Manchester United drop bottom of Group A after defeat to Copenhagen United on Wednesday evening after being beaten by Copenhagen 4-3, despite holding the lead two times.
This result leaves United at the bottom of Group A after four games, nine points behind group winners Bayern Munich and one point below both Galatasaray and Copenhagen, who are in second and third place respectively.
Despite losing the game, United started off well as Rasmus Hojlund, at the far post, tapped home Scott McTominay’s cross in the 3rd minute on his return to Copenhagen.
Just before the half-hour mark, Hojlund got his second of the game by pouncing on another poacher’s opportunity after Alejandro Garnacho’s initial shot on goal was saved but spilled across the goal. Hojlund was the first to react and slotted in the rebound.
But with three minutes to the break, things began to unravel for United after Marcus Rashford was sent off. He was judged by VAR to have landed his studs onto Jelert’s ankle while trying to shield the ball away from the wingback.
Immediately after that, Copenhagen was back to 2-1 after Mohammed Elyounoussi swept a clever finish past Andre Onana following Diogo Conclaves’ cross in front of the goal.
Eight minutes afterward, and halfway through stoppage time, Copenhagen was awarded an opportunity to level the score from 12 yards after Harry Maguire handled the ball in the area. Conclaves stepped up to the spot and sent Onana the wrong way to level the score.
In the second half, Bruno Fernandes restored United’s lead from the spot after Lukas Lerager was deemed to have handled the ball inside his own penalty area. The Portuguese stepped up and hammered the spot kick into the top corner.
With four minutes left on the clock, Lerager made up for his costly mistake when he scored at the other end to level the score again.
Before the end of the game, youngster Roony Bardghji came off the bench to provide the final moment of magic when he scored Copenhagen’s winner after bad defending by the Red Devils. The Swedish international hit a left-footed side-volley straight into the ground and just out of reach for Onana to secure a memorable win for the Danish side.
In their next game, United will be away in Turkey against Galatasaray on November 29.
Meanwhile, Copenhagen will host Bayern Munich, who have already secured their spot in the last 16 with a 2-1 victory over Galatasaray on Wednesday.
