from Romero, but United rarely looked troubled defensively.  Many United supporters will point to the absence of Herrera in midfield as the reason for build-up play that was laboured at times and there was a sense that an injection of pace in the middle of the park might well have broken through the visitors' defensive set-up earlier.

Ultimately, though, the three points were in the bag and United are off the mark in the Europa League group stage.

Europa League: Feyenoord 1 United 0

Another below-par performance saw United saw fall to defeat in this first Europa League game and a fourth consecutive away defeat in European competitions.

A drab first half saw United's attacking threat nullified by the home side's pressing game and a failure to get players forward to support Rashford, who looked increasingly isolated in the lone forward role.  The closest United came to a decent chance arrived via Darmian, whose ball into the box set up Martial, only for the Frenchman to shoot wide  

Just before half-time Darmian's cross presented Rashford with a header that he nodded downwards, just failing to find Mata as he arrived at the far post.  Otherwise, United, with eight changes from the side that played against city on Saturday, struggled to attack with purpose against a Feyenoord side whose confidence following an excellent start to the Dutch season was evident.  

Although Pogba began to look a more threatening force after the break, United continued to lack movement up front and, on the hour mark, Mourinho reacted by taking off the front three, introducing Ibrahimovic, Young and Memphis as replacements.

United did begin to show more adventure following the changes but, with the game becoming spread, Feyenoord benefited from the gaps being left and took the lead with eleven minutes remaining.  Although Jorgensen looked offside in the build up, United will be disappointed with the acres of space allowed to Trindade, whose finish gave De Gea no chance.

Although United pushed forward for an equaliser, the best they managed was a free kick from Ibrahimovic that was superbly saved by Jones.  In addition to a bad start to this European campaign, the result means back to back defeats for Mourinho's side after what has to go down as a deeply unconvincing performance from the Reds

Europa League: United 1 Liverpool 1 (Agg 1-3)

In the end, it went pretty much as expected.  United gave a far better performance than the one in the first leg at Anfield, but still fell well short of what was needed to rescue the tie.  They raised our hopes ultimately being unable to deliver the required heroics.

The first half was promising, with the Reds building up momentum in a series of meaningful attacks around the Liverpool area.  Martial looked a consistent threat and there was no surprise when he put United in front.  Tripped in the area by Clyne, he calmly stepped up and took the penalty himself.

In truth, Liverpool had always looked a threat on the break, however, and Sturridge hit the bar from a free kick to give notice that they certainly had a goal in them.  In the end it came from the impressive Coutinho just before half-time.  The Brazilian left Varela for dead on United's right side before entering the box and coolly chipping De Gea from a tight angle.

It effectively killed the tie.  The worry before this game is that the Reds struggle to keep clean sheets these days and any goal conceded would mean an uphill struggle involving the kind of multiple goal-fest we so rarely see at Old Trafford these days.

Indeed, Liverpool grew as the second half went on and it was only some fine saves from De Gea that kept the scores level on the night.  The damage had all been done in the first leg and there was a feeling at the final whistle of being put out of our misery, as well as relief that Van Gaal will no longer be able to claim we're active in three competitions in order to embellish his lame duck status at the club.  We were, after all, only in this competition because we failed to progress in the Champions League.  The reasons for that failure were all too evident throughout this tie.

Europa League: Liverpool 2 United 0

Even the most hardened Van Gaal supporter will have found this difficult to accept. United produced a woefully disjointed performance and were outplayed at Anfield by Liverpool, with only David De Gea standing between United and a hammering.

The first half was basically De Gea v Liverpool.  The home side took the lead through Sturridge's twentieth minute penalty, given after Memphis was adjudged to have held Clyne in the area.  Even here the United keeper even got a hand to the resultant spot kick.  For the rest of a half dominated by Liverpool, he kept United in the contest, making four superb saves including a point black stop from Lallana that few keepers in the world would have got to.

At the other end, United offered little.  It wouldn't be exaggerating to say that we could easily have been four goals adrift at the break.  Understandably, Van Gaal changed things at half-time, taking off Rashford and bringing on Carrick, who moved into a back three.  

It seemed a strange formation but for a time United looked more fluent and able at least to carry some attacking threat.  When Allen was introduced for Sturridge, however, it nullified the influence of Mata and Liverpool assumed control again.

