Basle 1-0 Manchester United: Basle faulty for Jose Mourinho's men as they are stunned in Switzerland by Michael Lang's late winner at St Jakob-Park
- Manchester United would have earned qualification for Champions League last 16 with a draw
- They almost took the lead after 11 minutes when Marouane Fellaini's header was cleared off the line
- Anthony Martial and Marcos Rojo hit the post and crossbar at the end of a first half of few chances
- Basle improved after the break with Renato Steffen testing Sergio Romero and Michael Lang hitting upright
- Paul Pogba was withdrawn after 66 minutes as Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his return from an injury
- However Basle won the game in the 89th minute when Lang tapped home at the far post from a low cross
When all the excitement had died down and everyone put their calculators away, the damage to Manchester United’s hopes of Champions League progress wasn’t that bad after all.
A late Basle winner at St Jakob-Park on Wednesday night changed the complexion of this match and the picture in Group A.
Enough for United to miss out on the knockout stage after surrendering their 100 per cent record? Hardly. They still only need a point to qualify as group winners and will fancy their chances of getting it on December 5 at home to a CSKA Moscow side already well beaten 4-1 in Russia.
Basle won the game when Michael Lang tapped home at the far post from a low cross to stun Manchester United
The result means United must wait until the final match day to reach the knockouts when a draw against CSKA Moscow will do
Lang celebrates his goal, which was a just reward after Basle forced United deeper and deeper in the second half
MATCH FACTS, MATCH ZONE AND
GROUP A TABLE
MATCH FACTS, MATCH ZONE AND
GROUP A TABLE
Basle (3-4-3): Vaclik; Akanji, Suchy, Balanta; Lang, Serey Die (Fransson 80), Zuffi, Petretta; Steffen, Oberlin, Elyounoussi
Subs not used: Salvi, Ajeti, Riveros, Manzambi, Itten, Bua
Goal: Lang 89
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Romero; Darmian, Smalling, Marcos Rojo, Blind; Ander Herrera, Fellaini; Lingard (Rashford 63), Pogba (Matic 66), Martial (Ibrahimovic 74); Lukaku
Subs not used: Pereira, Lindelof, Shaw, McTominay
Booking: Darmian 84
Basle undid the Manchester United defence in the 89th minute with an excellent passing move finished by Michael Lang. For more stats and facts visit our exclusive MATCH ZONE service by clickinghere.
The bottom line is that Moscow must win by more than six goals at Old Trafford — United haven’t lost at home in 38 games — so don’t expect Jose Mourinho to be losing sleep anytime soon.
What will perplex the United manager far more is how his team contrived to lose this match.
‘Strange game,’ mused Mourinho afterwards. ‘I think we play a match like this 10 times and nine we win comfortably. The one was now.’
Defeat in Switzerland wasn’t in the script. Nor was it on the cards after a United side showing seven changes from the weekend bossed the opening 45 minutes and hit the woodwork twice.
This was not a night when Mourinho parked the bus and got caught out. But the second half was a very different affair. United hardly had a shot on goal as Basle sensed their opportunity.
Manchester United almost took the lead after 11 minutes when Marouane Fellaini's header was cleared off the line
Fellaini headed the ball down and seemingly goalwards, only for Manuel Akanji to somehow scoop the ball away over the bar
In a first half of few chances, Paul Pogba scooped a free kick over the crossbar from just outside the Basle penalty area
Mourinho was forced to replace the dominant Paul Pogba in the 66th minute in only his second game back since suffering a hamstring injury in the 3-0 win over Basle at Old Trafford in September. The introduction of Nemanja Matic and Zlatan Ibrahimovic did not have the desired effect.
It came as no surprise whatsoever when the plucky Swiss snatched victory in the 89th minute.
Marcos Rojo, who impressed on his comeback from a torn cruciate ligament just four days after Ibrahimovic made his return from the same injury, committed a foul on the halfway line.
Still there appeared to be little threat to a United side seeing out the few remaining minutes for the draw they needed to go through.
However, the free-kick found its way to the impressive Renato Steffen, who danced past two United players and switched play to the left where Raoul Petretta was charging upfield on the overlap.
Petretta’s cross to the far post cut out three defenders and reached Michael Lang, who had lost Daley Blind and turned the ball into an empty net.
