Basel 1-0 Manchester United:

[bennythedip2]

Red Devils defeated (November 22nd 2017)

Manchester United were denied a place in the Champions League knockout phase as Michael Lang's late strike secured Basel a memorable, and deserved, 1-0 victory.

Jose Mourinho's men started Group A with four successive victories and could have qualified without even kicking a ball had CSKA Moscow failed to beat Benfica in the early kick-off.

It still appears a case of when rather if United reach the last-16, but Basel's late winner means progress is not yet completely certain ahead of the Russians' visit to Old Trafford next month.

Mourinho's men still boast a three-point cushion but things could have been so different had his side showed cutting edge in the first half.

Marouane Fellaini saw a header cleared off the line and Anthony Martial's cross hit the post, with Marcos Rojo seeing an outrageous long-range effort deflected onto the bar on his return from a cruciate ligament injury after 216 days out.

The visitors dominated the opening period but tailed off markedly after the break as Basel repeated their memorable win on United's last visit to St Jakob-Park in 2011.

Lang hit the woodwork as Sergio Romero's goal was met by wave after wave of attacks, with United's defence eventually buckling in the 89th minute as Raoul Petretta's cross was turned home by Lang.

Jose Mourinho was left frustrated after Manchester United were caught cold by Basel and forced to wait to secure their place in the Champions League last-16 stage.

"We played against a team that played with five defenders," Mourinho said. "We knew that.

"We tried to play with three attacking players and that worked in the first half because they couldn't handle us.

"We didn't score in the second half probably (because of) the fact that we know one point is enough.

"Probably (when) at 75 minutes, 80 minutes we didn't score, so it is not time to try to win, it is now time to try control and in the end we lost.

"So it's hard for me to be upset with the players. The first half the attitude was good, the football was good.

"It is really difficult to blame. It's just football."

United lost on their last visit to St Jakob-Park six years ago and head coach Raphael Wicky was pleased by Basel's performance.

"I don't want to talk too much about the opponent," the head coach said. "We deserved the victory. We played hard and deserved this victory."