Feyenoord got their Europa League campaign off to the perfect start on Thursday with a 1-0 win over Manchester United in De Kuip.
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The return of European football to Rotterdam after a years absence was witnessed by a half full De Kuip because of the sanctions placed on the club by UEFA. Those who made it into De Kuip witnessed a tepid first half, as Manchester United, who made eight changes for the game struggled to find cracks in an impressively organised Feyenoord defence.
Chances were few and far between but after 24 minutes Anthony Martial should have opened the scoring when he controlled the ball on the edge of the box, but could only fire wide. At the other end, David de Gea was rarely troubled but had to make a save from Jens Toornstra as Feyenoord ended the half strongly.
The second half began much like the first and eventually Jose Mourinho took action with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Memphis Depay and Ashley Young all appearing from the bench with half an hour to go, but they failed to make an impact and it was Feyenoord who found the initiative. On 79 minutes Bilal Basacikoglu sent Nicolai Jorgensen down the line, and although the striker looked offside play was allowed to continue and his cross was finished calmly by Tonny Vilhena.
A late free kick from Zlatan was saved by Jones as Feyenoord held on for a famous victory. The win puts Feyenoord at the top of the table with Fenerbahce and Zorya drawing 1-1 in Ukraine.
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BIG WIN today! We all should send JM a thank you card. he completely screwed Man U today. We will take it!