Jose Mourinho fired as Fenerbahce holds Man United to Europa League draw – reaction

Jose Mourinho's red cards are usually considered an act of deflection, but Thursday night perhaps served that purpose for Erik ten Haag. A sarcastic game with many sub-plots is probably the most entertaining show on offer in Europe this season, if not all for good reason or with any real payoff.

That's Manchester United on the field, and Mourinho out. The Portuguese failed to exact “revenge” on his old club, but then United have now failed to take the lead in every Europa League game this season. This acrimonious 1-1 draw at Fenerbahce was the third draw in three, with any positives again offset by glaring errors. Youssef N-Nessiri, who ended ten Haag's first United European campaign while at Sevilla in 2022-23, ended any sense of momentum here after victory over Brentford.

Mourinho's theatrics were somewhat harshly dismissed for complaining about how a penalty claim was dismissed. The cut of Ten Haag's predecessor in a step here means that Ten Haag's current issues are not subject to the same scrutiny. United can't seem to get into any form. It was actually a regression to another problem.

Fenerbahce is a very good club, very good fans and has some good players. It will be a great finale. We should keep the ball well in the first half. We should have scored more goals but to be honest they created good chances too. They gave us some problems. They are a good team with a good manager. It's not a bad point. But we want to win. We want to win every match.”

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has had a winless start to the Europa League for his side, where they have led three times but drawn all three games.

“Two tough away games. Of course when you're taking the lead, it is [drawing] Not to be, we had a chance to score a second goal. Disappointed not to win. We have to win games at Old Trafford.

Jose Mourinho on Andre Onana's performance: “Come on, he saved the result. My goalkeeper couldn't make a save, he made two impossible saves in 10 seconds. He was the most decisive player of the result. Of course he didn't make 20 saves but he did make two which was incredible.

“I know the English media will say Manchester United didn't play well but I think it's fair to say we had a fantastic match and we were better than them. A good result for Manchester United.”

Jose Mourinho was also adamant that Fenerbahce deserved to win the game and said his side had put in a “fantastic performance”. Mourinho was man of the match, rescuing United with a superb display from goalkeeper Andre Onana.

“They got a point against us, not us against them. We played great. Playing like this in the Turkish league we destroy everything because of course we played against teams at a higher level than us. The Premier League has more quality, more intensity and more everything.

“I think my boys had an amazing match. Maybe in England people will talk about two or three players who didn't play for Manchester United, you don't know how many we didn't play. In the beginning we had four players out of the list and we had injuries. We had to do a crazy puzzle. Our performance was outstanding. I couldn't ask for anything more from the players.

Jose Mourinho was in vintage form as referee Clement Turpin described him as “the best in the world” after he was sent off during Fenerbahce's draw with former club Manchester United in the Europa League.

“I don't want to talk about it. [After the match] The referee said something incredible to me. He also said that he could see the action in the box and my behavior on the touchline. I congratulate him because he is absolutely incredible. During the game, at 100 miles an hour, he had one eye on penalty situations and one eye on my behavior on the bench.

“That's why he's one of the best referees in the world!”

On TNT Sports, former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes says Erik ten Hag's side are in a “terrible position” in the Europa League.

“The two results have to tell you: Porto away, tough place to go, good draw. Away to Fenerbahce, good draw. It was the home games that were really disappointing, the Twenty20 games, you should beat those teams,” he said.

United have let the lead slip in all three of their Europa League games this season.

Smile before kick-off. Not sure Mourinho will be so happy now. We hope to hear from both directors soon.

Surprisingly, little happened in the game after Mourinho's red card. The last half hour was poor after an entertaining contest up to that point.

Is it a decent draw for United? Fenerbahce is always a tough place to go. But with Ten Haag already under pressure, he probably needed more.

Well that sums it up! United get a free kick in the Fenerbahce half. Instead of aiming for the box, they took it back to Andre Onana and the referee blew for full-time.

A good result for Jose Mourinho. A bad one for Erik ten Haag, with United still winless in the Europa League.

They have now gone six consecutive games without a win in Europe for the first time since 1981.