Champions League football returned tonight as Manchester United bounced back with a 4-1 win against Istanbul Basaksehir at Old Trafford.
With Paris Saint-Germain clinging on to a 1-0 victory over RB Leipzig in the Parc des Princes, United now have a three point lead at the top of the table following a victory that was largely secured when Bruno Fernandes’ brace and a Marcus Rashford penalty gave Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side a three goal cushion at the break.
They needed to rely on that in the second period as the Turkish champions rallied, particularly in the minutes after Deniz Turuc curled a brilliant free-kick beyond David de Gea, who could only claw the ball away from behind the goal line. For a time it looked as though United might allow their visitors back into the game as Demba Ba went close but they ultimately held on to three vital points as Daniel James hit the fourth with an added time counter-attack.
United looked to have drawn a group of death with PSG and RB Leipzig in Group H, but the Red Devils beat both sides in their opening two fixtures to become heavy favourites to qualify for the knockout stages.
Consistency has been a problem for United, and they lost 2-1 to Basaksehir in Turkey on matchday three to blow the group wide open again – but a 4-1 win at Old Trafford leaves them in pole position to reach the last-16.
