Manchester United threw away a vital victory and left their prospects of qualifying for the Champions League hanging by a thread—through hell and high water.

 

Giant banners reading “Welcome To Hell” were unfurled by Galatasaray supporters prior to the game, which was threatening to be abandoned due to heavy rain. United goalkeeper Andre Onana had a terrible evening.

 

The Cameroonian made two mistakes that allowed Hakim Ziyech to score twice from a free kick, causing United to lose two-goal leads.

 

 

Sub-Kerem Akturkoglu then produced an incredible equalizer to deny United the win.

 

 

For an extended period, United had been attacking with flair, verve, and intensity in a breathless match. Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes scored twice in the opening eighteen minutes, and Scott McTominay appeared to have sealed the victory with a poacher’s goal in the second half.

 

 

On December 12, Erik ten Hag’s team will play Bayern in their last group game. They faced a difficult situation early on and will be hurting themselves for letting the win slip away.

 

A few hours prior to kickoff, Istanbul was being hammered by intense rain, making the surface appear unusable, putting the match in serious danger of being postponed.

 

Ten Hag made fun of the weather before the game, calling it “Manchester weather,” alluding to the two-day washout that cost England’s cricket team The Ashes at the other Old Trafford this summer.

 

However, the dampness subsided and, astonishingly, the game began.

 

Teenage midfielder Kobbie Mainoo made an excellent full-league debut against Everton on Sunday, but he was benched in favor of Sofyan Amrabat. Hojlund and Antony, who had been out with injuries, came in to replace Anthony Martial and the suspended Marcus Rashford.

 

United had been encouraged by two league triumphs over Luton and Everton since their last Champions League loss in Copenhagen, but this trip signified a whole different ballgame.

 

During the warm-up, the noise level inside Ali Sami Yen Stadium was unbearable, and no English person was made to feel welcome at this most chaotic and unwelcoming of Champions League stadiums.

 

As the teams emerged, the words “Welcome To Hell” were written in English on red and yellow sheets in the stand across from the tunnel. The home crowd was rejoicing in memory of United’s turbulent 1993 exit at this location.

 

Fernandes fed Garnacho early on, and the crowd’s shrillness threatened to make your ears bleed. Hojlund nearly bundled Garnacho’s cross in.

 

Eleven minutes later, Garnacho scored another goal, this one as significant as the one against Everton but less spectacular.

 

After Hojlund’s excellent hold-up play, which allowed Fernandes to find Garnacho, who hammered into the roof of the net from an angle, Scott McTominay raced forward.

 

When the Argentine put his fingers to his lips in front of the home supporters, he was showered with missiles. It was his first Champions League goal.

 

Immediately, the Turkish team forced a corner, and Onana produced a superb sprawling stop in the ensuing scramble. The Spanish referee and his VAR disregarded Galatasaray’s calls for a handball against McTominay.

 

Undaunted, United scored a spectacular second goal to quell the crowd. Luke Shaw found Fernandes, who moved forward and fired a rocket into the upper corner.

 

Antony was amazing; he once bolted from his own box, avoided obstacles, and was quickly taken down.

 

However, Ziyech’s free kick across the sodden ground, which caught Onana off guard, and Fernandes’ booking for upending former Arsenal player Lucas Torreira shortly before the half-hour mark cut the lead.

 

We were playing a good, fierce game of football now, a real struggle.

 

Ziyech, a former Chelsea player, was soon weaving away once more and glancing a long-range shot just past before Harry Maguire spectacularly blocked a Wilf Zaha shot.

 

Fans were infuriated as Mauro Icardi hammered a shot past Onana that was just barely offside.

 

However, United scored once more after Galatasaray had made a strong start to the second half. Antony surged forward, finding an overlapping Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who squared for McTominay to nudge in.

 

The volume dropped considerably, and Ten Hag dispatched Mainoo and Martial.

 

However, Ziyech and Onana were soon back in action, with the winger curling in a free kick from the right and Onana wildly flailing to let the ball go under his arm.

 

Nine minutes later, Kerem Akturkoglu, a substitute, beat Onana with a long-range shot to tie the score for Galatasaray.

 

Following Zaha’s creation of space, Fernandes fired a long-range attempt against the post, missing Onana.