Harry Kane spot on as Bayern Munich edge seven goal thriller with Manchester United
KANE WELL ABLE: Bayern Munich's Harry Kane scores their side's third goal of the game. Photo credit: Nick Potts/PA Wire
ON the day that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer laid bare the extent of the rank dysfunction that marred his reign as Manchester United manager, his successor Erik ten Hag saw his own stuttering campaign lurch further into disaster.
A nightmare mistake by United goalkeeper Andre Onana was the turning point on the night at the Allianz Arena but his team’s problems extend way beyond a keeper that is one of many summer arrivals who remain, at best, questionable pieces of transfer business.
Casemiro’s 89th minute goal, scored expertly from the ground after he had stumbled onto an Anthony Martial touch, gave the scoreline a flattering look.
That point was underscored in the 92nd minute when Bayern substitute Mathys Tel chased onto Joshua Kimmich’s lobbed pass and scored the game’s final goal from six yards.
And, although Casemiro responded again, two minutes after that, with his second goal of the night when he flicked in a Bruno Fernandes free-kick, United were beaten far more easily than that scoreline suggested.
How ironic that Solskjaer, the man responsible for arguably the greatest moment in United history with the winner against Bayern in the 1999 Champions League Final, should break his silence on the day his beloved Reds were handed a harsh lesson by the German giants.
Solskjaer spoke of the wretched ownership of the Glazers undermining his transfer aims and the disaster that was Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford.
But, nearly two years on from his sacking, the Champions League tie that followed Solskjaer’s interview was just another in a long list of reverses - four in the last five games now for the Reds - that are leaving ten Hag under increasing pressure.
The game went the way of so many so far this season, with United starting brightly but collapsing defensively at the first sign of trouble, conceding twice in four first half minutes.
The first came from that extraordinary Onana error after Leroy Sane surged towards the area on 28 minutes, exchanged clever passes with England star Harry Kane and sent a 20-yard shot heading towards goal.
It was the most routine of saves for a keeper at this level but the Cameroon international somehow allowed the ball to pass underneath his dive and squirm into his net.
The sight of Onana berating his defence after conceding goals - 14 in the last five games now - has become all too familiar already this season but, this time, he was the main culprit, even allowing for some poor defending around his area.
It was imperative that United did not concede again yet somehow it was sadly predictable - for their supporters, at least - that they did so just four minutes later.
The impressive Jamal Musiala accelerated past Diogo Dalot from the left and his strong run ended with a pull back which, with Victor Lindelof rooted, was turned in from eight yards by Serge Gnabry.
If Sane had curled in a left-footed shot on the stroke of half-time, instead of sending the shot just wide, few would have been surprised, so fragile did ten Hag’s defence appear.
It was a sobering 45 minutes, even allowing for an injury list that left ten Hag without 12 players and with a bench full of youngsters and including three goalkeepers.
It also ended with ten Hag sending out his players five minutes before the Germans for the start of the second half, with skipper Bruno Fernandes leading a huddle and offering words of inspiration.
Yet, ironically, United had started so brightly and might have drawn first blood after only three minutes when Bayern, starting uncharacteristically shakily, gifted them the ball on the edge of their area.
Christian Eriksen drilled the ball to the far post where Alphonso Davies performed a superb tackle on Facundo Pellistri, starting just his second game and poised to convert. Eriksen’s follow-up shot straight was straight at Sven Ulreich and wasted.
At least United could take consolation from the fact that ten Hag’s half-time ploy worked, and they halved the deficit within three minutes of the restart.
It came from Casemiro tidying up a loose ball and finding Marcus Rashford in the area. His short, sharp pass to Rasmus Hojlund allowed the young Dane to mark his first United Champions League game with a first goal, well finished low into the corner.
It was a reprieve - and short-lived. Within a couple of minutes, Dalot was blocking a goal bound effort from the brilliant Musiala.
And, on the next Munich attack, Dayot Upamecano’s header struck the arm of Eriksen, standing close to the defender but, according to the Swedish referee after consultation with VAR and his video screen, still guilty of handball and a penalty offence.
Kane, who else?, was on hand to score an unstoppable penalty, his fifth goal in as many games for his new club and a reminder of why United tried to sign him over the past couple of summers only to fail, as they have so many times in the transfer market in recent years - as Solskjaer brutally pointed out.
Musiala remained brilliant, setting up Sane for a shot which hit the post and doing the same for Kane who was denied at the near-post by Onana.
Ulreich 6; Laimer 7, Upamecano 7, Kim 6, Davies 8; Kimmich 7, Goretzka 6; Sane 8 (Tel 86), Musiala 9 (Choupo-Moting 75, 6), Gnabry 7 (Coman 63, 6); Kane 7 (Muller 87).Â
de Ligt, Peretz, Sarr, Mazraoui, Kratzig, Schmitt.
Onana 4; Dalot 5, Lindelof 5, Martinez 5, Reguilon 8; Casemiro 6, Eriksen 5 (McTominay 68, 5); Pellistri 6 (Garnacho 80), Fernandes 6, Rashford 6; Hojlund 7 (Martial 80).Â
Bayindir, Heaton, Evans, Vitek, Gore, Mejbri, Forson.
G Nyberg (Sweden) 6.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
