PARTIZAN 0-1 MAN UTD – MARTIAL (43)
Partizan XI: Stojkovic, Pavlovic, Natcho, Tosic, Sadiq, Asano, Zdjelar, Soumah, Ostojic, Urosevic, Miletic
Manchester United XI: Romero, Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Jones, Rojo, Williams, Garner, McTominay, Mata, Lingard, Martial
PARTIZAN 0-1 MAN UTD
60: Double change for Manchester United with Marcus Rashford and Daniel James on for Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Anthony Martial. It looks like Phil Jones will move to right back as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer switches to a back four.
54: Well we know this isn’t the same Partizan from the opening 45 minutes – it’s also not the same Manchester United. The visitors look a bit passive and have slowed down considerably.
51: Lots more intensity about the hosts now. Seydouba Soumah leaves Harry Maguire on his backside before his 20-yard left-footed shot is parried away by Sergio Romero.
48: Phil Jones goes shoulder to shoulder with Partizan’s Seydouba Soumah, who goes down inside the box. Jones did nick the ball. No penalty.
PARTIZAN 0-1 MAN UTD
45: And we’re back underway folks. No changes from either side.
Since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first game in charge of Manchester United in December 2018, the Red Devils have taken (14) and netted (11) more penalties in all competitions than any other Premier League side.
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PARTIZAN 0-1 MAN UTD
HT: Manchester United lead at the break thanks to an Anthony Martial penalty. Both sides have struck the woodwork but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have just about deserved their advantage.
PARTIZAN 0-1 MAN UTD – MARTIAL
43: GOAL! No mistake from Anthony Martial, who ignores the boos and whistles from supporters to confidently send the goalkeeper the wrong way.
Penalty to Manchester United
43: Brandon Williams wins the spot-kick for Manchester United! The left back has the Partizan defender on toast down the left channel and the referee points to the spot.
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41: Woodwork! That’s not a repeat post – it’s just happened again! Umar Sadiq lines one up from distance and curls a beauty against the post. Sergio Romero dived but I reckon that was to please the cameras…
38: Woodwork! Aaron Wan-Bissaka produces a bit of fancy footwork just outside the box. He lays it over to Jesse Lingard, who adjusts his feet quickly to fizz it against the outside of the post. Closest we’ve come to the breakthrough.
35: The hosts are waking up. Manchester United look a touch rattled as Partizan win their third corner of the evening. They took the last short for some silly reason. McTominay clears the first and the second is cutback for Zdjelar, who unleashes a trickle that rolls out of play 12 yards away from its intended destination.
32: Ironic cheers from Partizan fans as the referee gives a decision their way. They’ve feel he’s been biased tonight – but I really can’t see why.
Anyway, it’s in a dangerous position. 25 yards from goal in a central position. Natcho crosses into the box but there’s McTominay to glance it away. Probably should have had a crack from that distance.
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29: The Red Devils are clearly the superior side tonight. Partizan haven’t created anything of note and have barely got beyond the halfway line. It’s the usual question of whether Manchester United are creative enough.
26: Fred, Andreas Pereira and Marcus Rashford are already warming up. Feels a bit premature from the Manchester United trio.
23: If Manchester United are going to score this evening – there’s a good chance midfielder Scott McTominay will be involved. He’s pushing up to support Anthony Martial – often ahead of Jesse Lingard.
20: Did I just see Phil Jones drive into opposition territory and throw himself to the ground appealing for a free-kick? I think I did. Nothing doing for the defender, who races back and fouls Urosevic around the halfway line.
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17: Chance! Should be 1-0. Juan Mata drifts a splendid, in-swinging free-kick over to an unmarked Scott McTominay. The midfielder tamely heads into the side-netting from close range.
15: Wolves have gone behind against Slovan Bratislava. The competition’s top scorer Andraz Sporar with the goal. Back in Belgrade, Manchester United won and wasted a corner – nothing to concern yourself with.
12: Takuma Asano takes on Aaron Wan-Bissaka but then his cross-shot flies hopelessly high and wide. And yes, Asano was signed from Arsenal over the summer having never made a first-team appearances. 10 points to you.
9: Harry Maguire goes in late on Miletic and Partizan have the first set-piece of the evening. It’s swung deep from the right but Sadiq can;t knock it back into the penalty area. First aerial test passed.
8: Not a great deal has happened in the opening stages. Manchester United’s top priority will be to silence these Partizan supporters and control the tempo. Scott McTominay is more advanced than usual with quite a distance between himself and James Garner.
