Town spurned a golden chance to win at Old Trafford and gain some ground in the relegation battle as they were beaten 3-2 by 10-man Manchester United. Jaden Philogene was gifted his first league goal for Town in the fourth minute by a defensive mix-up, but United went into a 2-1 lead through a Sam Morsy own goal and Matthijs de Ligt rebound. Two minutes before the break, Patrick Dorgu was shown a straight red card for a foul on Omari Hutchinson following a VAR review and Town levelled through Philogene’s second goal, a cross sneaking into the corner of the net. The game looked there for the Blues but after conceding a Harry Maguire header two minutes after the restart, United’s third goal from a set piece, they never seriously threatened to get back on terms at manager Kieran McKenna’s old club.

Town made two changes with former Red Devil Axel Tuanzebe and skipper Morsy returning to the side picked by McKenna, a United U18s and first-team coach before he joined the Blues.

Tuanzebe came back in his usual right-sided defensive role having missed Saturday’s 4-1 defeat to Spurs due to a one-match ban. Ben Godfrey, who replaced the DR Congo international at the weekend, dropped out of the squad.

Morsy replaced Kalvin Phillips, who suffered a calf problem against Tottenham and was not in the 20-man party, in midfield with Jens Cajuste fine despite hurting his ankle at the weekend.

United, who had nine first-team squad members injured, made two changes of their own from the team which drew 2-2 at Everton on Saturday with Noussair Mazraoui, who picked up a knock at Goodison Park, and Casemiro dropping to the bench and Leny Yoro and Alejandro Garnacho coming into the XI.

The game started in the heavy rain which had fallen most of the afternoon. And as against Spurs, the Blues began on the front foot, Jack Clarke playing a pass along the 18-yard line for Liam Delap, who took it into the box but scuffed his shot wide, the wet ball perhaps sliding off his foot.

But the Town fans in the corner at that end of the ground didn’t have to wait too long for a goal.

Dara O’Shea hit a long ball for Philogene but beyond the former Aston Villa man and Dorgu should have had an easy job of tidying up. However, the Danish international wing-back knocked it back towards goal but with keeper Andre Onana having advanced to within a few yards of him and Philogene was presented with the simplest chance of his career, tapping into an empty goal from a few feet.

The surprised but grateful Blues supporters delightedly celebrated Town’s first goal at Old Trafford since Chris Kiwomya netted in a 1-1 draw in 1992.

Shell-shocked United looked to hit back and in the 10th minute, a deep Bruno Fernandes corner from the left reached Maguire and Alex Palmer did well to push the ball away to his left. Diogo Dalot’s follow-up looped deep into the Stretford End.

The home side saw most of the ball, although without looking particularly convincing. However, on 22 they levelled.

A harsh free-kick was awarded against Cajuste on the left, the Sweden international having felt he won the ball. Fernandes whipped the ball over and Morsy, under the attention of Rasmus Hojlund, headed into his own goal. Town appeals for a foul fell on deaf ears with VAR confirming the equaliser, a decision which looked correct.

The Blues were making entreaties to referee Darren England at the other end on 25, Maguire appearing to pull back Delap inside the box as the striker held the ball up. But referee England and VAR again ruled against the Blues and a penalty would have been harsh.

And a minute later, United went in front from another Fernandes set piece. Maguire again won the corner delivery from the left, his header was stopped by Palmer, who also got down to his right to save Dalot’s subsequent effort, however, De Ligt was on hand to slam the rebound into the roof of the net.

United had been unconvincing but Town’s defending from set pieces even more so with Maguire having had his earlier opportunity in addition to the two goals.

However, having gained their lead, the home side were looking more at ease and in greater control. On 34 Morsy was booked for a foul on Joshua Zirkzee, the Egypt international’s eighth yellow card of the season with a 10th leading to a two-game ban.

Three minutes later, Philogene gifted the ball to Garnacho on the left, the Argentinian international taking it into the area before being outmuscled by Tuanzebe, unfairly according to the home fans and players but referee England showed no interest. Play continued and Palmer saved Dorgu’s effort from distance.

On 39, Garnacho broke towards the edge of the area in space before Tuanzebe came across to make an inch-perfect sliding challenge that the Manchester United forward clearly felt.

