Fernandes double helps United avenge Istanbul defeat

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

VIDEO SHOWS: POST-MATCH NEWS CONFERENCE WITH MANCHESTER UNITED COACH OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER FOLLOWING 4-1 WIN OVER ISTANBUL BASAKSEHIR / STILLS HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MATCH

STORY:

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 24, 2020) (REUTERS STILLS VIA ACTION IMAGES - ACCESS ALL)

1. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF THE STANDS BEFORE THE START OF THE MATCH

2. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF MANCHESTER UNITED'S, MARCUS RASHFORD, KNEELING IN SUPPORT OF THE BLACK LIVES MATTER CAMPAIGN BEFORE THE START OF THE MATCH

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 24, 2020) (UEFA - NO RESALES. NO COMMERCIAL USE. MUST ON-SCREEN COURTESY "©UEFA 2020".)

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER UNITED COACH, OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER, ON CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP, SAYING:

"Well, the group is still very open. We've got to nine (points), two (teams) on six, and Basaksehir on three. So, we still need points to go through, one probably, should be enough to go through and three probably gives you the win. So, it's going to be two - hopefully against PSG we can secure the points we need. But that's another matter. Edinson (Cavani) and Donny (van de Beek) did really well, both of them. Of course, I thought the who team played really well. We found our positions and the tempo on the ball was really good. So, we deserved the win, of course, after that first half. The second half was a little bit - it's always different and more difficult to keep the tempo up when you're winning 3-0."

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 24, 2020) (REUTERS STILLS VIA ACTION IMAGES - ACCESS ALL)

4. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF MANCHESTER UNITED'S, BRUNO FERNANDES, SCORING SIDES FIRST GOAL

5. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF RASHFORD SCORING A GOAL THAT WAS DISALLOWED FOR OFFSIDE

6. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF FERNANDES SCORING THE NIGHT'S SECOND GOAL

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 24, 2020) (UEFA - NO RESALES. NO COMMERCIAL USE. MUST ON-SCREEN COURTESY "©UEFA 2020".)

7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER UNITED COACH, OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER, ON IF HE GETS SURPRISED BY BRUNO FERNANDES' CONTRIBUTION TO THE TEAM, SAYING:

"Not really, no. Of course, we see him every day in training. We knew what we were going to get when we got Bruno to the team. He's a player who likes to take risks. He likes to create chances. He likes to score goals. He's a winner. He wants his team to win. So, and he wants the team to do well. And I think it showed today that he can do more than just take penalties."

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 24, 2020) (REUTERS STILLS VIA ACTION IMAGES - ACCESS ALL)

8. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF RASHFORD FALLING AFTER FOUL FROM BASAKSEHIR'S, BOLI BOLINGOLI-MBOMBO

9. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF RASHFORD SCORING OFF PENALTY

10. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF BASAKSEHIR'S, DENIZ TURUC, SCORING HIS SIDE'S ONLY GOAL OF THE NIGHT

11. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF MANCHESTER UNITED'S, DANIEL JAMES, CELEBRATING AFTER SCORING THEIR FOURTH GOAL OF THE NIGHT

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 24, 2020) (UEFA - NO RESALES. NO COMMERCIAL USE. MUST ON-SCREEN COURTESY "©UEFA 2020".)

12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER UNITED COACH, OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER, ON CHANGE WITH MIDFIELDERS AND IF THIS WILL CONTINUE WITH THE PREMIER LEAGUE, SAYING:

"Well, the focus is on Southampton (Premier League match on November 29), then we have PSG, so it goes. It's relentless and you don't have time to pick one or the other tournament here. It's the next game all the time. Of course, Donny (van de Beek) is a different type of centre midfielder. He can run forward more than, for example, if we have Scott (McTominay) in there. I was very pleased with the contribution. We need just to keep this form going. We're in very good form at the moment and I'm looking forward to some difficult games coming up."

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 24, 2020) (REUTERS STILLS VIA ACTION IMAGES - ACCESS ALL)

13. STILL PHOTOGRAPH SOLSKJAER SMILING ON PITCH DURING THE MATCH

STORY: A double from Bruno Fernandes helped Manchester United to a 4-1 win over Istanbul Basaksehir at Old Trafford on Tuesday (November 24), keeping them top of Champions League Group H.

After losing away to the Turkish side in the previous round of fixtures, the victory keeps United, with nine points from four games, on track to progress to the knockout stage, which they can reach with a win at home to Paris St Germain next week.

PSG, who beat RB Leipzig 1-0 on Tuesday, are second, level on six points with German side, while Basaksehir have three.

United started with an attacking lineup with Edinson Cavani as the central striker and Anthony Martial, Fernandes and Marcus Rashford in a trident behind him while Dutch midfielder Donny van de Beek was also handed a rare start.

Fernandes blasted United into a seventh-minute lead in spectacular fashion when a corner from Alex Telles was half-cleared to him on the edge of the area and his first-time drive whistled past Mert Gunok in the Basaksehir goal.

If the Turkish keeper was helpless to stop that effort he was clearly at fault for the second United goal, in the 19th minute, when he fumbled a cross from Telles, gifting Fernandes a simple tap-in.

Rashford then raced clear on to a long ball forward from Victor Lindelof, but Boli Bolingoli needlessly barged him over as he burst into the box and the United striker converted the penalty to make it 3-0.

Some eyebrows may have been raised that Fernandes, United's regular penalty taker who was on a hat-trick, did not take the kick.

The Portuguese, however, said after the game that he had promised Rashford the next penalty following his own twice-taken effort in the Premier League win over West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

Former Chelsea striker Demba Ba then had two great chances to get Basaksehir back in the game but he failed to find the target with a free header and then scuffed a shot from close-range.

Solskjaer opted to rest some of his key starters early in the second half with Mason Greenwood returning to the team as a substitute.

The Turkish side pulled a goal back in the 75th minute with a well-struck, left-footed free kick from Deniz Turuc which David De Gea did well to reach - but from behind the goal-line.

Basaksehir suddenly had some belief and United had a scare when Edin Visca struck the bar from distance, prompting Solskjaer to bring on Nemanja Matic to shore things up.

The game was put beyond doubt in stoppage time from a counter-attack, when Greenwood slipped the ball across to Dan James to slot home.

(Production: Kurt Michael Hall)