Following the Red Devils’ incredible comeback victory in the second leg of the Europa League quarterfinals on Thursday, which resulted in a 5-4 (7-6 on aggregate) victory, three players from Manchester United were given a harsh rating by the French publication L’Equipe.
After playing to a 2-2 draw in Lyon on April 10, the two teams entered the game with a level score.
During the match that took place at Old Trafford on Thursday, Manchester United got off to a strong start and quickly found themselves in a 2-0 lead courtesy to goals scored by Manuel Ugarte and Diogo Dalot.
Following goals scored by Corentin Tolisso and Nicolas Tagliafico, the Ligue 1 team managed to come back and tie the score at 2-2 on the 77th minute of the match.
Following that, Tolisso, the captain of Lyon and the player who scored the most goals, was sent off for a second bookable offence on the 89th minute. This meant that his team had to play with 10 men going into extra time.
And much to the dismay of the majority of supporters who had congregated inside Old Trafford, the away team took an unexpected lead via Rayan Cherki in the 104th minute. Five minutes later, former Arsenal star Alexandre Lacazette netted a penalty to make the score 4-2 for the evening.
But United, despite all odds, came back with three goals in rapid succession from Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo, and Harry Maguire to secure a historic 5-4 victory (7-6 on aggregate). This victory set up a semi-final matchup against Athletic Club, who had defeated Rangers 2-0 earlier in the evening. After this match, United will face Athletic Club.
In spite of the United team’s miraculous comeback, the French publication L’Equipe continued to criticise the team and did not reward any player with a match rating that was higher than seven out of ten.
In addition, three players in particular were given a low score for their performance.
Alternate the A score of three out of ten was assigned to both Luke Shaw and Patrick Dorgu, while the striker Rasmus Hojlund was also penalised with the same rating.
The highest rating for Captain Fernandes was a seven out of ten for his performance.
The reactions of the French media following the match between Manchester United and Lyon
Left-back Shaw was singled out by the French media as a whole, with FootMercato, for example, describing how “he was particularly fragile and collapsed once Lyon made it 2-1.” In extra time, he let up a penalty that came dangerously close to putting an end to the football club’s last remaining aspirations.
While this was going on, MaxiFoot referred to the England defender’s performance as “absolutely catastrophic for more than an hour.” They also stated that “the English left-back was pushed around by Fofana and conceded a penalty that could have sunk Manchester United.”
According to what was said in Homme du Match, “He is dominated in all of the situations where Lyon steps into the box.”
“His challenge on Fofana plainly reveals his imbecility. He tackles after the Belgian has lost the ball. An extremely subpar and maybe hazardous performance by the former Southampton player.
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