It just had to be about him. José Mourinho was shown a red card against Manchester United for protesting when he thought his side should have been awarded a penalty at Fenerbahce, but saw them salvage a point thanks to a Youssef En-Nesyri equalizer after falling behind after the opener by Christian Eriksen.

The result – a third straight draw in this competition – leaves Erik ten Hag’s side sandwiched between Viktoria Plzen and Elfsborg in the Europa League play-off positions, after the Dutchman strangely decided to use Noussair Mazraoui in an unusual attacking move. to play a role. The United manager will point to a vastly improved performance from a team that has conceded 17 goals in its last five away games in Europe, although it could have been worse had Mourinho’s pleas not fallen on deaf ears. After losing 3-0 here in 2004 under Sir Alex Ferguson, United at least emerged relatively unscathed this time – unlike their former employee.

Ten Hag has described the Europa League as “a big goal for us” this season, but he pulled off a surprise with his starting line-up by choosing Mazraoui to replace suspended captain Bruno Fernandes. The Moroccan, who has played in a more advanced position at times for Ajax, was involved in the build-up to Eriksen’s goal but otherwise seemed confused by his new role and it was quickly abandoned as Fenerbahce equalised. Mourinho’s meltdown came shortly afterwards and the match died down afterwards, although not before substitute Antony was sent off with a serious-looking injury.

Mazraoui was one of four changes from United’s victory over Brentford last weekend, with Rasmus Højlund having to settle for a place on the bench despite scoring the winner in that match. Ten Hag explained that the Danish striker needs to “build up his fitness” after returning from injury. United looked much more dangerous with the more orthodox formation that played out the match but still couldn’t create much despite Alejandro Garnacho’s best efforts.

It wasn’t just in the away dugout that there were familiar faces, with former United midfielders Fred and Sofyan Amrabat among several former Premier League players in the Fenerbahce team. This city has rarely been kind to its visitors over the years, dating back to the infamous ‘Welcome to Hell’ match against Galatasaray in 1993. Some United fans suffered minor injuries on Wednesday night when they were targeted by some Fenerbahce ultras. There was an intimidating atmosphere at a venue where they had only won once before – in October 1996 when David Beckham and Eric Cantona scored in a 2-0 victory.

United had clearly been tasked with trying to pacify the home crowd but could have fallen behind early on when former QPR full-back Bright Osayi-Samuel opted to shoot from a tight angle rather than pass. André Onana then had to be alert to push away a Sebastian Szymanski cross as the hosts began to build up steam with Mourinho probing around his technical area.

But his mood only worsened as United took the lead through Eriksen’s smart finish after a fast break involving Garnacho, Mazraoui and Joshua Zirkzee. The home fans and their manager believed that two fouls had been committed in the build-up, but the referee, Clément Turpin, thought differently.

Marcus Rashford was inches away from doubling United’s lead after squeezing into the area, but it took an incredible block from Manuel Ugarte to deny Dusan Tadic after Onana sent a cross straight to him and left the open goal open. The Fenerbahce fans could not believe their bad luck as Onana made two brilliant saves – the first reminiscent of Gordon Banks against Brazil – to deny En-Nesyri with close-range headers as their side ended the half on a positive note.

Mourinho’s reaction to the double save left the Portuguese rubbing his eyes in disbelief and he took a moment to congratulate the Cameroonian goalkeeper in the tunnel as he went out for the second half. But Onana could do nothing about En-Nesyri’s equalizer after Allan Saint-Maximin found space on the left flank and delivered a pinpoint cross to the Moroccan’s forehead.

Ten Hag responded by abandoning his Mazraoui experiment and throwing at Højlund and Casemiro, but the moment of controversy in the match arrived shortly afterwards. Osayi-Samuel went down under a stiff challenge from Ugarte, but Turpin waved away the protests. Mourinho appeared shocked when he was shown a red card for protesting and it took a while before he left the pitch before taking his place in the stands. Rashford was then guilty of an embarrassing aerial shot after being set up by Diogo Dalot’s strong run when it looked certain he would restore United’s lead as Mourinho, not for the first time in his career, showed his emotions allowed to gain the upper hand.