2019–20 Manchester United F.C. season

Views during the match against Chelsea in August

The Premier League fixtures were announced on 13 June 2019.[15] Manchester United began their season at home to Chelsea on 11 August; a goal in each half from Marcus Rashford, in addition to goals from Anthony Martial and debutant Daniel James, gave United a 4–0 win.[16] United were held to a 1–1 draw by Wolverhampton Wanderers in their next game; Martial opened the scoring with his 50th goal for the club before Ruben Neves equalised with a long-range strike, only for Paul Pogba to miss from the penalty spot midway through the second half.[17] United suffered their first defeat of the season on 24 August, losing 2–1 at home to Crystal Palace. After Jordan Ayew put the Eagles 1–0 up against the run of play with just over half an hour gone, it took until the final minute of normal time for Daniel James to find the equaliser; however, Patrick van Aanholt's injury-time strike gave Palace their first league win over United since May 1991 and their first league win at Old Trafford since December 1989.[18] James continued his goalscoring form in United's final game before the international break away to Southampton, opening the scoring after 10 minutes. Jannik Vestergaard equalised for the home side just before the hour mark, but although Kevin Danso was sent off with 17 minutes to go, United were unable to make their numerical advantage count and the match finished as a 1–1 draw.[19]

United returned to action after the international break with a home game against Leicester City. Marcus Rashford scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot to give United their first win since the opening day of the season.[20] United's next match, away to West Ham United, ended in a 2–0 defeat, with a goal each from Andriy Yarmolenko and Aaron Cresswell.[21] United then played Arsenal at home; Scott McTominay opened the scoring with his first senior goal at Old Trafford, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was awarded the equaliser after the video assistant referee (VAR) overruled the assistant referee's original decision that he was offside.[22] United's final match before the second international break of the season was away to Newcastle United, who won 1–0 thanks to a goal from Matty Longstaff on his senior debut.[23]

United returned to action after the second international break with a home game against arch-rivals Liverpool. Marcus Rashford opened the scoring after a VAR check, as Victor Lindelöf was ruled not to have fouled Divock Origi. The VAR was used again to check a goal scored by Sadio Mané, which appeared to have come off his arm, and was eventually ruled out for handball. Liverpool did manage to find an equaliser through substitute Adam Lallana in the 85th minute to secure a vital point for both teams. The result meant that United ended Liverpool's winning streak at 18 games.[24] On 27 October 2019, Scott McTominay netted United's recordbreaking 2,000th Premier League goal in a 3–1 victory against Norwich City at Carrow Road.[25] Rashford had a penalty saved by Tim Krul a few minutes later, but scored on United's next attack to put them 2–0 up with less than half an hour played. United were awarded a second penalty for a handball by Todd Cantwell, but despite a change of taker, Krul was able to make another save from Martial. Like Rashford, Martial made amends later by scoring United's third goal. Onel Hernández scored a consolation goal for Norwich City in the 88th minute.[26]

To begin November, United made the trip to AFC Bournemouth, where former United striker Joshua King scored on the stroke of half-time to give Bournemouth a 1–0 win. The result dropped United down to 10th position in the league table and gave Bournemouth their first win since September 2019.[27] United's next home match before the third international break of the season was against Brighton & Hove Albion, where goals from Andreas Pereira (his first of the season), Scott McTominay and Marcus Rashford helped United to a 3–1 win.[28] The second goal was initially given as an own goal by Davy Pröpper, but was later awarded to McTominay.[29] After draws against Sheffield United[30] – which saw Brandon Williams scoring his first senior goal and Mason Greenwood scoring his first Premier League goal – and Aston Villa – saved by Victor Lindelöf's first goal of the season,[31] United won 2–1 against previous season's top four finishers Tottenham Hotspur[32] and champions Manchester City.[33] A draw against Everton[34] was followed by defeat at Watford.[35] Victories against Newcastle United[36] and Burnley[37] brought the club's decade to a close.

