Bayern Munich 4-3 Man Utd (Sane 28′, Gnabry 32′, Kane 53′ pen, Tel 90+2′ | Hojlund 49′, Casemiro 88′, 90+5′)
ALLIANZ ARENA — Manchester United really are broken. They have been a shadow of the trophy-laden sides of yesteryear for a while. Now, they are slipping into obscurity at an alarming rate.
Don’t let the close scoreline fool you, Bayern Munich and Manchester United are operating in a different realm to one another. There is no real shame losing to a side who had not been beaten at home in the Champions League group stages in a decade. The manner of yet another psychological capitulation is what should give United supporters the most cause for concern.
Embarrassed and outthought by Brighton at the weekend, Bayern didn’t need Roberto De Zerbi’s tactical acumen to earn victory in the Allianz Arena and get their Champions League campaign off to a customary winning start, United served it on a platter for them to devour like a salted pretzel dipped in weissbier. Harry Kane and co simply helped themselves, with relish.
In the scorching Bavarian sunshine, there was a strange feeling around Munich pre-match.
Normally, a clash between two true global footballing superpowers is all any city’s inhabitants can talk about, especially with thousands of flag-wielding English supporters in town, but United’s travelling faithful were vastly outnumbered by replica attire of a different kind.
As fans did their best to take over the main square, in this case the salubrious surroundings of Marienplatz, swathes of lederhosen-clad Germans and tourists from all over the world sauntered past without even giving the vocal reds a second thought.
Plenty of United supporters were happy to get involved in the Oktoberfest activities, with so much more than steins to take their minds off the daunting task they were in Germany for.
They had to face it eventually, however. Unbeaten in 34 Champions League group stage games, Bayern welcomed a United team who have become a walking disaster on the road and surely were going to be no match for the might of their opponents.
But even with young Facundo Pellistri making his second-ever start on the right of the attack, the visitors did their best impersonation of a United side of old early on. They in fact should have taken the lead after just four minutes but Christian Eriksen’s scuffed effort from the angle was blocked by Sven Ulreich in the home goal.
As inevitable as the rain, then came a true reminder of the brittleness of modern-day United, as two goals in four minutes effectively ended the match as a contest.
In the pre-match press conference, Andre Onana laughed at suggestions that he had been signed by United only for his ball-playing ability, insisting “I am here to save goals too.”
As this United slip from one nadir to the next, of course those words were going to come back to haunt him 24 hours later, as he let a tame Leroy Sane effort squirm underneath him to gift Bayern a 28th minute lead. At this point, Onana had faced 12 shots on target this season and nine have been goals.
Once on the ground, Erik ten Hag’s United just lie there waiting for the bell to ring, with Bayern keeping the blows coming as a second goal followed four minutes later. English-bred Jamal Musiala sashayed into the penalty area, cut the ball back for an unmarked Serge Gnabry, with the former Arsenal forward passing the ball into an unguarded net.
All the action was happening around Kane. Other than his assist for Sane’s opener, the England skipper had a relatively quiet opening 45 minutes. The man United plumped for over Kane in the summer transfer window, Rasmus Hojlund, was even more ineffective.
That quickly changed after the interval as the Danish fledgling talent stroked home his first of what United will hope is many goals for the club via a deflection.
A United recovery was never going to last. Sure enough, two minutes later, after an Eriksen handball, Kane’s moment came, as Bayern were awarded a penalty. Against a shell-shocked Onana, there was only going to be one outcome.
Shots continued to come in on a wounded United with Bayern hitting the post twice and Onana making several fine saves before, from the canvas, Casemiro scooped the ball in to again get his team within one.
All Bayern needed to do was up their intensity by one gear as the mentality mice crumbled again, Mathys Tel adding a game-clinching fourth.
Casemiro’s second just added a final moment of hilarity, but United fans won’t be finding it funny much longer. Their season is close to be over before it has even begun.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/mYa5q4c
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