Manchester United vs. Zorya Luhansk: At Least Twitter Was Funny

Manchester United vs. Zorya Luhansk will not go down in the annals of classic European nights at Old Trafford. With Daley Blind's artistry on the ball replaced by the ever-lacklustre Marcos Rojo and Ander Herrera replaced by a once-again misfiring Marouane Fellaini, the balance of Jose Mourinho's team did not look right.

There was endeavour from Marcus Rashford, of course, and a shot that threatened to crack the crossbar in two. Eventually Wayne Rooney came on as a substitute and managed to earn boundless praise from BT Sport's co-commentator Robbie Savage for a miscue of which the United captain should be ashamed.

Fortunately for Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is very tall, so latched on to Rooney's awful shank of a shot and that was enough to earn United a scrappy, just-about-deserved three points.

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

In fairness to Mourinho and his players, it is clear the Europa League is a long way down the pecking order of priorities. Sergio Romero played in goal here, the clearest possible signal that could be sent. If you choose to play Romero over David De Gea, it is clear winning at all costs is not on the agenda. This is unlikely to be the last underwhelming outing for the Red Devils in this competition.

That brings us to Twitter.

As the last few years have proved, while Manchester United fans gathering on Twitter to celebrate wins and trophies can be uplifting, fun and offer a genuine sense of community spirit, Manchester United fans gathering on Twitter when their team is bad always brings out the funniest material.

Gallows humour is an integral part of British culture. Manchester is a particular hotbed. United fans in general are often pretty good at it.

If you can't get to the game, then watching underwhelming matches is much better with a good social media accompaniment. Given that the football was not really worth analysing—if United do not really care about it, why should we?—it seemed fans' social media output on Twitter seemed a more fitting subject for analysis.

We start at the beginning. Remember yesterday? Before the game when everything seemed possible, when we were all one day younger and one day less wise? This photograph captures that spirit. Old Trafford looked resplendent in the autumn evening.

OK, it's the Europa League logo in the centre circle, lending the whole thing a slightly surreal edge given we are more used to seeing its Champions League equivalent, but still, it is a photograph that is full of promise and expectation. Sadly, the football did not live up to its beautifully lit stage.

This was the first sign that perhaps this was not going to be a great evening. After the game, Mourinho was asked what had happened by BT Sport (h/t Samuel Luckhurst of Manchester Evening News). He replied: "You know set pieces, organisation. They changed their team before the game, and Paul [Pogba] was a bit confused with the changes. And obviously I want my assistants to care of all the details."

From beautiful pure expectation to a shouting match on the touchline...not an ideal trajectory for pre-match optimism.

That aforementioned gallows humour? Three minutes in and we have a fine example. Rojo is deeply unpopular among United fans at the moment. His presence in the side is an almost constant worry—a mistake always seems to be coming.

Zorya had clearly been watching Watford—they worked an opening by this exact means, but the finish was not there this time, and United stayed level.

It will be again on another night. It was not during this one. This tweet, though, is a reminder of the promise that the beginning of the night held.

"

Pogba. Is. The. Best.

— Eli (@MrScripto) September 29, 2016"

Pogba started the game in excellent form. Eventually, devoid of the platform offered to him against Leicester by the presence of Herrera and Blind, he drifted out of the game, but for a spell in the first half, he was magnificent.

Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. On second thoughts, maybe he drifted out of the game because he caught a glimpse of this shirt and decided to spend some time reconsidering his life choices.

Jesse Lingard's Snapchats are one of the best things about being a United fan so far this season. OK, that may be a slight exaggeration, but they are definitely worth a watch. He had a bad night on the pitch, but there is plenty of affection for him.

It is fair to say Zorya represented a pretty unknown quantity before the game. That was still broadly the case by the end of the game. While they were well-organised and squeezed the space around United's strikers pretty effectively, they were clearly not at the Red Devils' level, even on an off day.

Even when this game was as bad as it ended up being, it is hard not to get excited seeing this photo. Better things are clearly on the horizon for the club.

Rashford's crashing shot against the bar was nearly a truly magical moment and was inevitably further cause for reflection on just how good this player is. He has become absolutely integral to United already, and other than managing his physical development, there is no reason he should not be in the side every week.

He's not, Arun. It's that simple.

Remember back at the three-minute mark when Rojo had not really seen much of the ball? By now he had, and people were understandably unhappy about it.

Fair to say that not all United fans were delighted to see the captain's return.

Rooney's arrival did, of course, make a nearly immediate impact. Some brilliant No. 10 work from Juan Mata found Timothy Fosu-Mensah on the right. Fosu-Mensah fired a nearly perfect ball into Rooney—though Savage, bizarrely desperate to absolve Rooney of all wrongdoing, repeatedly talked about it being hit too hard.

Rooney scuffed his shot off his knee in what would have been a genuinely embarrassing manner, but Ibrahimovic scored. Twitter made up for the lack of criticism Rooney got on television.

Moments later and United's captain had brought a very promising counter-attack to an end with a badly overhit pass under no immediate pressure.

Rooney's United career might not be over. There might be another chapter to come, but for now it is abundantly clear the first team is better off without him. A lucky ricochet off a mishit does not make up for that.

It does not bear thinking about, Lauren. Here is to many better games in the future, safe in the knowledge, though, that even if the games are bad, United fans will still find a way to have fun. The Europa League is not going to serve up the best footballing fare, but away from the pitch, there is plenty to enjoy.