Erik ten Hag had suggested before this reunion with his beloved Twente that it was “not nice to have to hurt something you love”. In the end, it was a familiar kind of pain the Manchester United manager had to endure as he was again left to wonder where the goals are going to come from in this side.
The worrying reality for Ten Hag here was that United never got close to asking Twente enough questions in front of goal and when Sam Lammers pickpocketed Christian Eriksen to score a famous goal for the Dutch club nor could the home team summon the response they needed.
This, of course, does not need to be a damaging result for United. There are plenty of games to come in the Europa League but it is not how they would have wanted to start their campaign by any means and the fault lines will have felt wearily to those fans who were screaming for United to “attack, attack, attack”.
In his first two seasons in charge, United did not score nearly enough goals for a club of this size and ambition and, with his third now underway, it is hard to see what has changed. At least against Crystal Palace on Saturday, United created chances to miss. Against Twente, United conjured very little and the biggest concern is that when the Eredivisie side levelled, Ten Hag’s team looked just as toothless. There was one good save from Lars Unnerstall in stoppage time but the Twente goalkeeper must have expected to be a lot busier than this.
Indeed, the reaction at the final whistle spoke volumes for how big a result this was for the visiting team. They celebrated at the end like most teams would do a win as United trudged off disconsolately.
Up against his local club at which he enjoyed three stints as a player and served as a coach, this was an emotionally charged occasion for Ten Hag. For most others of a United persuasion, the subdued atmosphere will have felt very different to the Champions League nights the club and supporters really crave. But United are where they are and the Europa League offers another route back into the competition against which they ordinarily like to measure themselves. As such, it was no surprise to see Ten Hag taking it seriously by fielding a strong line-up boasting three changes to the goalless draw at Crystal Palace on Saturday, including the return of Marcus Rashford.
Ten Hag took great offence to Jamie Redknapp’s suggestion that his decision to drop Rashford at Selhurst Park pointed to something “untoward” but, whatever the reasons, the England forward was back here and probably United’s liveliest player in a largely tepid first period. His hard, low cross for Joshua Zirkzee after Twente had been sliced open through the middle was just the kind centre-forwards relish but United’s Netherlands striker could only get a toenail to the ball and the chance went. His intention was good but the finish was not there.
Save for the otherwise effective Diogo Dalot being dispossessed by the corner flag and Bart van Rooij playing a fine pass into Lammers, who shot narrowly wide of the far post, United did not look in any great distress in those opening 45 minutes. What they did need, though, was a moment of inspiration with a goal proving hard to come by and Christian Eriksen provided it. When Bruno Fernandes fizzed a pass into Dalot in the penalty area, the United defender could not control it on the turn but as Mees Hilgers came in to challenge the Twente centre-back succeeded only in nudging the ball to Eriksen who, from 15 yards, fired a bullet of a shot into the top corner.
For 20 minutes of the second half, United seemed happy to play keep-ball. There was no real urgency or rhythm to their play. Twente were sitting in, with five across midfield, and United did not seem quite sure how best to try to unpick them. One quick burst culminated with Rashford having a shot blocked but that was about it. The problem for United was their lead was a slender one. Twente were sitting, waiting for an opportunity and, in the 68th minute, it duly arrived.
To suggest it was preventable from a United perspective was an understatement. For starters, Ten Hag may wonder how, from deep in his own half, Van Rooij was able to run 50 yards unchecked past four United shirts into a position where his side were suddenly vulnerable. Credit to Manuel Ugarte, United’s new midfield signing appeared to have snuffed out the danger, racing across to stop Twente’s right back in his tracks where so many others had failed. Threat averted, then, or so United thought. Eriksen picked up the loose ball in the opponent’s inside right channel but, spotting Youri Regeer on his outside, the Dane opted to turn inside only to have the ball nicked off him by the onrushing Lammers. United were completely exposed and from there the Twente forward surged forward and showed the coolest of heads to beat Onana at his near post with a deft finish.
Ten Hag had replaced Amad Diallo with Alejandro Garnacho only a minute before but now he was having to bring the cavalry on: Rasmus Hojlund, Kobbie Mainoo and Mason Mount were all introduced in search of a winner with Rashford, Zirkzee and Eriksen making way.
Manchester United 1 Twente 1: as it happened
10:22 PM BST
And finally, here’s Ten Hag
We kept them alive because we were 1-0 up, controlling the game. We have to be consistent, keep going in the second half but we gave a goal away. We didn’t finish it off. We had to go for the second goal so they stay alive and then we get punished by a mistake from ourselves. The goal is a team responsibility. A player dribbles the whole of the pitch without anyone stopping him. You can’t give a goal away like this. We have to keep going for the whole game. When you are 1-0 up you have to keep going and score again. In the first game [in this tournament] it is very important that you get a win.
