Paul Scholes pointed the finger at Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot after his former side drew 1-1 with Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce in the Europa League.
Once again this season, United couldn’t capitalize after taking the lead, ending in their third consecutive European draw, this time against Turkish team Fenerbahce.
The visitors began strongly in Istanbul, taking the lead in the 15th minute when Christian Eriksen completed a well-executed play, quieting the energetic home crowd.
However, Fenerbahce dominated most of the remaining first half and came close to equalizing, if not for a brilliant double-save by United goalkeeper Andre Onana.
However, Onana was powerless to stop Youssef En-Nesyri’s equalizer in the 49th minute, as the Moroccan skillfully headed in a precise cross from former Newcastle United winger Allan Saint-Maximin.
Dalot tracked back with Saint-Maximin but allowed him to cut inside and deliver an excellent cross that found En-Nesyri.
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes criticized Dalot’s defending on the goal, noting that the Portuguese player often tends to give wingers too much space.
‘I think Dalot’s guilty of that quite a bit,’ Paul Scholes said on TNT Sports. ‘You know exactly what Saint-Maximin is going to do in that situation.
‘He [Dalot] needs to show more urgency, get out to him because you know they’ve got a dangerous player in the box.
‘It’s a great ball in and he’s not going to miss from there, but Dalot doesn’t do that enough.
‘He’s been okay, one of the better players for United this season, but he needs to get that side of his game right. Paul Scholes added.
‘You have to stop that at source otherwise they’re going to score because he’s a real threat.’
Reflecting on Manchester United’s overall result, Paul Scholes added:
‘I think on the face of it it’s okay, you would probably take that result before the game, it’s a decent draw.
‘The two results you have to say: Porto away, tough place to go, good draw. Fenerbahce away, good draw. It’s the home game that was really disappointing, the Twente game, you should be beating those teams.
‘They’re in a terrible position in that Europa League, they’ve got to start winning games soon.’The former Manchester United midfielder said.
Thursday night’s draw places Manchester United 21st out of 36 teams in the Europa League standings after three games, while Mourinho’s Fenerbahce sits in 14th.
Old Trafford manager Erik ten Hag was satisfied with his team’s performance in Turkey but admitted it was “disappointing” not to secure three points after being in the lead.
‘Fenerbahce are a very good club, with very good fans and some good players,’ he said. ‘It would be a very good final.
‘We should keep the ball better in the first half. We should score more goals but to be honest they also created good chances.
‘They gave us some problems. They are a good team with a good manager. It is not a bad point. But we want to win. We want to win every game.’
On the performance of summer signing Manuel Ugarte, who Scholes said produced his best display so far, Ten Hag added: ‘Yes, I agree.
‘He has to come into the team. The six role is very important. He has to learn how we play. I was happy with his performance today.’
After last weekend’s crucial comeback victory over Brentford, Manchester United will aim to move further up the Premier League standings on Sunday as they take on struggling West Ham.