As the half moved into its final five minutes, Dorgu lunged in at Hutchinson on the touchline, catching the former Chelsea man, who was making his 50th start for the club, halfway up his shin.

Referee England initially gave nothing but VAR called him over to the screen and, after a lengthy review, Dorgu was shown a straight red card, the first opposition player to be dismissed during a Town game this season.

The footage was clear, Dorgu caught Hutchinson with his studs up halfway up his shin and once the referee had seen that, there was little doubt Dorgu would be on his way.

United immediately made a change, swapping Garnacho for Mazraoui as they sought to shore things up at the back.

But before the Moroccan had settled into the game, with the half in four minutes of injury time, the Blues got back on terms. Philogene crossed from the right towards Delap in the middle, the striker failed to get to get a touch but the ball curled into the corner of the net to send the Town fans wild once again.

There was just time for one more incident before the break, Hojlund clashing with O’Shea, leaving him on the floor, then trying to drag the Irishman up off the turf with the Dubliner clearly unimpressed. While the Town support called for a second red card, referee England booked both the United forward and Blues defender.

The Town fans cheered the whistle, while the home support booed off the referee, which seemed a little harsh given the nature of the red card.

Despite having been handed the lead so early on, the Blues never looked comfortable, even with United having looked lacking in confidence and belief.

Town’s failure to defend set pieces allowed the Red Devils the lead, before Dorgu’s red card changed the dynamic of the game in the final minutes, Philogene netting his second slightly fortuitous goal of the match.

However, three minutes after the restart, the Blues were made to pay for their weakness on set pieces once again. Fernandes sent over a corner from the right and Maguire was again left unmarked to pick his spot and plant a header beyond Palmer to make it 3-2.

Town looked to hit back again, Delap hitting a shot from just outside the area which deflected off a defender and out for a corner. Leif Davis’s flag-kick was headed away by Maguire.

But the Blues were unconvincing as they sought a second equaliser, although a Philogene strike from just outside the box was blocked

United worked a better chance on the hour, Philogene giving the ball away to Yoro, who got to the byline and crossed to Hojlund, who dummied but with no one behind him. However, Davis slammed it against a United player and not far behind.

Soon after Zirkzee had been booked for delaying a restart in the Blues final third, Cajuste saw an effort blocked.

Town had been disappointing since the break, the early goal appearing to have knocked the stuffing out of the, but in the 65th minute Clarke played in Cajuste on the left of the area and the on-loan Napoli man cut across the six-yard box to Philogene, but the earlier two-goal scorer bundled the ball out at a tight angle. Although it came to nothing, it was the Blues’ best football of the second half.

Town made a double change soon afterwards, Nathan Broadhead and Jack Taylor replacing Hutchinson, who had just undergone treatment for a knock, and Morsy. United swapped Hojlund for Casemiro.

On 73, Town worked a clever corner on the left, Clarke playing a short ball to Philogene as the winger came out from the box and the ex-Hull City man laid it off to Taylor on the edge of the area but the Irish international screwed his shot wide, much to his evident frustration.

The Blues were now seeing most of the ball but without the guile to find a way passed a United defence which was happy to soak up pressure and make the occasional break. And when they did so they looked more threatening than Town, Mazraoui sliding in just too late to reach at Fernandes cross from the left in the 78th minute.

Town, who had continued to make little headway, made another double change in the 81st minute, Davis and Tuanzebe coming off for George Hirst and Ben Johnson with Clarke going to left-back in a 4-2-2-2.

The Blues won three corners in quick succession, O’Shea heading wide at the far post from the third of them, Johnson having sent the ball over.

On 85, Delap challenged Manuel Ugarte strongly and Mazraoui, who had clashed with the Town striker at Portman Road, slammed into the England U21 international with the game briefly threatening to boil over. Referee England awarded a free-kick and booked both Delap and Mazraoui.

With the match in the first of four added minutes, the Blues switched Cajuste for Sammie Szmodics with play subsequently held up as stewards tackled a fan who had run out of the home end towards the pitch. United then switched Zirkzee and Yoro for Christian Eriksen and Victor Lindelof.

The ball was at the Town end in the closing stages, Johnson picking up a booking for a foul on Fernandes before referee England brought the game to a close.

A deeply disappointing evening for the Blues who will have no better chance to win at Old Trafford than the position they found themselves in at half-time and put in probably their worst 45 minutes of the season, given the context.