10:13 PM BST
Social media
X or at least its loudest mouths are calling for Ten Hag to be sacked, Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford to be dropped.
10:12 PM BST
A brief word from Christian Eriksen
We’re mostly disappointed as a team. We wanted more but it was not good enough. We said in the dressing room that it felt like they wanted it more than us and that can’t be right. Everyone is looking at themselves. We didn’t lose but it feels like a loss and that’s something against Twente that can’t happen.
09:57 PM BST
Twente lapping it up
Their players, subs and staff link arms and walk towards their fans who give them a hero’s reception. They raise their armj to orchestrate roars and pose for a group photograph in front of their supporters who raise their scarves.
09:53 PM BST
United profligate again
They can’t take their chances and hence remain vulnerable to individual mistakes. Twente deserved the point for the way they played. They were tough in defence and dangerous on the counter. Their fans are delirious. United huffed and puffed but nothing more.
09:51 PM BST
Full time: Man Utd 1 Twente 1
Bruno rolls it to Mazraoui who wall-passes it back to him and the United captain spoons a shot straight down Unnerstall’s throat. And that’s that.
09:50 PM BST
90+4 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 1
Ugarte has a pot shot from 22 yards and bends it over the bar. United free-kick 35 yards out, dead centre for Lagerbielke’s foul.
09:49 PM BST
90+3 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 1
Brilliant save from Unnerstall with his tungsten left wrist levering out MAguire’s deflected header that was spearing towards the bottom right corner.
09:48 PM BST
90+2 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 1
Mount gets down the right and crosses. Mainoo controls it, back to goal but before he can spin Hilgers telescopes out a leg to knock it away. Back comes Mazraoui and earns a 10th United corner.
09:47 PM BST
90 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 1
Garnacho bombs down the left and makes a lot of ground but can’t beat Van Rooij and United will have a corner. Twente pack the box and see the corner off.
Four minutes of stoppage time are signalled on the board.
09:45 PM BST
89 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 1
Mainoo runs down the left and tees up Dalot for a shot that hits Hilgers flush in the mooey and bounces off safely to the United right.
09:42 PM BST
87 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 1
Good pass from Ugarte, diagonally from right to the left of the D and Mainoo runs on to it, takes the defender’s bump and goes sprawling. The now awake home fans holler for a penalty but it wasn’t, it was a flop.
09:41 PM BST
85 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 1
Van Wolfswinkel is booked for grabbing Hojlund in a bear hug to stop him breaking clear from halfway.
Lagerbielke ⇢Lammers
Besselink ⇢ Regeer
09:38 PM BST
83 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 1
Bruno Fernandes whips a right-foot shot from the right of the D the wrong side (if you’re a United fan) of the left post, fizzing only inches by the crossbar and post.
09:37 PM BST
81 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 1
Lammers makes the wrong decision when in a dangerous position with options ahead in Rots and Van Wolfswinkel. The Twente fans gasp.
09:36 PM BST
79 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 1
Lammers is booked for a foul on Bruno Fernandes that looked like a decent tackle. Perhaps he took the ankle, too.
Ten Hag rings the changes.
Mount ⇢ Zirkzee
Mainoo ⇢ Eriksen
Hojlund ⇢ Rashford
09:33 PM BST
76 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 1
Van Wolfswinkel shoots straight at Onana who sends the ball out to the left and triggers a Rashford counter that Twente close down but United recycle the ball and feed Zirkzee to the left of the D and he bustles his way into the box and thunders a left-foot riser that Unnerstall slaps over the bar.
09:31 PM BST
73 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 1
Owen Hargreaves tells us that when Ten Hag sent Garnacho on his message was we hold what we have, ‘Defend! Defend! Defend!’ Ach, well.
Twente make a third sub.
Ltalef ⇢ Van Bergen
09:29 PM BST
71 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 1
Twente almost break through again on the counter, right through the huge gap between Martinez and Maguire but make the wring choice. A minute later Maguire makes a crisp and very necessary tackle on Rots.
09:24 PM BST
GOAL!
Man Utd 1-1 Twente (Lammers) Having scored Eriksen now assists Twente’s equaliser. Van Rooij dribbles forward, making 40 yards into United’s half but eventually loses control. But Maguire dives in and Eriksen dawdles, turns back to his own goal and is dispossessed by Lammers who bombs towards the box, feints to shoot from the inside-right into the left corner but deceives Onana by wrapping his foot round it and hammering it in at the near post.
