– What really happened this November evening in the king’s city?, asked TV 2 commentator Øyvin Alsaker after Roony Bardghji made it 4-3 in Copenhagen. The Swedish 17-year-old put an end to a wild football match. For the English giant, both led 1–0, 2–0 and 3–2, but had to go home to Manchester nicely with zero points and a suspended Marcus Rashford in the bag. The striker’s dismissal completely changed the nature of the match. – Never in the world if there is a red card for Rashford! Hate these slow motion replays and stills that make everything look ten times worse, wrote Sky pundit and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher on X/Twitter. Manchester United were leading comfortably 2–0 and had delivered a near perfect 1st half when the incident occurred. Rasmus Højlund had shaken his old club with two goals – and was closer to his third than the hosts were. Then it turned around. Rashford looked to shield the ball, but put his left foot on the ankle of Elias Jelert Kristensen. The red card was shown after an assessment of the TV images. – It is not possible that it is red for Rashford, wrote Arsenal legend Ian Wright. Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford had to leave the field when he was sent off for this tackle in the match against Copenhagen. Those moves were immediately met with opposition in TV 2’s break studio: – Former footballers this, you know. They don’t know the rules. You cannot break the ankles of the opponents, said TV 2 expert Morten Langli. – Yes, clumsy. Yes, unfortunate. But also a good red card in my eyes, was Jesper Mathisen’s verdict. Would you give a red card to Marcus Rashford? Yes, definitely an expulsion. No, it was unfortunate. I am unsure. Show result Equalized lightning fast Three minutes after the sending off – in the 45th minute – Mohamed Elyounoussi sent Parken into the sky. The Norwegian reduced the score to 1–2 in the last regular minute of the half. – Game on!, exclaimed TV 2 expert and former Copenhagen champion Brede Hangeland. STARTED THE TURNOVER OPERATION: Mohamed Elyounoussi. Photo: RITZAU SCANPIX DENMARK / Reuters And in the seventh of 13 extra minutes, the visitors were once again unlucky. The ball bounced up into Harry Maguire’s arm after a cross. Penalty kick to the Danes – after strong reactions from the United camp. – “What should I do”, says Bruno Fernandes – and that is a good argument. But that arm under the current regulations is the hand, Hangeland determined. Diogo Goncalves safely dispatched the penalty in the goal to make it 2–2. Crazy finish The whites saw that all three points were within reach. Manchester United laid low and did what they could to hang on to the point. And then they got a golden opportunity almost out of nowhere. Harry Maguire headed the ball into the arm of Lukas Lerager after a free kick. After a trip to the touchline, the referee pointed to the penalty mark. Bruno Fernandes put the ball hard into the goal to make it 3-2 with just over 20 minutes left. But where Maguire made up for his hand by earning a penalty, Lerager stepped up. The midfield giant scored 3-3 in the 83rd minute. And then Bardghij stole the headlines after making it 4-3 just a few minutes later. SWEDISH HERO: Roony Bardghji. Photo: RITZAU SCANPIX DENMARK / Reuters
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