FOOTBALL – MANCHESTER United suffered a damaging 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in Spain yesterday, while Arsenal strengthened their position in the Uefa Champions League with a commanding 3-0 victory over Lille.
In Istanbul, Barcelona recovered from an early setback to defeat Galatasaray 4-1.
Arsenal maintained their impressive European form with the runaway win over Lille, securing a second consecutive victory in the competition.
United endured a difficult start against Atletico, conceding in the opening minute after Pablo Barrios’ effort took a deflection off defender Ayden Heaven before crossing the goal line.
The English side responded with several promising attacks, but goalkeeper Jan Oblak denied Bryan Mbeumo twice in the first half.
Marcus Rashford also missed an opportunity from close range, while Carlos Baleba failed to capitalise on a free header from a corner.
Atletico nearly doubled their advantage before the break when Cardoso scored, but the goal was disallowed following a handball by Marcos Llorente during the build-up.
United continued searching for an equaliser after the interval, with Bruno Fernandes coming closest when his curling effort struck the crossbar.
Their hopes suffered a major setback in the 75th minute when Leny Yoro was sent off following a video assistant referee review for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Atletico took advantage of their numerical superiority four minutes later, as Ademola Lookman converted the rebound after Senne Lammens had saved the initial effort.
The defeat increases pressure on United manager Michael Carrick, whose side must improve their results in the remaining group-stage fixtures. United face Leeds United this weekend before travelling to Italy to meet Como next week.
Nicolo Tresoldi scored a hat-trick for Club Brugge’s shock 4-3 victory over Inter Milan.
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