Having once again failed to defend a set piece just after the break, they never put the home side under any serious pressure despite the disparity in numbers with the performance lacking drive and guile as the home side dug in and held onto their lead, while looking significantly more dangerous on the break.

Town remain five points plus goal difference from safety following the midweek fixtures with the game another they may look back on as a missed opportunity should they be relegated in May.

Manchester United: Onana, De Ligt, Maguire, Yoro (Lindelof 92), Dalot, Ugarte, Fernandes (c), Dorgu, Garnacho (Mazraoui 45), Hojlund (Casemiro 67), Zirkzee (Eriksen 92). Unused: Harrison, Graczyk, Heaven, Eriksen, Obi.

Town: Palmer, Tuanzebe (Johnson 81), O’Shea, Greaves, Davis (Hirst 81), Morsy (c) (Taylor 66), Cajuste (Szmodics 91), Philogene, Hutchinson (Broadhead 66), Clarke, Delap. Unused: Muric, Woolfenden, Johnson, Townsend, Luongo. Referee: Darren England (Doncaster). VAR official: Craig Pawson. Att: 73,827.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters

JPR77 added 13:25 - Feb 27 I feel this season was a free hit for us of the back of 2 fantastic years and arguably, being promoted too soon. Much of the squad massively overachieved in the Championship and with no real PL experience brought in since then, it’s kind of understandable where we are. Even if it’s partially down to sh1t3 referees, keeper blunders etc, etc, we’re not underachieving against pre-season outside expectation. As disappointing as it is, I just pray we’re not exposed like we were the last time we were relegated (should it happen), following the money spent during the summer. Bouncing back to the PL won’t be straight forward and we will likely lose players like Delap, but there’s no point having him if we don’t have players capable of protecting the back four, dictating play and feeding our forward players. Last night we played side to side or backwards because Morsy doesn’t have the vision to unlock a defence. We’ve not done that too often all season, a lot of goals have come from running in deep. Even with the extra man, not once did we double up on their full backs. It questionable whether we believe we can beat these teams there for the taking. You wouldn’t think so with the way so many of these games have gone. Cajuste has been fantastic, runs his dogs off and I’d love to keep him, but we are desperately short in that area (the squad last night showed that) and we will need similar new players in MF if we are to have any chance of a promotion push next season and staying in the PL thereafter. Immensely proud to be a Tractor Boy and thought our fans were terrific again last night. We’ve won a lot of admiration this season so hopefully, this taste of PL football will make us hungrier, and the future is still bright. COYB!

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SuperTabby added 13:27 - Feb 27 Leejames. We should have won that match v Man Utd back in November. Onana made two outstanding saves from Delap. The goal they scored was due to a mistimed tackle on the halfway line (Cajuste I think) and Leif being a bit out of position. It was Amorim’s first game in charge and I think we weren’t sure what they were going to be doing. By no means was that a game in which we held them, they were lucky to come away from that game with a point. On any given day I’d say losing 3-2 to Man U away wouldn’t cause me any issue at all. They still have outstanding players, sure, but in the modern game where teams often go man to man, having 11v10 is such a massive advantage, typically it’s taken. I disagree with those saying we need to play x, y or z player. McKenna knows which line up to go with and that’s not the issue. The issue is poor performances, lack of belief, and not giving 100%. It was so obvious to anyone watching last night. We can shuffle the players around and try different systems, but none of that is working. We lack quality in this league, so it almost doesn’t matter what we try. But we’re not going to get any points if the players play like they did last night.

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dirtydingusmagee added 14:01 - Feb 27 KM has failed at Prem level ,The big test for him now will be can he still repeat his performance back in Championship.?.He is still new to being a manager and hopfully learning.Next season will certainly be intersting .
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ArnieM added 14:56 - Feb 27 Timmy H.... no i didn't, that was an oversight on my part. But you're right, what it does illustrate is McK almost feeling the need to justify the spending on these new players , so therfore feels he cant/ must not, drop them. If asked the question, he flatly deny it of course. But when you look at who he keeps picking despite the players bang average performances you'd be forgiven gor think he's afraid to drop the new recruits. I won't be at all surprised if we lose a few of our better more experienced players over the summer. Why would they stay?

