They always said there were two sides to Jose Mourinho at Manchester United. After the charming Jose took centre-stage before this game, it was the chippy Jose who created the headlines again as he ended up in the stands here in Istanbul.
What did he say to the fourth official Jeremy Stinat after Fenerbahce were rightly denied a penalty for Manuel Ugarte’s contact with Bright Osayi-Samuel in the second half? Or was it just because he strayed out of his technical area?
We might never know, but it was enough for French referee Clement Turpin to show him a straight red card.
So off he went, brooding, muttering in the seats, furiously scribbling down instructions for his assistants to follow. No more Mr Nice Guy.
While Mourinho continued his one-man show, a Europa League tie was going on and it ended in another draw for Manchester United, who had previously failed to beat FC Twente and Porto despite leading.
Jose Mourinho was sent to the stands as his Fenerbahce side drew 1-1 with Manchester United
Youssef En-Nesyri earned Fenerbahce a point with a second half header in the Europa League
Man United remain winless in the Europa League following their third successive draw
Christian Eriksen continued his renaissance this season by firing United in front, but Youssef En-Nesyri came back to haunt Ten Hag’s side with another goal against them.
Mourinho had blagged and bluffed on the eve of this game, making United favourites to win the competition, but this is not the same team that he led to Europa League glory in 2017.
They came into this match 25th in the 36-team table and have now won just once in their last 11 European games — even that required a last-minute penalty save from Andre Onana to see off FC Copenhagen.
In his efforts to outwit Mourinho, Ten Hag left the rest of us scratching our heads when the line-ups were announced.
Despite being without seven injured players and captain Bruno Fernandes through suspension, Rasmus Hojlund and Casemiro were on the bench while Victor Lindelof came in to make his first start since March.
Most surprising of all, though, was Noussair Mazraoui’s inclusion as a No 10 — and not just because the Moroccan only returned as a substitute against Brentford at the weekend following minor heart surgery during the international break.
Mazraoui had started every other game bar one this season as a right back following his £17million move from Bayern Munich in the summer. He played in midfield for Ten Hag at Ajax earlier in his career, but it was still a bold move by the manager with Eriksen and Joshua Zirkzee a more natural fit for that position.
‘We have injuries and a suspension for Bruno so we had to be a bit creative,’ said Ten Hag before kick-off.
Christian Eriksen had given Erik ten Hag’s side a first half lead at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium
Eriksen produced a fine finish to put Man United in front after being set-up by Joshua Zirkzee
Andre Onana produced an incredible double save to deny En-Nesyri before the interval
Man United’s players swarmed around Onana to congratulate the goalkeeper for his heroics
‘We bring Mazraoui in at No10. I know him from before — at Ajax sometimes I played him there, also as a full back. He’s capable of doing this job.’
Over on TNT Sports, a true United midfield great was unconvinced. ‘I’m confused by it,’ said Paul Scholes. ‘I even think his explanation there was confusing. I hope Mazraoui understands what he’s got to do better than I do!’
There wasn’t much opportunity for Mazraoui to showcase his playmaking skills in an opening that saw Fenerbahce dominate territorially and United happy to use their time in possession passing the ball around at the back to a cacophony of boos.
In fact, just about his first touch of the game helped set up a goal for United in the 15th minute when Alejandro Garnacho broke down the right and pulled the ball back for Mazraoui.
He touched it to Zirkzee, who teed up Eriksen to guide into the top corner for his fourth goal of the season.
It all began with Ugarte winning the ball off former United player Fred in midfield, and that was by no means the only important contribution from United’s £50m summer signing in the first half.
After Marcus Rashford fired millimetres wide following a mazy run into the box, Fenerbahce looked certain to equalise in the 23rd minute when Sebastian Szymanski’s cross squirmed up Onana’s body and left En-Nesyri with an open goal.
The Moroccan striker has previous against United after scoring twice when Sevilla knocked Ten Hag’s team out of the quarter-finals of this competition in 2023.
But he was denied another goal here as Ugarte lunged in to block the shot with his left foot and shortly afterwards stopped Osayi-Samuel in his tracks with a perfectly-timed challenge in the box.
En-Nesyri must have thought he was certain to score again eight minutes before the interval but Onana pulled off an incredible double save, keeping out his glancing header from Szymanski’s initial cross and then tipping over his follow-up effort as United wobbled.
En-Nesyri headed the hosts level after half-time from Allan Saint-Maximin’s curled cross
The forward haunted Man United again having helped to knock them out back in 2023
Mourinho was dismissed by referee Clement Turpin after leading protests for a penalty
Mourinho was sent to the stands and later seen passing messages to his coaching staff
Ten Hag’s side have led in all three Europa League games before being pegged back for draws
Their lead lasted less than five minutes of the second half, however, as they once again proved incapable of holding on to an advantage.
Allan Saint-Maximin switched on to his stronger right foot and the former Newcastle winger curled an outswinger into the path of En-Nesyri, who had drifted in between Lindelof and Lisandro Martinez. This time Onana had no chance as he was beaten by a downward header from close range.
Ten Hag sent on Hojlund for Zirkzee, who once again proved to be a pretty toothless target man. His last act was to steer a simple pass to Rashford out of play. Casemiro also came on for Lindelof and his brilliant pass released Diogo Dalot moments later but Rashford miscued in front of goal.
Then it became the Jose Mourinho show again, and everything else was largely forgotten.