THEY stepped into ‘Hell’ and came face to face with the old devil himself.
But Manchester United escaped from Jose Mourinho’s lair with a point in another night of European mayhem.
Amid the chaos, Mourinho was red-carded, Andre Onana pulled off a ridiculous double save and Erik ten Hag survived another tactical brainstorm despite Youssef En-Nesyri’s header cancelling out Christian Eriksen’s opener.
Having conceded 17 goals on their previous five trips overseas, this was actually a pretty respectable effort from Ten Hag’s dysfunctional team – who have now drawn three out of three in the Europa League and face a battle to avoid a humiliating early elimination.
They have now failed to win in European competition for an entire year, since a 1-0 home win over Copenhagen on October 24, 2023.
Istanbul has provided plenty of fire-pit nights for United both here at Fenerbahce, where they were once thumped 3-0 under Sir Alex Ferguson, and at Galatasaray, the venue for their original ‘Welcome To Hell’ trip back in the 90s.
So despite Ten Hag fielding a full-back as a ‘false ten’ and dropping Rasmus Hojlund, they ended up relieved to avoid defeat.
Mourinho, of course, is never knowingly upstaged and the tantrum he chucked when Bright Osayi-Samuel was denied a second-half penalty earned him a place in the stands.
He speaks plenty of languages, the Special One. And two of them are ‘foul’ and ‘abusive’.
With Bruno Fernandes suspended after his red card in Porto, Ten Hag opted to play full-back Noussair Mazraoui as his No10 – to the bafflement of many.
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And despite his winner against Brentford on Saturday, Hojlund was benched.
Ten Hag rarely does the obvious thing. But not in a good way.
Mourinho had been in typically mischievous form at his pre-match press conference, claiming a potential Premier League winners medal with United for the 2017-18 season when his side finished runners-up behind Manchester City – who are facing 115 League charges of financial wrongdoing.
The Sukru Saracoglu Stadium was packed and raucous well before kick-off.
When United were in possession, the shrill whistling of the home crowd perforated eardrums.
But it was Fenerbahce who set the early pace – especially their former Newcastle box-of-frogs Allan Saint-Maximin – all nutmegs, shoulder drops and slalom runs at the United defence.
Former QPR man Osayi-Samuel skinned Lisandro Martinez but shot into the side-netting.
This was no stereotypically negative Mourinho team.
And Rashford had just been booked for a foul on Sebastian Szymanski when, against the run of play, United fashioned a fine counter-attacking goal.
Manuel Ugarte won possession, Alejandro Garnacho sprinted down the left and Mazraoui fed Joshua Zirkzee, who cut back for Eriksen to thump his shot into the corner of the net.
Furious Jose Mourinho’s CUTTING dig at referee Clement Turpin after red card vs Man Utd
JOSE MOURINHO launched a sarcastic blast at ref Clement Turpin after he was red-carded in his clash with former club Manchester United.
The Fenerbahce boss saw his side fight back to earn a point as United tossed away the lead for a third successive drawn Europa League match.
Mourinho was sent to the stands after raging against Turpin’s failure to award a penalty against Manuel Ugarte for a challenge on Bright Osayi-Samuel.
And Mourinho scowled: “The referee told me something incredible. He said at the same time he could see the action in the box and my behaviour on the touchline.
“I congratulate him because he is absolutely incredible. During the game, 100 miles per hour, he had one eye on the penalty situation and one eye on my behaviour on the bench. That’s the explanation he gave me.
“That is why he is one of the best referees in the world!”
Rashford ought to have doubled the lead soon after, cutting inside from the right but screwing his shot just wide of the far post.
But United were still having to defend with guts and with desperation – especially when Ugarte produced an outstanding sliding block to deny Dusan Tadic from close range.
Mourinho was doing his conkers at this – and soon started berating the fourth official after Zirkzee went down injured.
It was becoming a frustrating night for the old rogue – especially when Andre Onana decided to channel the spirit of Gordon Banks with an astonishing double save to deny En-Nesyri.
