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MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – Manchester United's Marouane Fellaini beat the controversial stoppage winner to bring blessed relief to Old Trafford after his 1-0 win over the Young Boys in the English Channel on Tuesday at 16.
United's struggles at home and the disenchantment of their fans seemed likely to continue as it seemed that for the first time in their history, they would not score in their European draw in three consecutive games.
However, after largely dominating the match while being betrayed by a dull tip, the Belgian Fellaini turned to the center in the 91st minute, while the ball seemed to escape him as he pivoted to the hit.
"For me, it was not a handball," he told BT Sport. "If it touched my hand, it was not done on purpose."
United, however, was also grateful for the right hand of goalkeeper David de Gea, who made a really remarkable save in the second half after a deflected shot by Ulisses Garcia, who scratched the ball at the end of the line.
It was so great that United's manager, Jose Mourinho, was even hailed as "the best goalkeeper in the world".
The backup came as the Swiss champions gained confidence in the second half, encouraged by United's mundane efforts, who struggled to create opportunities and spoil the little they had fashioned.
Marcus Rashford, one of their most dynamic players, was also the most missed of their five missed opportunities, including an outstanding one in the first five minutes.
The relief around Old Trafford when Fellaini made his mark on the legs of defender Loris Benito was so pronounced that one Mourinho, moved, got up and threw the cup holder furiously at the edge of the lawn.
The belated victory after another mediocre performance at least allowed United to qualify in Group H when he rose to 10 points, two behind Juventus, who beat Valencia 1-0 to eliminate the Spaniards who have five . Young boys are on one.
THE STATS OF MOURINHO
"The most important is to qualify and for some of my lovers and those who love statistics, I have 14 seasons in the Champions League and 14 times my teams have qualified until the group stage", Mourinho told BT Sport.
"The season when I was not in the Champions League, I won the Europa League."
On a wet night at Old Trafford, with the sight of 3,000 spectators all coming in yellow to cheer on the underdogs, United started brilliantly, although Mourinho left Paul Pogba on the bench and omitted Alexis Sanchez.
The Frenchman scored twice during the match in Bern when United won 3-0 and it seemed from the start that Rashford was the victim of a tête-à-tête with goalkeeper David von Ballmoos, as if it could be a comfortable night for the guests.
In quarter-hour, Rashford forced Von Ballmoos to make another powerful stop and fired 10 minutes later to score a wide gap. His exciting game was betrayed by a bad finish, while United began to perform a now familiar performance.
The Young Boys barely created an opportunity, but could have taken advantage just before half-time, without Djibril Sow's attempt to give an elaborate finish to the back of the heel.
The Rashford rout went on after the break, when he cut off the left foot before Fellaini landed another volley opportunity to the sky.
All this prompted visitors to come out of their shells and Garcia forced De Gea's incredible stoppage, with Switzerland appearing more and more dangerous.
"We are grateful to David for making an incredible stop, but we dug in, continued and, okay, it was not good but we won the match." said defender United Phil Jones.
"It takes some pressure off Spain but we have to finish the group strongly."
(Report by Ian Chadband, edited by Ken Ferris)
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