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Gforce added 15:10 - Feb 27 Most will stay because they are on long contracts and we don't have to sell,end of.
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Leejames99 added 15:27 - Feb 27 New signings not being dropped lol like who? Luongo for Cajuste, Morsy for Phillips, Phillogene replaced by Broadhead, Delap replaced by Hirst, Greaves and O'Shea swapped for Woolf and Burgess, Hutchinson for Chaplin and Walton when fit for Palmer and when back again H Clarke for Tuazabe, Burns for Johnson and Al Hamadi for Szmodicks then Cam Humphries can replace J Clarke, loans can go we have Taylor and Baggot for bench wow all sorted then brilliant we only need loan few subs, sell the lot and pretend like this season was a blur and get back to league 1 asap with Dad's Army. Great progression, why don't you new signing haters tell Ashton and owners so they can get all their money back and that Captain Calmaity, Sicknote, tiny dancer, left back don't look back and Co are more than capable of keeping us in Prem how silly of them. I'm being sarcastic some of you actually believe that lol

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blueboy1981 added 16:46 - Feb 27 Would / Will we ever have a better chance of Promotion to, and staying, in the Premiership ? - we have had so many chances and opportunities to stay this season - and blown every single one. Last night v Man Utd another - completely thrown away, as if not interested !
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BangaloreBlues added 17:02 - Feb 27 Stay calm everyone. Man City will be given a 600-point deduction very soon, effective immediately, and we'll stay up! :-)
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blueboy1981 added 17:05 - Feb 27 A really tough time now for our Club Owners, I feel for them after putting their faith in a relatively non proven Young Manager, and giving him a lucrative long term contract, not forgetting the backing afforded him in signings. McKenna is therefore sitting comfortable enough whatever the outcome of this season, or beyond. It is the Owners who have to make a return on their investment in out Club worthwhile ! If he’s still with us next season, lets hope he proves himself somewhat more than he has this season. Because he hasn’t - we’ve progressively gone backwards since promising early season results / performances - and now look pretty much DIRE to be honest. Once a Blue always a Blue - but TRUTH will always be TRUTH also. And should never offend anyone !

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Leejames99 added 17:42 - Feb 27 Don't think the owners be too worried about their personal investment, you get around 85 million for going up plus 50 million parachute payment plus we would sell Delap no doubt for 40 million so doubled on him, sell Davis for 20 mill huge profit and we have a team of young established Championship proven players who have had taste of Prem and we continue the progression with those players, better stadium, better training, top Championship players with huge potential, old guard move on, Cam Humphries back, H Clarke back, new midfield (hopefully keep Cajuste) we be all good for a return and let's face it we are above Leicester and Southampton so who is there to fear in Championshio really. We can still stay up also with 33 points still to play for, Leicester and Southampton can beat Wolves, we still got 2 play 2 of them and our last 4 games are winnable. Maybe some regretting dropping Muric for Walton now, our goal diff was ok until then. Has to play new signings now and leave as many league ones. Iwith injuries we have 4--3-2-1 Palmer Tunazabe O'Shea Greaves Townsend Johnson Cajuste Davis Szmodicks Phillogene Delap No need for left wing if Davis plays in front of Townsend J Clarke Phillogene Szmodicks Delap

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dirtydingusmagee added 17:45 - Feb 27 Blueboy Mc Kenna did deliver we reached Prem fom lge1 but staying there ha always been a big ask and we at least have pp and another crack at it.Its disappointing to get relegated but we were only going to survive by a cats wisker if at all not as some expected top 6 .
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Gforce added 17:53 - Feb 27 Sorry but we'll definitely lose to Arsenal, Newcastle and Chelsea, so only 24 points to play for.
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blueboy1981 added 18:41 - Feb 27 dirtydingus’ ….. but he has failed miserably at Prem’ level - 17th should have been achievable without expecting too much after his previous. Anyone predicting Too 6 were indeed ‘off their head’. We’ve had every chance and opportunity to achieve 17th - the bottom third of the Prem’ teams have been no great shakes at all. I cannot see us having a better chance than we’ve had now - we waited long enough for it ! How long will the next ‘wait’ be - predicting a quick return may well be another ‘off the head’ potential prediction. I genuinely hope we come back strongly - but much, much water has to, and will, pass under our bridge before then. Take NOTHING for granted with Relegation.

