Manchester United on Tuesday crashed to a second successive UEFA Champions League defeat, losing 3-2 at home to Galatasaray SK, while RC Lens stunned Arsenal and Jude Bellingham once again inspired Real Madrid.
Mauro Icardi made amends for a missed penalty by scoring the winner for Galatasaray as the Turkish club twice came from behind at Old Trafford to pile more misery onto a deeply troubled United side.
United have lost their first two games of a Champions League group for the first time, leaving manager Erik ten Hag’s men in danger of an early exit.
Photo: AFP
“The mental errors we make, you cannot allow them at this level. You get punished. This is difficult to control,” Ten Hag told TNT Sports. “We are all in this together. We were twice up and in control of the game. We expect more together.”
Rasmus Hojlund was one of the rare bright spots for United, scoring two well-taken goals, but Galatasaray responded both times as Wilfried Zaha netted against his old side before Kerem Akturkoglu struck.
Icardi dragged a penalty wide after Casemiro was sent off for a desperate lunge following a dreadful ball out from goalkeeper Andre Onana, but the Argentine had the last laugh when he chipped home on 81 minutes.
United are bottom of Group A, six points adrift of Bayern Munich who came from behind to beat FC Copenhagen 2-1 in Denmark.
Lukas Lerager fired the Danes ahead early in the second half, but Jamal Musiala bagged a superb individual goal to haul Bayern level before teenage substitute Mathys Tel lashed in a fine strike late on.
Arsenal slumped to a first defeat of the season as Lens hit back to win 2-1 in northern France.
Gabriel Jesus gave manager Mikel Arteta’s side an ideal start when he opened the scoring in the 14th minute to silence a raucous Stade Bollaert.
Adrien Thomasson soon brought last season’s Ligue 1 runners-up level and the visitors saw Bukayo Saka limp off before halftime.
Wahi, the 20-year-old striker who became Lens’ club-record signing when he joined at the start of the campaign, then fired home in the 69th minute and his side held on for a famous victory.
“It was a big night for us. We weren’t able to take the result we wanted, but we were able to learn,” Arteta said.
Lens climbed to the top of Group B on four points, one above Arsenal.
PSV Eindhoven snatched a 2-2 draw at home against Sevilla in the other game in the group courtesy of Jordan Teze’s stoppage-time equalizer after a late flurry of goals in the Netherlands.
England star Bellingham continued his sensational start to his Madrid career with a goal and an assist as manager Carlo Ancelotti’s side beat SSC Napoli 3-2 in Group C.
“What’s so amazing about Bellingham is that he’s only 20. He has great quality, a strong personality and character,” Ancelotti told Sky Sport. “He’s a young man of 20 who’s showing everyone what extraordinary talent he has.”
Elsewhere, SC Braga ruined Union Berlin’s home debut in the competition as Andre Castro struck a stoppage-time winner in a 3-2 victory, while Marcus Thuram struck the only goal as Inter won 1-0 at home to SL Benfica in Group D.
Inter are level on four points with Real Sociedad, who beat Red Bull Salzburg 2-0 earlier in the day in Austria.
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