The 2020s was started with a defeat at Arsenal on New Year's Day.[38] Ten days later, United recorded their first win of the decade with a 4–0 demolition of Norwich City; Rashford scored twice, Martial and Greenwood scored once each.[39] On the following three league matches the club failed to score, the first two ended in 2–0 defeats; matches against the runaway league leaders Liverpool[40] and a revenge by Burnley[41] were followed by a goalless draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers.[42] After the newly-introduced winter break, United got full 3 points at Chelsea, extending their undefeated run against the West London club to six matches.[43] Watford was the next victim, falling three goals to nil at Old Trafford.[44] The newly-recruited Portuguese midfielder Bruno Fernandes scored the first goal from the spot, his first goal for the club. The fixture against Everton was again ended in a 1–1 draw with David de Gea making an error leading up to the home side's goal before Fernandes' equaliser, his first open play goal for United.[45] The next week, United won 2–0 to complete their first league double over Manchester City since 2009–10.[46]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Premier League matches were suspended on 13 March, initially only until 3 April 2020.[47] The suspension was made indefinite on 5 April 2020.[48] On 28 May, it was announced that the Premier League would return behind closed doors on 17 June.[49]

The return of the league on 19 June saw United draw 1–1 at Tottenham Hotspur; Fernandes equalised with a penalty kick after Steven Bergwijn's opening goal.[50] In a 3–0 home win against Sheffield United on 24 June, Martial scored his first senior hat-trick, as well as United's first league hat-trick since Robin van Persie did so on 22 April 2013.[51]

Having finished sixth in the 2018–19 Premier League, Manchester United are playing in the UEFA Europa League in 2019–20, entering at the group stage. This is the club's first Europa League campaign since winning the competition in 2016–17, and their fourth in nine years, having previously played in the knockout phase in 2011–12 and 2015–16. The draw for the group stage took place in Monaco on 30 August 2019; United were drawn into Group L with Kazakhstani side Astana, Serbian club Partizan, and AZ of the Netherlands. Astana were United's – and any English club's – first ever Kazakhstani opponents, and it was also be the first time they have played against AZ; their only previous meeting with Partizan came in the semi-finals of the 1965–66 European Cup, losing 2–0 in Belgrade before a 1–0 win at Old Trafford a week later.[69]

United began their Europa League campaign with a 1–0 win over Astana at Old Trafford on 19 September; Mason Greenwood scored the only goal of the game, the first of his professional career, cutting inside off the right wing to shoot through the legs of goalkeeper Nenad Erić and become Manchester United's youngest goalscorer in European football.[70] United's second match, a goalless draw away against AZ, was played at Cars Jeans Stadion in The Hague due to the roof collapse at AZ's AFAS Stadion.[71] They then made the trip to Belgrade on 24 October, and came away with a 1–0 win thanks to an Anthony Martial penalty.[72]

Martial was on the scoresheet again in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford on 7 November, his goal coming between efforts from Greenwood and Rashford. The 3–0 win meant United could no longer be caught by third-placed Partizan in the group standings, confirming their qualification for the knockout phase.[73] United fielded a very young team with an average age of 22 years and 26 days in a 2–1 away defeat to the already-eliminated Astana. The match saw three debutants starting and another three coming on as substitutes.[74] United struck early with Jesse Lingard scoring his maiden goal of the season, in his first ever match as captain.[75] United sealed the top spot with a 4–0 victory over the already-qualified AZ at home. Greenwood scored the second and fourth goals, the others were scored by Ashley Young and Juan Mata, who both scored their first goal of the season; it was Young's first European goal since February 2012, which was scored in the Europa League against another Dutch side Ajax. It was also United's biggest European victory since the 4–0 Europa League win against yet another Dutch club Feyenoord in November 2016; United would later win the tournament.[76]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Manchester United	6	4	1	1	10	2	+8	13	Advance to knockout phase
2	AZ	6	2	3	1	15	8	+7	9
3	Partizan	6	2	2	2	10	10	0	8
4	Astana	6	1	0	5	4	19	−15	3

The draw for the round of 32 was conducted on 16 December 2019.[77] They met Belgian side Club Brugge, which was their first encounter since the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League play-offs; United won this previous tie 7–1 on aggregate.[78] After a 1–1 draw at Jan Breydel Stadium, United won the return leg 5–0 to win 6–1 on aggregate; Odion Ighalo scored his first goal for the club, Fred scored his first goals of the season, and Scott McTominay scored his first European goal.[79] The round of 16 draw took place on 28 February, with United paired with Austrian club LASK.[80] United won the first leg 5–0.[81]