Young full back Rafael sees red, as Man Utd blow it in Champions League against German giants, Bayern Munich.
It ended up as a bit of a damp squib for Manchester United, despite winning 3-2 on the night. After looking home and dry after 43 minutes, for me, Man Utd blew it.
The attacking threat fizzled out after Arjen Robben's 74th minute tie winning goal. United never looked like scoring and hardly managed a shot in anger over the last 15 minutes. They looked clueless at times.
Rafael and United both see Red and blow it
Rafael's inexperience cost United dearly, he was having a blinding night until his sending off. On a yellow card going into the 2nd half, I would imagine Louis van Gaal would have told his team to target Rafael during his half-time team talk. Why did Ferguson leave him on?
I got the impression watching, that Bayern were expecting Rafael to do something over exuberant. As soon as he did, they pounced on it.
It was a stupid pull back on Ribery in the 50th minute, no argument about that, and he didn't need to do it.
The Bayern players were straight onto it though, surrounding the referee to help make his mind up for him. Alex Ferguson was fuming with the Bayern players......
"The young boy showed a bit of inexperience, but they got him sent off, everyone sprinted towards the referee - typical Germans."
SIR ALEX FERGUSON
Michael Carrick's dodgy form also continued. He was caught out for Bayern's first goal, and he also missed a great chance at 3-1 in the 2nd half. It turned out to be a costly miss.
All in all over the two legs I don't believe United did enough. Yes, they had a great 1st half in the 2nd leg, and also a decent first 20 minutes in Munich.
But if you look at the way Munich came back in the 1st game, and the way they fought back at Old Trafford. I would have to say they just about edged it.