09:23 PM BST
66 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 0
Garnacho ⇢ Dalot.
Mount and Hojlund were also warming up.
09:21 PM BST
64 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 0
Ugarte storms into the box from the right and earns a corner when Bruns slides in to tackle him. United make a mess of the corner, conceding a free-kick
09:19 PM BST
62 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 0
Zirkzee holds the ball up in the centre-circle and feeds Dalot down the inside-left channel. The full-back strides towards the box with Rashford keeping pace in a parallel run. He picks up his head and lays it off and Rashford tries to wrap his right instep around it, aiming for the right corner of goal, but his shot hits the back-tracking Hilgers.
09:17 PM BST
59 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 0
Two changes for Twente:
Kjolo ⇢ Vlap
Rots ⇢ Steijn.
09:16 PM BST
57 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 0
Martinez is booked for rashly barging over Lammers as he tried to nip in front 30 yards out. Steijm takes the free-kick and and wobbles it at pace with his laces towards the foot of the right post. Onana gets down and pushes it round the post. Ugarte defends the first corner at the price of another which Hilgers heads over.
09:10 PM BST
54 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 0
From the corner Maguire’s header is blokcked and rebounds back to him so he hooks a volley on goal but Unnerstall has to move only a few inches to his right to grab it tightly to his chest.
09:09 PM BST
52 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 0
Bruno dribbles from the centre out to the right and down the right-angle of the box but then slips the pass behind Zirksee’s near-post run.
Amad turns on the turbo, dribbling solely with his left but doesn’t hit the right-foot shot and gives Salah-Eddine enough of an opening to make a vital slide tackle.
09:06 PM BST
50 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 0
Martinez snaps on to a dangerous ball bent in from the right for Van Wolfswinkel, anticipating the flight and stepping out of defence to get there before the veteran captain.
09:04 PM BST
48 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 0
Eriksen and Dalot switch positions momentarily and Dalot scoots forward down the inside-left channel, making 25 yards and running into the box before being tackled as he lost control at the worst possible moment.
09:03 PM BST
46 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 0
No changes and Bruno kicks-off, knocking the ball back to Onana who pumped it long and United win the second ball and start to probe from halfway. .
08:47 PM BST
Half-time: Man Utd 1 Twente 0
Good goal but the match itself has been nothing to shout about. The Dutch model is compelling with clinical finishing. Without it, there can be a lot of sterile dominance of ball and territory.
08:45 PM BST
44 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 0
Rashford wins the defensive header but sends it straight up the chimney and decides to put it behind rather than risk anything else. United clear the second corner in more orthodox fashion with Ugarte to the fore.
08:44 PM BST
43 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 0
Twente corner after Lammers strides down the right wing and Martinez scoots over to tackle him.
08:42 PM BST
40 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 0
No swagger yet from Manchester United but there are smiles at the end of every attacking move. They are 1-0 up but Twente continue to make life difficult with penalty box congestion, blocking an Amad shot, a Rashford cross and a Bruno effort through volume of numbers.
08:39 PM BST
38 min: Man Utd 1 Twente 0
Salah-Eddine makes good ground down the left but instead of rolling it forward to Van Bergen on the overlap he bends a cross from too deep that allows Onana to skip out and catch it.
08:35 PM BST
GOAL!
Man Utd 1-0 Twente (Eriksen) Fantastic finish with his right foot from the left of the box, lashing it into the top-right corner with swerve and dip. Hilgers set the move up inadvertently when the ball came off the outside of his foot and Dalot’s diligence helped with an assist.
08:35 PM BST
34 min: Man Utd 0 Twente 0
Rashford shows his wonderful attributes with a menacing cross that catches Zirkzee on his heels. Had he been quicker with his near-post run that would have been a routine, flicked finish. Rashford flip-flaps the full-back and sends him off for an Evening News and a bottle of milk stout.
08:33 PM BST
32 min: Man Utd 0 Twente 0
Rashford and Bruno play ‘After you, Claud’ and let Van Rooij stride forward to the 18-yard line but when he gets there he suffers an attack of vertigo and scuffs his shot that trickles to Onana.
08:31 PM BST
30 min: Man Utd 0 Twente 0
The rain is back with a biblical vengeance. United are bossing possession but Twente look dangerous on the counter. Ugarte overhits another chipped pass, the ball skidding off the greasy grass and out for a goal-kick. Eriksen was in space, too.
