Donny van de Beek’s slip costs Manchester United the victory

Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at 10:52 PM• Dominic Mostert • Last update: 22:55

Manchester United failed to convert the last group match in the Champions League into a victory. In the home game against Young Boys it was 1-1 on Wednesday evening. Donny van de Beek had a starting spot and led in the equalizer with a wrong pass. The Dutch talent Björn Hardley was on the bench for ninety minutes. Manchester United were already certain of the group win; the Swiss needed a win to be third, but now finish fourth anyway. The game between Atalanta and Villarreal was postponed by snowfall. They will decide on Thursday afternoon who will be second in the group.

Ralf Rangnick seized the opportunity of the last group match to see several reserve players at the box from kick-off. Van de Beek, for example, had a starting spot in midfield, while Dean Henderson was preferred over David de Gea below the bar. The most notable names in the starting XI were Anthony Elanga and Amad Diallo, strikers who have made two and zero appearances for Manchester United in official games this season respectively. Rangnick also took a risk by putting together a very young reserve bank. Players such as De Gea, Cristiano Ronalo, Bruno Fernandes, Fred, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof were not included in the selection.

Manchester United opened the scoring in the ninth minute. In the ninth, it was a fine goal: after a cross from Luke Shaw from the left wing, Greenwood took a step back in the penalty area, before producing a half bicycle kick that left keeper Guillaume Faivre no chance. Juan Mata missed a good chance to double the margin and Young Boys came alongside in the closing phase of the first half. After an impure pass from Van de Beek, Fabian Rieder took over the ball; the attacking midfielder of Young Boys did not hesitate for a moment and found the top right corner from outside the penalty area with a placed bet.

After the break, some half chances arose for Manchester United to take the lead. Midway through the second half, the Young Boys had a much bigger opportunity, but Quentin Maceiras was not focused on a pass from Silvan Hefti at close range of goal. Manchester United made little move to score in the last quarter of the game. Young Boys had to do that to be able to finish third, but lacked the strength to impose the will on the home team in rainy Manchester.