United held to 0-0 draw at Alkmaar in Europa League
Manchester United’s scoring woes were on display again as the English powerhouse labored to a 0-0 draw at AZ Alkmaar in another poor display in the Europa League on Thursday.
The game exposed the weak point of the current Manchester team, which has not scored more than one goal in any of its last eight matches in all competitions.
Another Premier League club, Wolverhampton Wanderers, secured its first win of the campaign as Willy Boly scored deep in stoppage time for a 1-0 win at Besiktas.
Feyenoord and Espanyol also won while Arsenal was in action later Thursday at the Emirates against Standard Liege.
Here’s a look at Thursday’s early action.
NO GOAL UNITED
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer went with a youthful line-up again, with 19-year-old full-back Brandon Williams making his first start for the club and fellow teenager Mason Greenwood _ who became United’s youngest ever scorer in European competition in the last round _ playing up front.
Greenwood couldn’t come to Manchester’s rescue this time, though, nor could anyone else.
Greenwood had United’s best chance but saw his close-range shot blocked by a defender in the first half. Alkmaar did have the ball in the net after 11 minutes, but Myron Boadu’s effort was ruled out for offside.
The match was played on an artificial surface at the ADO Den Haag Stadium in The Hague as Alkmaar’s ground is not available.
With United languishing in 10th place in the Premier League on just nine points from seven games, winning the Europa League might be the only chance to return to the prestigious Champions League.
United won the second-tier European competition in 2017.
Partizan won at Astana 2-1 at the other Group L game.
WOLVES WIN
Boosted by their first Premier League victory of the season, 2-0 over Watford on Saturday, Wolves claimed the first win of their Europa League debut in Istanbul.
After losing 1-0 to Braga at Molineux two weeks ago, the game seemed to be heading for a 0-0 draw at Besiktas before defender Boly netted three minutes into injury time.
Wolves still trail group leaders Braga and Slovan Bratislava, who played to a 2-2 draw in the other Group K game.
LUDOGORETS LEADS
Forward Jody Lukoki was the fastest to score on Thursday night, putting his Ludogorets 1-0 ahead after just 37 seconds at Europa League newcomer Ferencvaros. Rafael Forster added two more for a 3-0 victory in Group H. The Bulgarian club has a full six points after scoring eight goals in two matches. Espanyol earned 2-0 win at CSKA Moscow to trail by two points.
OTHER GROUPS
In a match of two former European Cup winners, Feyenoord beat Porto 2-0 in Group G, while Rangers lost 2-1 at Young Boys in Bern.
In Group I, Saint-Etienne against Wolfsburg and Olexandriya vs. Gent both ended in a 1-1 draw.
Borussia Mönchengladbach scored in stoppage time for a 1-1 draw at Istanbul Basaksehir for the club’s first point. Newcomer Wolfsberg also earned a 1-1 draw against Roma at home for both teams to top the Group J table with four points.