Their second, when it came, resulted from a disastrous piece of defending from Carrick, who failed to clear the ball when in a position to do so, instead tapping the ball back into the path of Lallana who put in Firmino to score.

It was, in truth, no more than Liverpool deserved and the result gives United a huge mountain to climb at Old Trafford next week.  Unless they can produce something far better than this, it's hard to be optimistic that they'll do so.

Europa League: United 5 FC Midtjylland 1 (Aggregate 6-3)

A spirited performance from a patched-up United team overcame Midtjylland's early goal to progress to the last sixteen in the Europa League.  It was a nervy match for much of the night but the Reds finished comfortable winners after a superb performance from Memphis Depay and two goals from unexpected debutant Marcus Rashford.

Rashford was only playing following another pre-match setback for United as Martial was withdrawn with a hamstring injury.  Despite this United looked by far the better side from the start, although things looked bleak when Midtjylland added to their first leg lead when the excellent Sisto scored following a teasing run into the box after 27 minutes.

It was a wake-up call that the already adventurous Reds didn't really need on this occasion.  Memphis looked a particular threat on the left and it was no surprise when excellent work from the Dutchman brought United level five minutes later, his cross being turned into his own net from Bodurov.

Bodurov wasn't the only defender looking nervous for the Danish champions and, after Schneiderlin's header had hit the post, United had another chance to draw level on aggregate when Romer's rash challenge brought down Herrera in the area.  Sadly, Mata's penalty was turned about the post by keeper Anderson.

There will have been concerns around Old Trafford that this penalty miss might see heads drop among United's players.  They needn't have worried as United took the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half and drew level when Mata's cutback from the by-line found Rashford in the area and the youngster capped his debut with a goal in front of the Stretford End.

It doesn't get much better than that for a United debutant, unless of course you score two, which is exactly what Rashford did, turning home Varela's cross to put the Reds in front with fifteen minutes to go.  From there it was easy as Midtjylland saw their dreams of a famous victory picked apart before their eyes, Hansen's handball in the area giving United a second penalty.  This time Herrera took it and made no mistake.

It was left to Memphis to round off his finest performance yet in a United shirt when he drilled a shot from the edge of the area into the bottom corner.  It was true that the later stages of this game illustrated how the Reds had made this tie more difficult than it had to be by losing that first leg: for all their spirit, Midtjylland were clearly ordinary opponents.  Nonetheless, a five goal win will do no harm to the Reds' confidence and certainly not to Marcus Rashford's, who may well have found himself playing in the Lancashire Senior Cup yesterday, but instead played an enormous part in saving United's season.

Europa League: FC Midtjylland 2 United 1

United once again managed to make ordinary opponents look good as they limped to a hugely disappointing first leg defeat in Denmark.  

There was a setback for United before a ball was kicked in earnest when David De Gea limped off in the warm-up, adding significantly to injury problems that had already seen 13 of his team mates sidelined prior to the trip to Denmark.  Romero came in as a late replacement and, with Midtjylland looking an early threat on set-pieces, he had to be on his toes to save from Hansen's header early in the first half.

The United keeper was also involved in the bizarre series of events leading up to the opening goal.  With the Reds defence apparently entirely absent, Kadlec found himself though on goal, but struck his shot straight at Romero's legs.  United then broke and, within a minute, were in front: Lingard got free on the right and crossed for Memphis, who appeared to stumble in the box before scrambling the ball over the line.

United had got away with some poor defending then, but they didn't a minute before half-time when confusion between Herrera and Carrick in their own half let in the impressive Sisto, whose shot took a deflection off Smalling before finding the net.

United began the second half on the front foot and Lingard was unfortunate to see his shot strike the bar as the Reds pressed to regain their lead.  Soon, however, a flakiness in the centre of United's team became more and more evident and Midtjylland began to create the better chances. Romero was forced to make a superb save from Onuachu's header but he could do nothing when the same player drilled past him from the edge of the box to give the home side what turned out to be the winner.

The Reds of course have a chance to overturn this deficit at Old Trafford next week, but make no mistake: this was another deeply disappointing performance from United and, had Romero not seized his rare starting opportunity so convincingly, the margin of defeat might well have been wider.