Paul Scholes exited to see Manchester United loss again

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has compared Rasmus Hojlund to former teammate Ruud van Nistelrooy

Scholes knows all about top center forwards who score goals for the Red Devils.

As Hojlund scored twice in a 3-2 loss to Galatasaray at home in the Champions League, Scholes lavished praise on the young Dane.

You’re normally really disappointed,” Scholes stated on United losing.But he added: I think I saw enough tonight in a team that excited me. Hojlund, especially them two goals.

He took the two goals brilliantly. I absolutely loved the second goal, he gave the center-half no chance, clean pair of heels and his finish a composed finish. We also had a goal that got disallowed.

And I thought, ‘Wow there’s a bit of Van Nistelrooy in there.’”

Manchester United suffered a second straight Champions League defeat on a dramatic Tuesday night as they were beaten 3-2 by Galatasaray.

PAUL SCHOLES took aim at Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof after Manchester United’s defeat to Galatasaray, labelling the defenders “soft and weak.”Erik ten Hag’s season went from bad to worse with a shock 3-2 home defeat in the Champions League last night.

United went ahead twice through Rasmus Hojlund before Andre Onana’s howler resulted in a Gala penalty and red card for Casemiro.

Mauro Icardi sent his spot-kick wide with the score already tied at 2-2.

But the husband of Wanda Nara made no mistake moments later when he chipped home to secure a 3-2 win for the Turkish side.

United have now lost six games this season, including both of their Champions League group stage games.

And Red Devils legend Scholes blasted centre-backs Lindelof and Varane for “looking sluggish” throughout the game.

The pair were at fault for several of Gala’s goals thanks to their bad positioning and lack of speed.

And speaking after the final whistle, Scholes questioned whether either man has what it takes to form part of United’s future backline.

He told TNT Sport: “I worry about Varane a bit, he has been one of the very best defenders around, in that same ilk at Real Madrid.

“I just think his legs are looking sluggish, he can’t keep fit and I worry about him.

“I’m really disappointed, I don’t think United played that badly. All the talk before was they couldn’t score goals.

“It’s almost as if we disregarded the defensive side of the game, it wasn’t good enough, they were wide open at times.

“Lindelof and Varane were so soft and weak and we all know what the goalkeeper did.”

Erik ten Hag’s side twice took the lead at Old Trafford, with Rasmus Hojlund scoring two brilliant goals either side of half-time. The 20-year-old got on the end of Marcus Rashford’s cross to head home on 17 minutes before racing through on goal and dinking the ball over Fernando Muslera just past the hour mark.

But a calamitous evening twice saw United concede shortly after scoring, with equalising goals coming from Wilfried Zaha and Kerem Aktürkoğlu. Mauro Icardi missed a penalty but composed himself to chip a brilliant finish over Andre Onana for the winning goal, shortly after a red card for Casemiro.

United are now rooted to the bottom of Group A after two games and already face an uphill battle to qualify for the knockout stages. They are on 0 points, with Bayern Munich and Galatasaray on six and four points respectively, while FC Copenhagen are on one.

Ten Hag’s side have 12 points left to play for, so simply put, winning all four games would send them through to the knockout stages. Three wins would leave them on nine points, meaning they would only qualify if Galatasaray fail to pick up five points from their final four games or Bayern get fewer than three points in the same time.

Because United play both Galatasaray and Bayern again, wins against their two main competitors would help their cause. And the fact that the pair have to play each other twice should also allow the Reds to make up some ground in their double-header vs Copenhagen.

Back-to-back wins against the Danish side would put United back in the driving seat, given at least one of Galatasaray or Bayern must drop points in their two games against each other.

Should United end the group stage campaign in third place, then they would drop into the play-off round for the Europa League knockout stages.

Rasmus Hojlund scored twice but United struggled defensively and former United player Wilfried Zaha netted on his return. United’s night went from bad to worse when Casemiro was sent off and conceded a penalty. Mauro Icardi missed the penalty but scored minutes later to atone for his blunder.

United had victory in their own hands after two Rasmus Hojlund goals, either side of former United winger Wilfried Zaha’s leveller, put them on course for a much-needed win. But Kerem Akturkoglu again pegged them back and then a woeful error by Andre Onana set them on a path to self destruction as his abysmal pass led to Casemiro fouling Dries Mertens in the penalty area and the Brazilian was sent off. Mauro Icardi missed the resulting penalty, but made amends three minutes later as he grabbed the winner and sealed a first-ever victory on English soil for the Turkish side. This article will focus on why Andre Onana’s performance yesterday showed why Man United should bench him for upcoming games.

During the time he was on the pitch, the Cameroonian only made one save. He failed to make any punch, high claim or complete a run out from his goalline. Onana made two errors that led to a goal for Galatasaray. The 27-year-old had 34 touches of the ball. A major strength of Onana is his ability on the ball. He was poor in this aspect. He only had a pass accuracy of 59% to his name. Out of the 16 long balls he tried to ping to his teammates, the former Inter Milan was only successful on seven occasions. His performance yesterday showed why Man United need to bench him for upcoming games.