08:28 PM BST
28 min: Man Utd 0 Twente 0
Fine save from Unnerstall. The corner is seen off as is Amad’s cross when it was headed out. But Bruno sprays a diagonal to the right of the box, Lisandro bullets a header back across goal and Hilgers tries to hack it behind but slices it on goal, arrowing towards the top right corner. Unnerstall has to get up high to his left and slaps it over the bar.
08:25 PM BST
26 min: Man Utd 0 Twente 0
United free-kick 40 yards out left of centre. Eriksen rolls it down the wing for Rashford who is tackled and they will have a throw by the corner flag. The throw goes to Rashford who is tackled again, this time for a corner.
08:24 PM BST
24 min: Man Utd 0 Twente 0
Ugarte covers a lot of ground and allows Eriksen to push up to dovetail with Bruno as a 10 in a 4-1-4-1.
08:23 PM BST
22 min: Man Utd 0 Twente 0
Robbie Savage, for it is he, remarks on how flat Old Trafford is and how quiet the home fans are. All you can hear are the Twente supporters.
Eriksen spreads the play from right to left to Rashford who floats a long cross to the far post that ctches the breeze and sails out for a goal-kick.
08:20 PM BST
19 min: Man Utd 0 Twente 0
Excellent work from Amad to sprint down the right, cut in to beat Salah-Eddine and Vlap and poke a daisy-cutter cross that is hacked out to Bruno who shoots into a thicket of Twente defenders and Eriksen is similarly thwarted when he has a secod go. Twente pack the box when exposed down the flanks making it difficult to find an easy route through with a shot.
08:17 PM BST
16 min: Man Utd 0 Twente 0
Eriksen works a triangular move with Rashford and Dalot down the left but Twente deal with the caretaker left-back’s cross and start a thrust up the right with Van Wolfswinkel who eventually picks out the flying Salah-Eddine. Ugarte closes him down and makes a fierce but fair block-tackle in the box that makes one wince.
08:15 PM BST
13 min: Man Utd 0 Twente 0
Very good chest pass from Zirkzee diverts Maguire’s pass which is hooked back on to him and he finds Amad with a well-placed headed pass. The winger, haring down the inside right channel just on halfway is chopped down to stop him bombing clear and Bruns is rightly booked for it.
08:12 PM BST
11 min: Man Utd 0 Twente 0
Rashford, who has had a shot blcoked from 22 yards, plays a one-two with Zirkzee from the left and strides into the box by virtue of the centre-forward’s cute, flicked return. He picks up his head and looks for Amad but his cross is turned away by Hilgers.
08:10 PM BST
9 min: Man Utd 0 Twente 0
Big chance for Twente from the corner which was headed out to the right. Van Rooij chased it down quicker than Dalot and sweeps in a cross that Lammers met at the near post and opened his stance to try to steer it into the bottom left corner with his left instep but just got his angle wrong and it whistled across the face of goal.
08:08 PM BST
7 min: Man Utd 0 Twente 0
Good run from Salah-Eddine, overlapping the pacy Van Bergen and the winger slips in the left-back to soft-shoe dribble up the byline until tackled by Mazraoui and the ball put out for a corner.
08:05 PM BST
5 min: Man Utd 0 Twente 0
Ugarte tries to zip a diagonal from right to left, looking for Rashford. The trajectory is perfect but he puts too much oomph on the pass given the slick surface and it races off the pitch into touch. It earns a thumbs up from Rashford nonetheless.
08:03 PM BST
3 min: Man Utd 0 Twente 0
Twente’s fans are making a lot of noise and their team has started well with Hilgers’ good nose for the ball beating Zirkzee to a pass and using his good control to get away.
08:02 PM BST
1 min: Man Utd 0 Twente 0
Twente kick off. They usually play in red shirts but have inverted for the away kit in white/red/white and look like Poland. They work the ball calmly back to Unnerstall who chips it up the right to halfway. Dalot wins the header at left-back but neither side can hang on to the ball and a long pass looking to send Van Bergen free up the left is overhit into touch.
07:58 PM BST
Out come the teams
And we’ll have the rarely praised Europa League anthem to endure before kick-off.
07:54 PM BST
Opta has analysed the 36 teams’ prospects in the Europa League
They have Spurs as fourth favourites, Manchester United as sixth and Rangers down in 27th. Slavia Prague, who made it to the R16 last year, look a bit high to me.
𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐚 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 🔮
Who will win the UEFA Europa League in 2024-25?
The Opta supercomputer has answered that very question.
Read below to find out its justifications ⬇️🔗
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) September 24, 2024
07:47 PM BST
The rain falls hard on a humdrum town…
Morrissey’s words, not mine. Any road, it’s siling it down at Old Trafford.
