Feyenoord V Manchester United: What just happened.

Manchester United Traveled to the Netherlands to take on Feyenoord in the first game week of the UEFA Europa League. A disappointing result against cross town rivals Manchester City in the weekends Manchester derby became the first loss of José Mourinho's helm at Old Trafford. Feyenoord, under former Barcelona and Holland wing back Giovanni van Bronckhorst recorded a 3-1 victory at De Kuip with former Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt scoring for the Eredivisie league leaders. News broke on Wednesday that United captain Wayne Rooney was left out of the squad to travel to Holland while Armenian forward Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Phil Jones didn't train as their search for fitness continued. Mourinho rang many expected changes to his side with Marcus Rashford coming in for Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the former PSG man earned a well deserved break. Matteo Darmian and Morgan Schneiderlin made their first starts of the campaign along with Argentine Marcos Rojo who slotted in at left back. World record signing Paul Pogba sat behind Marcus Rashford in a playmaker role while Ander Herrera partnered former Saints Schneiderlin deeper in the centre of the park. van Bronckhorst named a strong side with former Liverpool shot stopper Brad Jones between the sticks and the impressive centre half Terence Kongolo looked to build on his reputation. Former Aston Villa midfielder midfielder El Ahmadi started with on loan Watford winger Steven Berghuis o either flanks. Van Bronckhorst made his bow in the Europe tonight as he looked to guide his side to an upset victory.

The first half got underway with Feyenoord looking to settle the tempo and get as much of the ball as they could manage in the opening couple of minutes. Anthony Martial made a surging run through the middle before finding Darmian on the right and then Pogba picked up possession on the left as he found Rashford in the area before his cut back to Herrera was cut out quickly. Toornsta won his side an early corner after Darmian blocked his cross after the former was found well by Dirk Kuyt on the left flank. Steven Berghuis got the better of Marcos Rojo as he shifted the ball onto his left foot and seen his curling effort held well by Spaniard David De Gea. Ivorian centre half Eric Bailly collided with Terence Kongolo and received some treatment for what seemed to be a dead leg as Timothy Fosu-Mensah was sent to warm up. Impressive midfielder Tonny Vilhena produced a relatively comfortable save for De Gea from the edge of the box as the home side looked the more likely to carve out a real chance. Wth just over 15 minutes played, United won a decent chance from a free kick and Paul Pogba was given the chance to test Jones but his shot from range was easily handled by the Australian. Matteo Darmian then found Anthony Martial on the edge of the area and his first touch was superb but his finish just flashed past Jones' post and wide, first real chance for United. With just over a half an hour played, neither side looked the more likely to score at De Kuip. Feyenoord were finding some luck on the left hand side as Kongolo found Toornstra in the area but the latter couldn't keep his shot down. The referee sounded the whistle to signal half time with neither team finding an advantage heading into the second period.

The second half began with some early work for Eric Bailly as he cleverly defended a long ball. With 10 minutes of the second half gone, the tempo of the game had been dire with both sides not able to sustain the ball for a prolonged period in order to create a chance. Paul Pogba showed some good close control before firing wide of Brad Jones' post. Mourinho then made a triple substitution with Ibrahimovic, Memphis and Ashley Young replacing Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Juan Mata as Mourinho looked for a new outlet up top with just under a half an hour to go, as he searched for three precious points away from home. Feyenoord sprung their first change as creative forward Steven Berghuis was replaced by Turkish international Bilal. Bilal then showed some good footwork as he beat Marcos Rojo bus his shot flashed past De Gea's goal. With under over ten minutes to play, forward Nicolai Jorgensen found some space on the right and he squared the ball for the oncoming Tonny Vilhena and the Dutch midfielder kept his shot low and slotted past De Gea to give the home side the lead. Replays showed that Jorgensen was in fact in an offside position when the ball was played to him but the linesman kept his flag down. After a scramble in the area, the ball found it's way to Ashley Young but the English winger snatched at the opportunity and fired over the bar.
Three minutes were added on by the referee and United won a free kick and Ibrahimovic stepped up and his powerful free kick was caught at the second attempt by Brad Jones as United shirts rushed in. Terence Kongolo cleared brilliantly as Ander Herrera looked to score. De Gea made his way up for the corner but Bailly's header went wide as the referee blew the full time whistle as Feyenoord inflicted Mourinho's second successive defeat.

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