In the end, a comfortable evening for Manchester United.
A couple of penalties, dispatched by Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial, followed by Pogba’s second – a tidy finish from the edge of the area – saw United three up against Fenerbahce at the break. After it, Jesse Lingard added their fourth and final goal of the game.
Victory was theirs, all that remained was for Robin van Persie to mark his Old Trafford return with a goal.
And sure enough, he did.
With the game into its final ten minutes, the Dutchman got ahead of Luke Shaw in the United box and turned home a cross from the left from just inside the United six yard box.
Instantly, the United crowd (and old manager Sir Alex Ferguson) applauded their former striker, whose goals fired them to their last title in 2013. Van Persie acknowledged the ovation, one he probably wouldn’t have got had the game been a bit tighter…
Old Trafford rises as @Persie_Official nets on his @ManUtd return and there's even applause from Sir Alex. 👏 #UEL https://t.co/SkO4Vmtikc
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 20, 2016
United will face Fenerbahce again in a fortnight before playing host to another of Van Persie’s former clubs, Feyenoord. Their final group match sees them travel to Ukraine to play Zorya Luhansk. By that stage, Jose Mourinho will hope that qualification for the knockout stages will be assured.