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5: “The colourful atmosphere continues,” the commentator calmly says as thousands of jumping Partizan throw toilet roll on the running track behind both goals. The pitch itself is fairly poor. Cutting up all over the place – could do yourself a nasty injury on that.
3: Partizan, for those who don’t know, play in black and white stripes. Manchester United are in their traditional red shirts with white shorts – which pleases me after seeing Chelsea wearing their third strip for absolutely no reason against Ajax last night.
PARTIZAN 0-0 MAN UTD
1: And we’re underway. Talk about an intimidating atmosphere. This place is packed, loud and mildly terrifying. Harry Maguire wins his first toss of the coin as Manchester United captain, but didn’t really know what end he wanted to start with. #InsideKnowledge.
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‘Big step’
17:50: Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer talking to BT Sport: “We want to build on the good performance against Liverpool and create momentum for four successive away games.
“We’ve started the group with two clean sheets and if we can get a win today it’s a big step towards going through and it will end the talk about not winning away since PSG.
“Harry Maguire is looking forward to these games, we want to go one step further and get in the Champions League, that’s why we brought him. He’s one of the best defenders in the world.”
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European history
17:45: Partizan Belgrade have widespread continental experience – and denied Manchester United on the way to their best ever European finish.
The clubs are meeting for the first time since that European Cup semi-final encounter in 1966, when Partizan’s 2-0 first-leg victory in Belgrade was enough see them through 2-1 on aggregate.
The Crno-beli went onto lose the final 2-1 to Real Madrid, while they reached the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1990. They have failed to get past the Europa League – formerly known as the UEFA Cup – round of 16, last making that stage in 2005.
Away record…
17:40: So we know that Manchester United haven’t won an away game since that win over PSG. I didn’t know that Bury, who are no longer a football club, won away more recently than Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side. Is tonight the night that changes?
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Savo Milosevic hopeful too
17:35: Partizan Belgrade is also hopeful that tonight will be a “celebration of football”.
“I expect everything to be fair and in the spirit of the sport,” said ex-Aston Villa striker Milosevic.
“We know of our supporters, we are aware of the importance of the game and we are also aware of the problems we have had in the past.
“But this game will once again be a celebration of football, so I don’t expect any problems in that regard. We all know how important the support from the home fans can be.”
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Harry hopeful
17:30: Harry Maguire is hopeful there will be no repeat of the “sickening” racist abuse endured in Bulgaria when Manchester United line up at Partizan Belgrade, but the squad have spoken about UEFA’s protocol ahead of the Europa League encounter.
The world’s most expensive defender was on the field during a night of shame in Sofia, when Nazi salutes and monkey chants overshadowed a 6-0 walkover win for England on October 14.
UEFA this week hit the country’s federation with a two-match ban on spectators, the second of which is suspended for a 12-month probationary period, after racist behaviour in September’s defeat by Portugal in Belgrade.
Furthermore, Partizan will be playing in front of a full house against United after completing a two-match European stadium sanction for racist behaviour.
Maguire said: “We will trust UEFA to follow their protocol with the three steps. Obviously Sofia was a sickening atmosphere, it was something I don’t want to be part of again. We’re positive tomorrow night will be a great atmosphere, one we’re all looking forward to playing in.
“If something does goes off, then we’ll follow the three-step protocol and I’m sure there will be people on and off the pitch doing their bit to make things better for the future.”
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Twitter round-up
Lord Irwin: Yeah I don’t think Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the right man to take us forward into the future. However I’m liking this line up. I thought we look solid in this formation against Liverpool. Anthony Martial is back up top too, hopefully he gets some good minutes under belt. A goal would be nice too.
Rants: We better outrun Partizan Belgrade tonight or we’re finished! Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is looking to cop Mo Farah in January!
James: After no away wins since March (like 12/13 games) I believe tonight could be the night that changes. We have to beat the team 5th in the Serbian League. Last win in 90 minutes was Leicester like 7 weeks ago. Let’s win this!
Lord Irwin, can you explain why you’re called Lord Iniesta in your bio?
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Partizan form
17:10: The 27-time league champions finished third in last season’s Serbian SuperLiga and won the Serbian Cup for a fourth successive year.
Partizan currently lie fifth in the standings after 11 matches, seven points behind leaders and bitter rivals Red Star Belgrade.
They come into this match having lose 1-0 to Mladost Lucani in the league at the weekend, but lead Group L with Manchester United in the Europa League.
