Van de Beek baffled by Man Utd collapse despite ‘feeling’ after Martial goal

Donny van de Beek Man Utd

Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek says he cannot fathom his team’s lacklustre performance against Istanbul Basaksehir.

The Red Devils lost 2-1 in Turkey, with Demba Ba scoring a freak opener. Ba was also vital to his side’s second goal, before Anthony Martial pulled one back before the break.

But despite the initial reprieve, United did not register another shot on target and fell to a damaging defeat.

Speaking to BT Sport after the match, Van de Beek admitted he felt baffled at the manner of his side’s second successive defeat.

“I need to say I’m really disappointed,” the 23-year-old said. “We started okay, the first 10 minutes, and then we give a goal away, I don’t know how.

“And after that we lost confidence and we can play much better. We are a team and everyone has a responsibility, we can play much better.”

Van de Beek also said that Martial’s responding goal offered him hope of a second-half fightback. However, he admitted that his side’s lack of creativity cost them.

“I had a feeling (when Martial scored) that there was lots of space to create something, but today we created not many chances,” he said.

Axel Tuanzebe, Demba Ba

“For them it’s a really nice win and for us, it’s really disappointing. We need to improve a lot.

“We are Man United and we need to improve. The Arsenal game is the same, we have to step up for the game against Everton.”

Ba opened the scoring from a Red Devils short corner. The visitors had all their players either in the box or in advanced positions, leaving the striker to run clear and score after a clearance.

The 35-year-old then squared to allow Edin Visca to double his side’s lead, before Martial’s header.

Solskjaer slams unforgivable mistake

 

 

Offering his own reaction to Ba’s opener, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer claimed the mistake was “unforgivable”.

The United boss, though, admitted that his side’s performance aside from that goal did not warrant them taking anything from the game.

Solskjaer must now answer his critics in Saturday’s crunch Premier League clash with Everton. The Toffees are also in need of a win, after two successive defeats of their own.

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