This emotional occasion climaxed with Manchester United fans rising to a chant of “Stand up for the Busby Babes”. They had saluted the late Sir Bobby Charlton during the game, and very powerfully before it, and their struggling team belatedly, briefly, found some of the qualities associated with vastly superior teams in red of decades gone by — mainly resilience.
United were full of flaws but full of fight when it mattered. When United were really labouring here, Christian Eriksen came on to give some leadership on the ball.
When United urgently needed a goal to revive their Champions League group A hopes, a player seemingly headed for the exit, Harry Maguire, headed them away from a possible group-stage exit. When United craved a goalkeeper to provide stoppage-time defiance, with past greats like Alex Stepney and Peter Schmeichel watching on, the oft-criticised André Onana made a stunning save from the penalty-taking Jordan Larsson, son of Henrik. History is never far away here.
United celebrated with utter abandon and with total legitimacy. Maguire has been questioned constantly and has slipped down the pecking order, even seeing full backs starting ahead of him, but he’s a proud, determined individual and he simply wanted the ball more than his marker, Rasmus Falk, when Eriksen’s inviting cross came in after 71 minutes. Maguire has now gone from unwanted to undroppable.
Eriksen’s usefulness has also been scrutinised but he brought precision and more urgency to United’s passing. Onana has been pilloried for occasional mistakes but he kept United in the game early in the second half with a marvellous stretching save to deny Lukas Lerager and then preserved all the points by reading Larsson’s intentions.
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The worry for United is that their next game is against Manchester City, and that their attack of Antony, Rasmus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford has forgotten how to score — and Rashford is diffidence personified compared with his confident England persona. Bruno Fernandes has also lost his creative spark. United’s past five goals have come from Scott McTominay (three), Diogo Dalot and Maguire. The attack needs to sharpen its cutting edge.
But there was a resolve that delighted and relieved the United faithful. They could not have stomached defeat, even a draw here. For this was about so much more than a game. This was about mourning a club legend and doing his memory proud. United fans walked in their tens of thousands down Sir Matt Busby Way, pausing to let the police filter the FC Copenhagen supporters through, then continuing to the Trinity statue to pay their respects to Charlton.
Some leant over the barricades to take pictures and gently throw flowers. Others joined the queue to get closer, clutching red roses and lilies, lovingly folded shirts and scarves which they then laid on the spreading field of tributes to Charlton. “Up on God’s pitch now, re-United with the Babes,” one message read.
Parents shuffled past, talking to offspring, explaining why Sir Bobby was so special: the goals, the glory, the values. One couple left some lilies with a scribbled homage to Charlton that spoke for all present: “Manchester United was everything to you, and you were everything to Manchester United; thank you for everything you did for the club; you will never be forgotten, a legend for ever”.
Another fan had placed a photo of him with Charlton and a few words about meeting his hero, playing pool with him, recalling: “What a memory to have. You made my love of Manchester United even stronger.” That summed up Charlton: that kindness and thoughtfulness to strangers and friends alike.
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He transcended football’s tribal rivalries. Among the many United mementoes was a Manchester City scarf and a Liverpool shirt adorned with the felt-tipped words: “Rest In Peace, Bobby Charlton. The Kop. Anfield.” Inside the stadium, One Bobby Charlton rang out even before Erik ten Hag strode out holding a wreath. United’s manager was flanked by Charlton’s old team-mate Stepney and a representative of the academy that Charlton so passionately supported, the youth-team captain, Dan Gore.
Silence then enveloped Old Trafford, broken only by the haunting swirl from a lone piper. Then came the thunderous applause in Charlton’s memory, waves of sound rolling down from the stands, from all corners.
The opening whistle from the Italian referee, Marco Guida, changed all that. “You’re shit and you know you are,” 2,000 Danes chanted in perfect Anglo-Saxon towards the United fans. “Is this a library?” they inquired when United fans had fallen quiet, shocked by the inadequacies of their team in the first half.
The away team were not standing on ceremony. Elias Achouri and Diogo Gonçalves threatened early on. United were poor. As the wreath was being carried up and placed on Charlton’s seat in the directors’ box, the players in red shirts struggled to live up to his famous legacy. United lacked spark in the first half, lacked any speed or urgency in transition. It felt almost an act of mercy by Guida when he ended a wretched half after 44 minutes and 43 seconds. The flurry of boos could have been for United’s poor ball-keeping as much as Guida’s timekeeping.
Ten Hag must have got into his players at the break. Having replaced Sofyan Amrabat, Eriksen was denied by Kamil Grabara. Rashford went through, was sent flying by Grabara but was denied by an offside flag. Alejandro Garnacho came on for Antony, going left with Rashford switching right. Garnacho brought some energy.
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United were posing more of a threat and Maguire and his team deserved his goal after 71 minutes. Copenhagen scrambled away Fernandes’s corner from the right but only to Dalot, who was 30 yards out, right of centre. Dalot cushioned the ball to Eriksen, who saw that Maguire had stayed up and crossed perfectly to the far post. Maguire was too strong in mind and body for Falk. It felt as if Maguire was pouring all his frustration over his stalled club career into this moment, powering into the ball, sending an unstoppable header past Grabara. He ran towards the United fans, sliding on his knees, then rising and thumping the United crest on his shirt.
United fans began singing about the Busby Babes. McTominay then fouled Mohamed Elyounoussi, Garnacho did some discreet gardening around the penalty spot and Larsson’s kick was well saved by Onana. Redemption and relief rolled through Old Trafford on a truly emotional evening on and off the field.
Manchester United (4-3-3): A Onana 8 — D Dalot 6, R Varane 6, H Maguire 7, S Reguilón 5 (V Lindelof 63min, 6) — B Fernandes 6, S Amrabat 5 (C Eriksen 45, 7), S McTominay 5 — Antony 5 (A Garnacho 63, 6), R Hojlund 6 (A Martial 86), M Rashford 5. Booked McTominay, Fernandes.
Copenhagen (4-3-3): K Grabara 8 — P Ankersen 7, D Vavro 7, K Diks 6, E Jelert 7 (C Sorensen 77) — L Lerager 6, R Falk 7, D Gonçalves 6 (J Larsson 85) — M Elyounoussi 7, V Claesson 6 (O Oskarsson 77), E Anchouri 6 (O Hojlund 91).
Referee M Guida. Attendance 75,635.