Basle's Geoffroy Serey Die trips Ander Herrera, leading to the free kick which Pogba wasted from the edge of the area
Die protests his innocence to an unmoved referee Daniele Orsato, however Basle survived as they defended stoutly
United's best first half chance came when Fellaini was not able to get enough on Antony Martial's cross, hitting the post
‘Daley was blaming himself, but it’s totally unfair,’ said Mourinho. ‘I refuse that situation because we are a team and in the first half we should be winning five or six-nil.
‘That was not Daley’s fault, for sure, so we put ourselves in this position.’
Mourinho had a point. United opened up their opponents as early as the 12th minute when the pace on Pogba’s pass in to Romelu Lukaku enabled the Belgian to spin away from Eder Balanta as he charged into the box.
If anything, Lukaku was guilty of holding on to the ball for too long, allowing goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik to rush off his line and block.
The loose ball was played to Blind, who crossed to Marouane Fellaini and his goalbound header was cleared off the line by Manuel Akanji. It was one of three headers from Fellaini that could have given United a first-half lead.
United created several chances towards the end of the first 45 minutes, Anthony Martial denied by the home goalkeeper
Paul Pogba was withdrawn after 66 minutes as Jose Mourinho looked ahead to the Premier League weekend action
Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his return from injury in the Champions League as a second half substitute in Switzerland
Basle improved after the break with Renato Steffen testing second choice United keeper Sergio Romero on several occasions
Dimitri Oberlin misses a golden chance as the home side dominated the second half as United dropped deep
Basle's Marek Suchy fights for the ball with Romelu Lukaku in the early stages at St Jakob-Park in Switzerland
When Blind swung in a freekick after Matteo Darmian had been fouled, he flashed an effort wide of the near post.
Then, just before half-time, a more subtle attempt from Anthony Martial’s cross saw the ball brush off that mop of black hair and against the outside of the post.
Rojo also hit the woodwork during a brief United flurry before the interval when his long-range effort took a deflection off Marek Suchy and rattled the bar.
Martial raced clear of two defenders and tried to finish from a tight angle but was denied by Vaclik at his near post. At one point, the scoreboard flashed up 3-1 to United. They would have deserved it, but had to be satisfied with a goalless first half. That all changed, however.
No sooner had Lukaku headed wide from an excellent cross from Martial than Basle began to find space and opportunities in front of goal.
Renato Steffen fights for the ball against Marcos Rojo, who hit the bar with a long range deflected effort in the first half
Norwegian midfielder Mohamed Elyounoussi vies with Italian defender Matteo Darmian in a hard-fought fixture
Basle goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik palms away one of several crosses put into the home box as United piled on the pressure
Blind had struggled with the pace of Lang and Mohamed Elyounoussi in the first half and now it was Steffen’s turn to torment the static United left back.
United goalkeeper Sergio Romero had to get down quickly to his left and Steffen then cut inside Blind before curling a shot past the far post.
Lang headed against the bar from a difficult angle in the 67th minute and Basle then had a penalty appeal turned down by Italian referee Daniele Orsato for Rojo’s challenge on Steffen.
There was nothing wrong with the timing of the Argentine’s tackle on Oberlin soon after, however, as he slid in to make a brilliant block on the Basle No 19’s shot.
But it was Rojo’s foul that indirectly led to Basle’s late winner as St-Jakob Park erupted.
Their team had repeated their 1-0 win over Mourinho’s Chelsea in 2013 and a famous 2-1 victory over United two years earlier.
That result proved fatal to Sir Alex Ferguson’s hopes of reaching the knockout stage, but this setback is unlikely to be quite so damaging.
Marek Suchy holds his face after sustaining an injury in one of several aerial challenges which occurred in the game
It was a mostly pragmatic performance by Jose Mourinho's Manchester United, who needed but missed out on a draw
Basle fans unveiled an impressive tifo before the game, which read 'If you need us, we are there' in Basle-Deutsch
Swedish striker Ibrahimovic shows his dejection as his return from injury is marked by a defeat at the hands of Basle
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5108681/Basle-1-0-Manchester-Utd-Basle-faulty-Jose-Mourinho.html#ixzz4zEPpOyGb
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