Manchester United made the trip to Istanbul to face Galatasaray already knowing that they had already qualified for the Champions League last 16 as Group H winners.

Sir Alex Ferguson was able to tinker with his lineup and his second string almost claimed a point at the hostile Turk Telecom Arena.

Buruk Yilmaz headed the winner in the second half to make the Turkish side favourites to join United in the knockout stage.

Here, Sports Mole casts its eye over the 90 minutes.

Match statistics:

Galatasaray:
Shots 18
On target 13
Possession 53%
Corners 3
Fouls 17

United:
Shots 8
On target 5
Possession 47%
Corners 8
Fouls 15

Was the result fair?

Just about, yes. United handled the raucous atmosphere well but were eventually undone by some slack defending from a corner. Both sides had their chances but it was a fairly easy-going game and you could tell that United didn't have much to play for.

Galatasaray's performance

Good enough in the end. There were impressive individual performances from the hosts and as a team they knocked it around nicely sometimes.

United's performance

Ferguson will, on the whole, be quite pleased. His inexperienced XI did well to cope in a frenzied stadium on a bobbly surface. Notable performances came from Champions League debutant Nick Powell and Danny Welbeck.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Buruk Yilmaz: The goalscorer looked a constant threat and completely outshone Johan Elmander in the hosts' frontline. His header for the goal was well guided into the top corner and it's no surprise that he's netted every single Galatasaray goal in Europe this season.

Referee performance

Carlos Velasco didn't have an awful lot to do but made an excellent call in deciding to book Yilmaz for a clear dive under very little pressure.

What next?

Galatasaray: Next up for the hosts is a trip to Elazigspor on Saturday.

United: United host the Premier League's bottom club, QPR, at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Written by
Pascal Lemesre