Manchester United’s brief unbeaten streak came to an abrupt end at Old Trafford as they lost (1-0) to Real Sociedad to begin their Europa League campaign.
In a scoreless first half, neither team could find the back of the net, but Cristiano Ronaldo did have a thunderous header disallowed as offside.
After Lisandro Martinez was found to have handled a shot within the penalty area in the 58th minute, Brais Mendez scored from the penalty spot to give Real Sociedad the lead.
United made adjustments in an effort to save their recent four-match winning streak, but they were unable to summon a response.
For Ronaldo, who is now 37, there aren’t many firsts left in football, but he made history on Thursday night.
The Portuguese football icon made his Europa League debut after nearly two decades of Champions League competition, but things did not exactly go as planned.
Christiano Ronaldo appeared older for the first time since his comeback to the team 12 months ago.
After being let through on goal by Sociedad defenders in the first half, he was swiftly boxed out and appeared slow all night.
The United No. 7 had a terrible evening knowing the caliber of player he is and is now set to return to the bench after failing to capitalize on his opportunity to shine.
Interestingly, he played the entire 90 minutes, as opposed to league games where he typically enters in the second half. Nevertheless, his performance was nothing to write home about.
