Fenerbahce boss Jose Mourinho was sent to the stands as new side held his former club Manchester United 1-1 on Thursday to extend the English giants’ wait for a Europa League win.
United have drawn all three of their European games this season and a point does little to ease the pressure on under-fire manager Erik ten Hag.
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Christian Eriksen fired a depleted United in front on 15 minutes, but Fenerbahce had the better of the chances and got their reward when Youssef En Nesyri equalised early in the second half.
A point leaves United languishing in 21st of the 36-team table and with their chances of securing a top-eight finish to progress directly to the last 16 fading.
Fenerbahce are in 14th on five points, with a top-24 finish enough to qualify for the playoff stage.
United were without 10 players, including captain Bruno Fernandes, due to suspension or injury.
Ten Hag said the players available to him were still capable of getting the job done but their failure to do so means United have not won a European game for a full year.
In Fernandes’ absence, defender Noussair Mazraoui started in an unfamiliar attacking midfield role and had a part of play in an impressive opening goal.
Manuel Ugarte dispossessed former United midfielder Fred to launch a counter-attack that involved Alejandro Garnacho and Mazraoui before Joshua Zirkzee teed up Eriksen to blast home from the edge of the area.
Marcus Rashford was inches away from doubling the visitors’ lead with a low shot that clipped the outside of the post after a jinking solo run.
However, for the third time in three Europa League matches, Ten Hag’s men failed to build on taking the lead.
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Ugarte has struggled to establish himself since arriving in a £50 million ($65 million) deal from Paris Saint-Germain in August.
But the Uruguayan showed the defensive awareness that attracted United’s interest with a brilliant goal-saving challenge to deny Dusan Tadic a tap in.
United also needed an excellent double save from Andre Onana to parry two En Nesyri headers to protect their lead at half-time.
It was wiped out within four minutes of the restart as more sloppy defending allowed En Nesyri to head in Allan Saint-Maximin’s inviting cross.
Fenerbahce were furious moments later when penalty appeals for a foul on Bright Osayi-Samuel were waived away.
Mourinho took his protestations too far as he was dismissed by experienced French referee Clement Turpin.
United had the better chances to snatch all three points in the closing stages as Dominik Livakovic was forced into saves from Mazraoui and Rasmus Hojlund.
There remains plenty of time for United to dig themselves out of trouble with five more favourable looking Europa League fixtures to come against PAOK, Bodo Glimt, Viktoria Plzen, Rangers and FCSB.
However, whether Ten Hag will still be in charge for all of those fixtures remains a major doubt after winning just four of the Red Devils opening 12 games of the season.
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ANGE’S SPURS EXTEND 100% EUROPEAN RECORD AS STAR IS BORN
Ange Postecoglou made a whopping nine changes to his Tottenham line-up for their home clash with Dutch outfit AZ Alkmaar but it proved to be no issue Spurs made it three wins from three in the Europa League with a 1-0 victory.
It was far from a dominant display but Richarlison’s penalty in the 53rd minute proved enough to secure the three points and remain second on the table behind Italian side Lazio on goal difference.
The Brazilian featured for the first time this season after battling a calf injury, and insisted on taking the penalty – earned by 18-year-old Lucas Bergvall – to make his mark on a new campaign.
Captain James Maddison eventually relented after some back and forth with Richarlison who made the most of the opportunity with a classy Panenka.
Postecoglou once again used the Thursday night European stage to blood some of teenage stars with Bergvall, Archie Gray and Mikey Moore all starting.
Moore had a brilliant early opportunity to celebrate his first start in front of Tottenham’s home fans with a goal but headed wide, which led his Australian manager to make a tongue-in-cheek quip post-game that the young star has “got to work on his heading, to be fair”.
The 17-year-old winger produced an electric display despite the miss and was a shining light, with James Maddison even saying he “thought we had Neymar on the left wing”.
Meanwhile, one of Spurs other attacking options faced ridicule.
Timo Werner also missed two golden first half chances with a weak shot and a wide slice when he was put through on goal by Bergvall and Richarlison respectively.
The German was eventually replaced at the half time break by the in-form Brennan Johnson.
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At the other end of the pitch, goal keeper Fraser Forster made two sensational saves to ensure Spurs kept a clean sheet.
Forster palmed away a powerful header from a corner and later charged off his line to make another crucial save.
Tottenham’s next match is a Premier League encounter away at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
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