Manchester United were gone after 17 minutes. Matías Soulé finished a Rodrigo Mora pass to put Roma in front on 11 minutes, and when Ayden Heaven handled Soulé's effort in the box, Donyell Malen sent Senne Lammens the wrong way from the penalty spot six minutes later. It was the earliest any visiting team has ever scored twice at Old Trafford in major European competition.
It could have been worse by the break. Lammens palmed away a Malen drive and Soulé curled one just past the post with the last kick of the half. United were booed off, and Michael Carrick — coaching for his job after nine games without a win — looked out of road.
The second half was a different team, even after Carlos Baleba went off with a hamstring injury shortly after the restart. Gianluca Mancini brought Cunha down in the box, and Bruno Fernandes got two goes at the penalty: debutant goalkeeper Devis Vásquez, Roma's third choice, saved the first, but Bryan Cristante had encroached to clear the rebound, so it was retaken. Fernandes put the second into the roof of the net on 58 minutes. A minute later Bryan Mbeumo hit both posts.
United kept coming. Harry Maguire and Diogo Dalot were both denied on the line. Then, on 83 minutes, Leonardo Balerdi scuffed his clearance of a Fernandes cross straight to Cunha, who turned it in from close range and grabbed the ball to run it back. Three minutes later Shea Lacey played him in and Cunha drove the winner in off the near post from a tight angle. The full match archive is in the Game Center.
The finish had one more twist. Cunha was booked for taking his shirt off in the celebration, then shown a second yellow in the first minute of stoppage time for a late tackle on Balerdi. United held on with ten men.
The numbers tell the split. United produced 0.24 expected goals in the first half and 2.48 in the second, with ten shots after the break while Roma did not manage a sight of Lammens' goal. It is the first time United have come from two down at half-time to win a Champions League game since October 2021, when they beat Gian Piero Gasperini's Atalanta by the same 3-2 score — Gasperini was in the Roma dugout this time too. Roma have now lost two Champions League games this season after leading by two goals, the first team in European Cup history to do that in one season.
The win ends a nine-game winless run in all competitions and is United's first since beating Sabah FK in September. It lifts them to 17th in the league phase, two points ahead of Roma in 19th, with Aston Villa at home in the Premier League next on Sunday. More football coverage is on the Previously Sports front.
It puts United in rare company, too. This was their fourth Champions League win from two or more goals down — only Real Madrid have done it as often. And nobody in this squad is producing like Cunha right now: six goal involvements this season, the most of any United player.
Sources · 8 sources
- The Analyst (Opta) — the match stats and post-match Opta facts — the earliest two-goal start by a visiting team at Old Trafford, the second-half expected-goals split, the nine-game winless run and the Gasperini parallel.
- Flashscore — "Cunha leads Man Utd to stunning comeback against Roma" — the scorer timeline and Cunha as man of the match; also the source of the in-body photograph.
- TNT Sports — live commentary and reaction from Old Trafford.
- Sky Sports — match report.
- Reuters — "PSG hit Villarreal for six as Bayern win and Man United fight back".
- Football Italia — "UCL Man Utd 3-2 Roma, Giallorossi collapse" — the penalty sequence and the sending-off.
- Athlon Sports — the source of the hero photograph (Marc Atkins / Getty Images).
- TNT Sports Football — the official highlights of this match, embedded above.