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Leejames99 added 18:43 - Feb 27 Anyone can beat anyone in Prem but all games will be tough, let's see at end of season, up or down we are okay
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SickParrot added 19:27 - Feb 27 Our rapid rise from league 1 to Premier League in two years was always going to make staying up unlikely. However our early season peformances gave me hope that Kieran might perform another miracle. There were of course a few games where we were blown away but for the most part we were competitive and were close to winning many games. Kieran was confident that we would improve throughout the season, so I began to believe that we could actually stay up. Our drop in performance levels and the consequential failure to win a game in 2025 has therefore been a big disappointment. I was always worried that our policy of (almost exclusively) signing top Championship players (mostly young) to bolster the double promotion squad was risky. I felt that we needed a few experienced Premier League players to help the younger players. We did sign Phillips of course but because of his inactivity at City and his poor form at West Ham that was always a gamble. We signed Johnson too but he was out of favour at West Ham. Unfortunately neither has brought the quality and influence we hoped for. I believe that relegation is now inevitable but remain hopeful that we can return to the Premier League in August 2026. When we do come back up, I hope that Mark Ashton and Kieran (if he is still manager) will have learned from our struggles this season and will try to sign three or four current quality Premier League players in the summer transfer window to give us a better chance of staying up next time.

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Carberry added 20:58 - Feb 27 'Anyone can beat anyone in Premier League' Leejames99, are you including us in that statement? I honestly think we have proven it doesn't apply to us. The point about the owners, which Blueboy points out, is not about how much money might drop into our laps from parachute payments and sales, it is about the value of the business (sorry to have to use that word). The Americans were convinced by Ashton that this was a club going places, which indeed it has but when we drop a division and our value falls with it they won't be sitting around puffing on their cigars saying in McKenna we trust, they will be demanding to know wtf has gone on. They will be saying we sanctioned more than £130M of spending so you could succeed in this Premier League and make our investment safe, you have failed and suddenly the return on our investment doesn't exist, with no guarantee it will return. That's the reality of sports big business and it's brutal. Who knows what's next?

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blueboy1981 added 21:41 - Feb 27 Carberry - absolutely spot on that - but unfortunately to some it’s obviously not in their line of thinking, or consideration ! With what now looks certain, what lies ahead could potentially wake a few up !!
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Leejames99 added 04:12 - Feb 28 @Carberry we beat Chelsea and Tottenham, drew with top teams etc We beat Spurs next game they beat City. I have not a clue where you and Blueboy get all this rubbish about fuming owners and losing money etc they didnt even think for one minute we would be in Prem it was not in anyone's plans, I've said it loads wr been out of the Prem 22 years so if you think we should stay up who goes down in your opinion. The board, Ashton and Mckenna and the owners have been really clever and astute in what they have done, the ground is now Prem standard , top class training facilities and bar Whittaker and Bellingham and couple Leeds players we have the Championship team of the year. They bought them to give us the best hope of coming back up but with a team who have been together for a couple of seasons, as if they put all their eggs in one basket.if we had finished mid table last year we would of been happy as would the owners. What experienced Prem players were going to come to the team favourite for relegation, can't believe we got Phillips and Cajuste really. Do you eant to watch us struggling with Burnley and sheff Utd next year losing every week again or watch our new stats becoming a team with winning mentality and a promotion pushing season which should be fairly straight forward for us, we are no Luton. 3 have to go down and 3 up and many clubs have gone up and down some never returned true, Norwich, Luton, Watford etc but they weren't clever like Toen have been. Our club up or down is in a very good position and the new players will be great, the lads from Dad's Army will go and a new era begins, I still think if we bench those league 1 lads and field team from Villa game we can stay up with new signings, keep Delap on for 90 mins with Szmodicks, Hirst no good in this league 1 goal and 3 SOT in 15 games atrocious when you think people like John Duran, Ayew etc. Maybe before posting rather than presume things have a look at the stays and the interviews with Ashton and owners. Relegation was planned for the moment we knew we were going up, too soon but gave us the money to buy the cream of the Championshup who all have the potential to be stars of the Premiership.

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Carberry added 09:19 - Feb 28 Thanks Leejames99, I don't agree with anything you say.
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