‘This is Basaksehir all over again!’: Rio Ferdinand laments shock Manchester United defeat after Jesse Lingard’s ‘big mistake’ and Aaron Wan-Bissaka red card ‘turning the game on its head’
- Rio Ferdinand criticised Jesse Lingard for his mistake late on versus Young Boys
- Lingard squandered possession which enabled Young Boys to score a winner
- Ferdinand says the game changed when Aaron Wan-Bissaka was sent off
Rio Ferdinand has criticised Jesse Lingard’s ‘big mistake’ which led to Manchester United suffering a late defeat away to Young Boys.
United had taken the lead in their opening Champions League group game courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo, but their task was made harder following Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s red card in the 35th minute.
Young Boys took advantage of their numerical superiority, with Moumi Ngamaleu equalising.
Rio Ferdinand criticised Jesse Lingard’s ‘big mistake’ after Young Boys scored a late winner
Ferdinand believes the game changed following the sending off of Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Wan-Bissaka was sent off against Young Boys in the first half, with United in the lead
It looked as if the game was going to end in a draw but Lingard, who had entered the fray as a substitute for Ronaldo, gave the ball away with a stray pass, which was seized upon by Jordan Siebatcheu, who scored the winner for Young Boys late on to spark jubilant scenes.
Ferdinand likened the result to last season when United were beaten 2-1 away to Istanbul Basaksehir and eventually were unable to progress out of their group.
The former United defender stressed that the dismissal of Wan-Bissaka altered the course of the game significantly.
Speaking on BT Sport, Ferdinand said: ‘This is Basaksehir all over again. It’s a big mistake from Jesse. Wherever you go in Europe you’ve got to be on your game. It was a bad tackle from Wan-Bissaka and the game turned on its head totally.’
Ex-United midfielder Paul Scholes believes that manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should have made substitutions at an earlier stage.
Lingard gave the ball away and Jordan Siebatcheu capitalised to score the winner for Young Boys
Scholes said: ‘It’s not a complete disaster. Jesse will be disappointed. It all stems from the sending off. United were quite comfortable up to that point.
‘They really couldn’t get out of their half in the second half. I think they needed to bring a bit of pace on earlier, with Martial or Greenwood.’
Scholes was also unimpressed with Wan-Bissaka’s red. Wan-Bissaka caught his opponent’s ankle and the BT Sport pundits agreed that, while there wasn’t any real intent, there was no choice but for the 23-year-old to be dismissed.
Scholes said: ‘He causes himself his own problem with a really clumsy touch. I don’t think he meant to do it but he had to go.’
United captain Harry Maguire refused to criticise Lingard following the game in Switzerland
United captain Harry Maguire refused to criticise Lingard after the game and said his team-mates will support him.
Maguire said: ‘That’s football. People make mistakes – we’re not blaming Jesse.
‘I’m sure everyone on that pitch today has made a mistake. I’m sure Jesse will pick himself up.’
United return to action in the Premier League this weekend, away to West Ham on Sunday.