07:40 PM BST
If it’s the Carabao Cup you’re after
You can follow Liverpool vs West Ham here with Ella Nunn and Arsenal vs Bolton here with Uche Amako.
07:24 PM BST
Programme notes
Ten Hag in his programme notes said the control and shape of United’s play, in and out of possession, against Crystal Palace on Saturday was “much closer to what we want to see all the time” but was again rueful about his side’s wastefulness. Ugarte comes in for his second start for the club and Rashford is back in the starting XI after his surprise omission at Palace. This is a young Twente side in the main with the exception of goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall (37) and former Norwich striker, Ricky van Wolfswinkel, now 35.
07:21 PM BST
Erik ten Hag speaks to TNT Sports
There are two routes to the Champions League. Of course we want to finish in the top four but there is a place via the Europa League as well as winning a trophy. We are going forward, we are stepping up and are very dominant on the ball. We hope to achieve that this evening. By doing that you have better rest defence and better on the counter-press. We were happy with the first half [at Palace] but also there are other games where we have played well, the Cup final and also the Community Shield against Chelsea.
[Why didn’t Rashford start against Palace?] I have also to think of Alejandro Garnacho who is also at his best from the left. He has more assists and goals from there than anyone.
You have to block this [mixed emotions about Twente] and now there is only one club.
06:57 PM BST
The teams in black and white
Manchester United Onana; Mazraoui, Maguire, Martínez, Dalot; Ugarte, Eriksen; Diallo, Bruno, Rashford, Zirkzee.
Twente Unnerstal; Van Rooij, Hilgers, Bruns, Salah-Eddine; Regeer, Vlap, Steijn; Van Wolfswinkel, Lammers, Van Bergen.
Referee Simone Sozza (Italy)
06:47 PM BST
Rashford, Maguire and Ugarte start
05:02 PM BST
The making of Ten Hag
Ten Hag at Twente
Lurking in the depths of YouTube is a video that delivers a deliciously awkward broadcasting moment. It features Erik ten Hag from his playing days, when he had just captained FC Twente to victory over PSV in the 2001 KNVB Cup final, the Dutch equivalent of the FA Cup.
It may be 23 years ago, but already displaying evidence of significant hair loss, the footballer Ten Hag does not look much younger than he does these days as he paces the Old Trafford technical area.
As club skipper, he was obliged in the immediate aftermath of victory to undertake the media duties on the pitch. Which, on this occasion, consists of engaging with a female reporter who insists on congratulating the victor by smothering him in kisses. When she attempts yet another smacker, he backs away, suggesting that maybe they should just get on with the interview.
You can read Jim’s piece in full here
04:58 PM BST
Having a wager?
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04:50 PM BST
Preview: Tukkers’ luck?
Good evening and welcome to live coverage of Manchester United’s first match of their Europa League campaign, at home against Twente, the boyhood club of Erik ten Hag who played 234 games during three spells in Enschede. This being the new Swiss model Champions League, a needlessly complex ruse designed to shoehorn an extra four teams to unbalance an already bloated competition, each of the 36 qualifiers now has eight matches, six before Christmas, two in January, half home and away but against eight different opponents, two from each of four pots of seeds.
All sides are in one league and the top eight at the end of the stage go through to the last 16 while the teams between ninth and 24th then have another two-legged play-off to qualify for the R16. That means to win the tournament, those on the express route will play 15 games, those on the scenic route 17. Player fatigue? Who cares…
The home side return to Old Trafford for the first-time since their 7-0 thrashing of Barnsley in the League Cup washed away about a fifth of the bitter taste of their galling defeat by Liverpool. Since that chastening experience, they have racked up a couple of clean sheets in the league, beating Southampton 3-0 at St Mary’s and taking a point from a scoreless draw with Palace by virtue of their truly dreadful finishing. Norman Vincent Ten Hag has taken numerous positives from those three performances without convincing all that many who were not already favourably disposed to him and his club that they are any more coherent tactically on a sustained basis rather than stringing together a series of one-offs that consist of deceptive great leaps forward and exasperating backward lurches.
Tonight they come up against a Twente side who finished third in the Eredivisie last season and are currently fourth after beating Almere 5-0 away on Sunday. They have the Dutch league’s current top-scorer, Sem Steijn, in their ranks, the former Rangers striker Sam Lammers and are captained by a man who was once Norwich’s record signing, scoring on his debut but never again, Ricky van Wolfswinkel. In seven previous trips to England in Uefa competition, the Tukkers, finalists in the 1974-75 Uefa Cup, have drawn two and lost five.
