Jose Mourinho’s reluctant return to the Europa League ended in embarrassment as Tonny Vilhena fired Feyenoord Rotterdam to a 1-0 win over Manchester United in their Group A opener on Thursday.
For a man with a keen eye on his position in the soccer hierarchy, competing in the Europa League for the first time in 13 years was an unappetising prospect for Mourinho and his players seemed equally uninspired as a much-changed United line-up succumbed to Vilhena’s late strike at De Kuip Stadium.
It was United’s second consecutive defeat after their painful loss to bitter rivals Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday last week and Mourinho will hope his decision to make eight changes against Feyenoord is rewarded with victory when they return to domestic action against Watford tomorrow.
Photo: Reuters
“Some of the players were playing their first minutes of the season,” Mourinho said. “Obviously some played better than others.”
“I don’t want to personalize it,” he said. “I cannot judge them only on one game.”
With Wayne Rooney rested and only David de Gea, Paul Pogba and Eric Bailly retained from the side beaten by City, it was little surprise to see United deliver a disjointed performance.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team started brightly as Steven Berghuis and Vilhena brought goalkeeper De Gea into action with long-range efforts.
Careless with their passing and lacking a cutting edge up front, United — also reluctantly in the Europa League group stages for the first time — were unconvincing for long periods.
They paid for their lethargic display in the 79th minute.
Exposed down the right flank by a Nicolai Jorgensen’s run that beat the offside trap, United’s defenders were noticable in their absence when the unmarked Vilhena swept home from just inside the penalty area.
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