In the third match of the group stage of the Champions League, Man United defeated FC Copenhagen by the score of 1-0 owing to goals from Maguire and Onana. Maguire scored the lone goal of the match, and Onana excelled with a brilliant save in stoppage time.
After two consecutive losses, Man Utd was forced to win against FC Copenhagen, the team rated as the weakest in Group A, to maintain hope of continuing. Man Utd got good news about personnel when Reguilon recovered from injury and could play, helping coach Ten Hag not have to patch up the squad.
However, Man Utd did not start well at home. Minute 2, Achouri challenged Onana with a long shot, the ball stretched and went out near the left post of the Old Trafford home team’s goal. 3 minutes later, the storm hit Man Utd’s goal when the ball licked the edge of the post and bounced out after Goncalves’ one-touch finish.
Man Utd had a difficult start despite playing at home (Photo: Getty).
After more than 10 minutes, Man Utd gradually pushed back the opponent by creating attacks on the ball close to the away team’s goal. However, the opportunities created by the home team in the first half did not really cause difficulties for goalkeeper Grabara.
Copenhagen did not create many counterattack opportunities, but they were still able to threaten Man Utd’s goal. In the 50th minute, Onana flew to push away Lerager’s shot, saving the home team. 4 minutes later, Man Utd responded, Eriksen shot from the center of the penalty area towards the left corner, Grabara denied the Danish player.
Man Utd’s offensive pressure succeeded in the 72nd minute. Maguire took the corner kick and continued to stay in the opponent’s penalty area even though the ball flew out. Erisken accurately crossed the ball for Maguire to head in from close range and put the ball into the net to open the score.
Maguire’s header scored (Photo: Getty).
Copenhagen could not rise up to attack, but a surprise happened in the last minute of injury time when the away team received a corner kick. The referee judged that McTominay had committed a high foul on the Copenhagen player, so he awarded the away team a penalty. However, on the penalty spot, Larsson could not beat goalkeeper Onana.
Defending a 1-0 victory, Man Utd got the first 3 points and is still ranked 3rd, but only one point behind second-place team Galatasaray, 6 points behind top team Bayern Munich. Man Utd still has a chance to advance with 3 return matches remaining.
Onana celebrates after successfully pushing the penalty (Photo: Getty).
In the remaining match of Group A, Bayern Munich showed the strength of the number one candidate of Group A by winning 3-1 at Galatasaray’s field to continue to maintain the top position in the group with 9 points.
Coman, Kane and Musiala scored for the away team. The home team’s only goal came from Icardi’s penalty. The “Gray Tigers” can win tickets to continue early before two matches if in the next match (November 8) they win at home against Galatasaray.