Champions League: Phil Jones Scores Slapstick Own-Goal As Man Utd Finish Second With Lacklustre Loss In Valencia (Photos & Video)

Alan Duffy

13th, December 2018

1 Comment

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Manchester United finished second in Group H after finishing up with a disappointing 2-1 defeat against Valencia at the Mestalla.

The Red Devils came into the game knowing a victory would see them finish top of the group above Juventus, thus avoiding a tricky last 16 clash with one of the competition’s group winners.

However, Jose Mourinho’s side were once again sub-par throughout the 90 minutes.

Indeed, they fell behind 17 minutes in when Carlos Soler was presented with the ball by Phil Jones and proceeded to lash it back from whence it came…

Valencia boss Marcelinho fielded a mix-and-match side, with his team already certain of a third-place finish, but they were a constant threat to a lacklustre United side.

That said, the visitors did have a great chance to equalise via Paul Pogba, only for the Frenchman to somehow miss from all of four yards out.

Early in the second half, the permanently unfortunate Jones afforded Valencia their second goal when he clumsily diverted a through-ball past Sergio Romero and into his own net from outside the box.

Romero was hardly blameless either, with the Argentinian ‘keeper excitedly charging out for no good reason…

Jones has now scored two goals for United and two against (i.e. own-goals) in the Premier League, as well as two goals for and two goals against in the Champions League, so he’s tied 4-4 overall.

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He is also the first United player to score a Champions League own-goal since Phil Jones…

United would get one back late on, with Marcus Rashford heading home a cross from fellow sub Ashley Young.

Juan Mata then almost secured a barely-deserved draw late on, but the Spaniard fired wide.

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The game would end in a 2-1 win for Valencia, a result which sees this underwhelming United outfit finish second in the group behind Juventus, who themselves suffered a surprise defeat against Young Boys in Switzerland.

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The Red Devils now face one of Barcelona, Dortmund, PSG, Porto, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the last last 16, while a heavyweight clash with Liverpool awaits this weekend.

Table: BBC Sport

Posted in Champions League, Man Utd, Photos, Videos

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1 Comment

  1. Carl says:

    I really want us get shamefully trashed 4×0 at home and 7×0 away to one of these big boys (Manchester United fan calling PSG “big boys”, that’s how far we came). Maybe then someone at United (the board) will wake up and do something. Just MAYBE.

    PS: Phil Jones is not a football player, someone needs to tell him that.

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