After losing goalkeeper David de Gea to injury in the warm-up Manchester United defied the odds to take the lead in the 37th minute in the first leg of their Europa League last-32 tie against FC Midtjylland, as Memphis Depay crashed in the game’s opening goal from close-range.
However Pione Sisto equalised for the hosts shortly after. United’s stand-in goalkeeper Sergio Romero did manage to produce a superb diving stop to keep out an thunderous header from Paul Onuachu in the second half, but the Red Devils then missed an opportunity to re-take the lead when Jesse Lingard hit the bar with a volley.
To rub salt into the woud, Onuachu then struck the winner to leave Louis van Gaal’s men with only an away goal to take back to Old Trafford for the return fixture.
Elsewhere, Goals from Lukasz Piszczek and Marco Reus handed Borussia Dortmund a 2-0 victory over Porto in the first leg of their Europa League last-32 tie.
Piszczek put the hosts on the way to a comfortable victory after just six minutes at Signal Iduna Park, before Reus made the result certain 19 minutes from time.
Tottenham remain in the hunt for three trophies this season after leaving Italy with a hard-fought draw in their Europa League round of 32 tie against Fiorentina.
Nacer Chadli had put Spurs ahead with a dubious penalty before Federico Bernardeschi’s deflected second-half effort sealed a closely-contested 1-1 stalemate – which leaves both sides fancying their chances in the return leg next week.
Denis Suarez’s brilliant late free-kick gave Villarreal a narrow lead to take to Italy in their Europa League last-32 tie with Napoli.
