After seven goals, two pivotal VAR decisions, two penalties and a red card, 10-man Manchester United ended on the wrong end of a shattering 4-3 defeat on a night of harum-scarum entertainment.
It leaves Erik ten Hag’s band of misfiring men bottom of Group A and having, yet again, to reset and go again this season. With two matches left of the phase they have three points, one behind Galatasaray and Copenhagen, who deserved victory here even if it turned on a dubious Marcus Rashford sending off.
United were in control and 2-0 ahead when the forward was dismissed, precipitating a collapse that had Denmark’s champions level by the break. Rashford’s was the first VAR adjudication via the touchline TV. The second came after Harry Maguire’s header was handled by Lukas Lerager and Donatas Rumsas, the referee, awarded a second spot-kick.
With 69 minutes gone Bruno Fernandes scored this but Copenhagen showed character as Lerager squeezed in an equaliser, then Roony Bardghji crashed in the winner to break United hearts.
All this was after Ten Hag’s side scored on 171 seconds to shush Jacob Neestrup, the Copenhagen coach who promised Parken would be a wall of noise. It was – via a ramped-up atmosphere that featured the Imperial March from Star Wars, an extended banner which declared “Welcome To Your Theatre Of Nightmares”, and billboard-sized images that showed a sleeping red devil and other images referencing Copenhagen’s 2006 1-0 win here, also in a group meeting.
Copenhagen’s home record in the stage was a proud two losses from 16 outings so Neestrop’s bullish stance that their backyard would be a “cauldron” was understandable.
Yet inside three minutes United had their travelling support jumping and the Danes upset due to their finest move this season. As Copenhagen pressed, Diogo Dalot surged along the left and pinged the ball to Fernandes. His crossfield spiral was killed with aplomb by Rashford who caressed it down the right. There, Aaron Wan-Bissaka crossed to Scott McTominay whose relay was stabbed in by Rasmus Højlund.
So, the aptest of ripostes to Neestrup. Less ideal, though, was the pitch invader who entered holding a Palestine flag and took an age to be accosted by security personnel. Moments later Jonny Evans had to withdraw with an injury and, at the same time, a stricken person caused a medical emergency and was carried away under a white cover for privacy – the PA announcer stating, later, that they were “well considering the circumstances”.
Ten Hag again chose Maguire and Evans at centre-back, suggesting the 30- and 35-year-old are first choice ahead of Victor Lindelöf and Raphaël Varane, who came on for the Northern Irishman. This was Evans’s first Champions League start since a Sir Alex Ferguson United XI drew 1-1 with Real Madrid in 2013 and his removal is further injury woe for Ten Hag. “I don’t know [how serious] it is,” said the Dutchman.
Next, it became two-nil, from a slick break engineered by Fernandes. The Portuguese’s pass went to Alejandro Garnacho, who sped along the left and shot. Kamil Grabara parried and Højlund tapped-in for a second against his first club.
So far United were what they had failed to be too often this term – ruthless before goal. Now, they regressed. After a Højlund shot came the VAR review of Rashford’s foot on Elias Jelert’s ankle near United’s area. Rumsas went to the monitor, showed the forward the red and, seconds later, Mohamed Elyounoussi scored.
This came after he first hammered the free-kick for Rashford’s foul off André Onana’s bar. Play broke, Peter Ankersen crossed from the right, Diogo Gonçalves sidefooted the ball back in and an unmarked Elyounoussi finished.
Scott McTominay was culpable for Copenhagen’s second as the Scot’s wild punt went to those in white who moved into the area, where Gonçalves’s effort hit Maguire’s hand. Rumsas awarded a penalty and the same player scored in the ninth minute of added time.
Ten Hag felt sore about Rashford’s dismissal and the manager complained, too, that each of Copenhagen’s strikes should not have stood, as he believed Elyounoussi’s was offside due to a different Copenhagen player being in Onana’s line of vision, and that Maguire could not move out of way of Gonçalves’s shot for the spot-kick.
For the second half, Sofyan Amrabat’s defensive qualities replaced Eriksen’s flair, though United still operated an attack trident of Fernandes, Højlund and Garnacho, causing Copenhagen to hunt the ball. When they did, the visitors became a 4-4-1 that was a test of Copenhagen’s creativity. Denis Vavro’s 30-yard pea-roller that Onana saved with ease suggested a lack of the commodity, while an attack that had Dalot shooting into Grabara’s arm encouraged.
The Parken faithful remained vocal, mixing songs with jeers whenever Onana slowed the contest, though you could hardly blame the No 1. But, after Fernandes’s penalty, came the interventions of Lerager and Bardghji.