First, the Moroccan centre-forward’s downward header was met with a gob-smacking tumbling stop, then the Cameroonian keeper leapt to his feet to push away a second nodded effort after Tadic had teed up En-Nesyri again.
The striker grinned as if he had just fallen victim to a strange optical illusion. And perhaps he had.
United led at the break but then they had often done so during their shocking recent run of European trips.
Man Utd ratings vs Fenerbahce: Onana saves the day for Red Devils as Lindelof has a stinker
MANCHESTER UNITED were held to a 1-1 draw by Fenerbahce on a disappointing night in Turkey.
Christian Eriksen broke the deadlock for Erik ten Hag’s side in the first half before En-Nesyri levelled soon after the break.
Fenerbahce boss Jose Mourinho was sent to the stands in the second half after a touchline tantrum.
But the Red Devils could find a much-needed winner for Erik ten Hag.
SunSport’s Emillia Hawkins rates the performances…
Andre Onana – 7
Made an outstanding double save in the 37th minute to keep two attempts from Youssef En-Nesyri out.
His defenders could’ve done much better to prevent Fenerbahce’s goal.
Diogo Dalot – 5
Failed to track back at times and had his blushes saved in the first half by Ugarte, who made a crucial tackle on Dusan Tadic to prevent a goal.
Matthijs de Ligt – 6
Made some good blocks during the first half to keep Fenerbahce at bay.
Missed a few chances from set-pieces after the break.
Victor Lindelof – 4
Failed to follow En-Nesyri for Fenerbahce’s opening goal and made no attempt to win the ball.
Hauled off in the 54th minute.
Lisandro Martinez – 5
Like Lindelof, he did not apply any pressure to En-Nesyri for the hosts’ first goal. Poor communication from both.
Christian Eriksen – 7
Broke the deadlock for United with a great strike into the top-left corner from the edge of the box.
Manuel Ugarte – 6
Won the ball in the build-up to the first goal and saved Man Utd from conceding with a fantastic last-ditch tackle in front of goal in the 22nd minute.
Was lucky to avoid giving away a penalty after the break.
Noussair Mazraoui – 6
Didn’t look too out of place starting in the No10 position. Played a role in the build-up to the goal, passing the ball to Zirkzee who got the assist.
Eventually moved into left-back, allowing Martinez to move central.
Marcus Rashford – 5
Played out of preferred position and started on the right as opposed to the left.
Didn’t make too much of an impact on the game.
Alejandro Garnacho – 6
Played a key role in the build-up to Erikson’s goal by making a direct run into the box.
Challenged Dominik Livakovic a few times and looked lively.
Joshua Zirkzee – 5
A poor overall performance from the striker despite providing the assist for Eriksen’s opener.
Failed to make much of an impact and was hauled off in the 54th minute.
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Mourinho had slapped Onana on the back in the tunnel at half-time but within four minutes of the restart, the United keeper was powerless to stop Fenerbahce equalising.
Saint-Maximin delivered the deep cross from the left and En-Nesyri, with another downward header, managed to avoid another miracle and beat Onana at the third time of asking.
In the stands, the drums were thudding, the punters were bouncing and United knew they were up against it on foreign soil yet again.
Ten Hag responded by abandoning the Marzaroui ‘false ten’ experiment – bringing on Hojlund and Casemiro for Zirkzee and Victor Lindelof in a major reshuffle.
Then came Mourinho’s ejection from his technical area – the Fenerbahce boss raging at an unrequited penalty appeal when Ugarte upended Osayi-Samuel.
It was a decent shout followed by some indecent shouts from Mourinho, who was sent packing to the stands after a lengthy exchange of opinions with ref Clement Turpin.
Would he be smuggled back into the dugout in a laundry basket, one of the tricks he used to defy a touchline ban during his Chelsea days?
Rashford then skewed an excellent close-range chance and Mazraoui, despite reverting to left-back, had a long-ranger turned over the bar.
With United’s players now playing in their correct positions, they began to get the upper hand. Matthijs De Ligt should have scored with a header, Hojlund forced a save.
Then Antony was carted off on a stretcher late on, to add to Ten Hag’s injury woes as it finished a stalemate.
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