Connah’s Quay, Yeni Malatyaspor and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s former club Molde were all overcome en route to the group stage, where a 2-2 draw home draw with AZ Alkmaar was followed by a 2-1 win at Astana.
Fire fighters
17:00: That’s different. There are firemen and fire extinguishers in place at the stadium in Belgrade. Flares were thrown onto the running track over an hour before kick off. To say they are up for this would be an understatement.
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Team news
16:55: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hands teenager James Garner his first Manchester United start in the Europa League clash at Partizan Belgrade.
The 18-year-old is drafted into the midfield on a night when Harry Maguire captains a side that appears to feature a three-man defence once again.
Left-back Brandon Williams makes his second senior start, while Anthony Martial leads the line as Solskjaer makes seven changes to the team that drew with Liverpool.
11 – Man Utd are winless in their last 11 away matches in all competitions (D4 L7), since winning their opening nine such games under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – the Red Devils last went longer without an away victory between March–August 1979 (12), under Dave Sexton. Unfamiliar. #UEL pic.twitter.com/e4IhYBIYRN
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 24, 2019
Unfamiliar…
16:50: Manchester United are winless in their last 11 away matches in all competitions (D4 L7), since winning their opening nine such games under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – the Red Devils last went longer without an away victory between March–August 1979 (12), under Dave Sexton.
Twitter reaction
Ed Woodward: I’m sure we will beat Partizan Belgrade, I just agreed to loan Serbian national hero Nemanja Matic to Partizan for the reason of the season absolutely free of charge!
Tim: We’re playing FIVE at the back against Partizan Belgrade FFS. Where’s that attacking, free-flowing Manchester United football again?
Abdullah: Manchester United playing 3-4-1-2 again interestingly. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has to find a way of making the formation look exciting because it does come across as very defensive.
Are you the REAL Ed Woodward? Why do you only have 426 followers? I’ll get Luther on the case…
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Famous faces?
16:45: Manager Savo Milosevic says Partizan will have “some really exceptional young players on the pitch” against United tonight, when there will also be some more familiar names available for selection.
Former Liverpool, Hull and Fulham winger Lazar Markovic is part of the squad registered with UEFA, as is ex-Wigan and Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic.
The player subject to the most focus, though, is Zoran Tosic, having made five substitute appearances for United after joining in January 2009.
Well that’s a relief, I’d wondered what Vladimir Stojkovic had been doing with himself. Committed viewer and contributor to the blog, obviously.
#MUFC line up in what appears to be a 3️⃣-5️⃣-2️⃣ formation…#UEL
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 24, 2019
Starting XI
16:35: I’d love to keep discussing the sights and scene in Belgrade, but I’ve been rudely interrupted by the team news.
Partizan XI: Stojkovic, Pavlovic, Natcho, Tosic, Sadiq, Asano, Zdjelar, Soumah, Ostojic, Urosevic, Miletic.
Subs: Vujacic, Lazar Pavlovic, Ivanovic, Scekic Brezancic, Filip Stevanovic, Nemanja Stevanovic.
Manchester United XI: Romero, Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Jones, Rojo, Williams, Garner, McTominay, Mata, Lingard, Martial.
Subs: Grant, Lindelof, Rashford, Pereira, Fred, James, Greenwood.
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Afternoon…
16:30: Hello everyone and welcome to our LIVE coverage of the Europa League.
We’re approach the halfway point of the group stages of the longest competition in recorded history.
The first qualifying fixture took place on June 27 and the final will take place in May 2020. I wish you all the best of luck in our journey together.
Anyway, Manchester United are first up today with a tricky trip to Partizan Belgrade.
Belgrade, is known as “the other city that never sleeps” and is famous for Slivovitza, Vampires and Paprika. Lovely.
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PARTIZAN vs MAN UTD – TEAM NEWS
Paul Pogba and David De Gea are among a string of absentees for Manchester United’s Europa League match at Partizan Belgrade.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed goalkeeper De Gea will be available to face Norwich on Sunday but midfielder Pogba continues to miss out with an ankle complaint.
Nemanja Matic, Luke Shaw, Diogo Dalot, Eric Bailly and Axel Tuanzebe have not travelled to Belgrade, but Jesse Lingard is available again.
Youngsters Matej Kovar and Ethan Laird are also in the squad.
Travelling squad: Romero, Grant, Kovar, Jones, Laird, Lindelof, Maguire, Rojo, Wan-Bissaka, Williams, Fred, Garner, James, Lingard, McTominay, Mata, Pereira, Greenwood, Martial, Rashford.
