Manchester United vs Young Boys: Marcus Rashford fluffs his lines and Old Trafford has seen enough

Manchester United are through to the knockout round of the Champions League after Marouane Fellaini’s dramatic late strike secured victory for the home side against Young Boys.

David De Gea kept a sub-standard United in the game with a fantastic save to claw a header from the line and prevent a nervy tie against Valencia to decide the group.

Marcus Rashford had a chance to give Jose Mourinho’s side the perfect platform to build on but he lifted his effort over the goalkeeper and the crossbar after being played through on goal.

Here’s what we learned from Old Trafford

1. Rashford fluffs his lines

With just two goals for Manchester United this season, Marcus Rashford could really have done with an early goal to justify his selection ahead of Romelu Lukaku, who joined Pogba on the bench. Such an opportunity came just four minutes into the match; Rashford was fortuitously played through on goal with time and space but lifted the ball over the crossbar as he looked to lob the on-rushing goalkeeper.

It was the right idea, but poorly executed. There was his chance to get the game going for United and place them in good position to ease their way beyond their inferior opposition, but it was a wasted opportunity.

Mourinho’s thoughts on it were obvious. He turned his back on the pitch and shook his head with obvious disappointment etched across his face. ‘If I saw my manager react like that, I would be absolutely livid’, was Gary Lineker’s view on BT Sport. However, even the United manager will admit that almost every chance they created in the first half were a product of Rashford’s enthusiasm, albeit, the final product was lacking.

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Rashford’s misses against Everton, Bournemouth, Juventus and now Young Boys perhaps overshadow his late winning goal against Bournemouth as well as some impressive performances this season for England. Mourinho has often defended his selection policy around the 21-year-old and it may be the case that he spends some time on the bench in the coming weeks.

2. United fans have seen enough

Cristiano Ronaldo’s homecoming to Old Trafford last month was the hottest ticket in Manchester and the going rate was over £200 on the black market, the match sold out. Fast forward one month and United are playing with the knowledge that a win could possibly take them into the knockout round of the Champions League, but these tickets were on general sale right up until kick-off. The fans have seen enough.

A near-capacity crowd saw United labour to a dreary 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace in the Premier League at the weekend and that seems to be enough to convince them to give this match a miss. The style of football fails to justify the £36-£58 non-members must pay to witness the action from the stadium that was given the nickname ‘the theatre of dreams’ because of the feast of attacking football that the supporters were treated to, which now seems like a very distant memory.

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3. Manchester United have David De Gea to thank for victory

It has certainly not been his best six months, but De Gea was back to his phenomenal best and produced a save that carried his side through to the Champions League last 16.

With the score at 0-0, Ulisses Garcia was celebrating when his strike deflected off a crowd of players in the penalty area and was seemingly heading over the line. Out of nowhere, De Gea leapt across his goal and hurled the ball away from the line, sparring his side a nervous match against Valencia to decide the group.

It’s the first time this season that he has produced the kind of world class save that makes him so priceless to the Red Devils, however we can expect to see many more like this if United stand any chance of advancing to the quarter-final.

4. Star substitutes fail to change the game

With 63 minutes on the clock Mourinho had seen enough and shuffled his pack. Romelu Lukaku and Paul Pogba came on for Fred and Jesse Lingard in a bid to fire United into the lead. Pogba immediately brought flare onto the pitch and introduced a bit of enthusiasm in the final third. Lukaku seemingly went close with a header from the edge of the box but perhaps could have done better with his late effort, although his best contribution was to provide an assist for Fellaini to secure a dramatic victory

Juan Mata was the third and final change when he entered the action with just over 15 minutes to go, but even his creativity could do little to prevent this tie from concluding in the inevitable goalless draw.

5. Jones and Smalling set for long partnership

With Victor Lindelof set for a long spell away from the team with a ‘proper injury’, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, who lined up together against Young Boys, could be United’s central defenders during the busy festive period.

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It was Jones’ first Champions League start since October 2015, which perhaps tells you how much managers trust him in big matches.

The duo did reasonably well, but given the nature of the opposition you would expect this to be the absolute minimum, but Young Boys did have a couple of worryingly good chances. Djibril Sow had a glorious chance to put the visitors ahead after Jones and Luke Shaw abandoned their posts, the English duo can be thankful that the forward opted for a skilful flick at the front post instead of trying a shot that might actually trouble David De Gea.