The Portuguese scored the late winner as Manchester United came from two goals down to beat Atalanta 3-2 at Old Trafford. The Red Devils surged to the top of Group F as a consequence – three points ahead of the Serie A side.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side again fell behind by two goals, to begin with, due to some glaring defensive lapses. Mario Pasalic gave Atalanta the lead in the 15th minute, turning in a cross from Davide Zappacosta after losing his marker inside the box.
United had failed to deal with the opposition’s attack initially, allowing the Serie A side to recycle the ball and take advantage of the Red Devils being out of shape. Merih Demiral doubled La Dea’s lead in the 29th minute, capitalizing on some poor marking from a corner before flicking the ensuing delivery past David De Gea.
Demiral made a goal-saving challenge at the other end just before half-time after Marcus Rashford had raced clear of Atalanta’s high line and was winding up to shoot. The forward hit the crossbar from a tight angle in stoppage time of the first period.
Manchester United came roaring back after the interval, and Rashford pulled a goal back in the 53rd minute. The forward latched onto Bruno Fernandes’ outside-of-the-boot pass, opened his body to make a favorable angle, and calmly slotted the ball past the goalkeeper.
The Red Devils were level in the 75th minute through Harry Maguire, who turned in Fernandes’ cross at the back post after Atalanta had failed to clear their lines from a corner.
Ronaldo came up big for his manager and his team in the 81st minute when he rose highest to head in a Luke Shaw delivery. Once again, Atalanta had failed to convincingly clear their lines after a corner – and the Red Devils took advantage of the situation.
