3️⃣ points as sluggish Manchester United held in Bruges | OneFootball

Manchester United limped their way to a 1-1 draw in their Europa League round of 32 first leg tie with Club Brugge.

Emmanuel Bonaventure took advantage of a defensive mix-up to lob Sergio Romero and give the hosts the lead in the 15th minute.

However, Anthony Martial latched on to a poor throw-in to equalise United ten minutes before half-time.

Here are our main takeaways from the game at the Jan Breydel Stadium.

Inconsistent United

Manchester United supporters must be tearing their hair out.

They were very impressive in their 2-0 win over Chelsea on Monday night.

That performance had the makings of a team that could gain that final Champions League qualification spot in the Premier League, and then they throw in this performance tonight.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made six changes and a disruption in rhythm was to be expected.

But United had enough quality out there to impose themselves in a more dominant manner on this game.

They were sloppy in all areas of the pitch, with Jesse Lingard in particular guilty of giving the ball away on numerous occasions.

The amount of times United’s defence were caught 2-on-2 at the back in the first half was incredible, and had the Belgian side been more clinical then Solskjaer’s side could have been facing defeat here.

There was a visual improvement when United’s substitutes came onto the pitch in Odion Ighalo, Fred and Bruno Fernandes but it wasn’t enough to head back to Manchester with a win.

United will have to improve if they are to repeat their heroics of 2017 and win this competition.

The Beautiful Game

Club Brugge forwards Percy Tau and Emmanuel Bonaventure caused Manchester United  problems throughout the first half with their pace and direct running.

The hosts took full advantage of this to break the deadlock in the 15th minute.

Former Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet produced what can only be described as a defensive-splitting pass, or in layman’s terms, a big punt up field.

There was a mix-up between Victor Lindelof and Brandon Williams at the back which let Bonaventure run onto the ball to lob the hapless Sergio Romero from yards out.

From A to B.

From goalkeeper to goal, in seconds. Football is a simple game.

Zinedine Zidane’s volley v Leverkusen. Diego Maradona’s run and finish v England.

Frame this one right next to them in The Louvre.

Somewhere in the world, Tony Pulis is sitting in a Club Brugge tracksuit straight out of the club shop licking his lips.

Bruges’ chance gone?

Club Brugge might be considering this result as a massive opportunity missed.

Manchester United were there for the taking but the Belgian Pro League side just never threatened enough in the second half to take this game away from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men.

They dominated the majority of the second half without creating too many chances with the visitors not able to get to grips with the flow of the game.

In truth, Sergio Romero didn’t have anything to do after a fast-paced first half hour from the Belgians.

United were obvious favourites going into this tie and Brugge knew if they were going to qualify, they would need to produce the goods at home.

You would expect United to do the business when they get back to Old Trafford.