Mazraoui Injury Blow Piles More Pressure on Manchester United After Morocco Withdrawal

Manchester United's troubled start to the season has taken another turn for the worse after Noussair Mazraoui was forced off injured while on international duty with Morocco, adding yet another name to an already lengthy treatment-room list at Old Trafford.

What happened against Lesotho

Mazraoui started at left-back for Morocco in their 2-0 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying win over Lesotho and lasted 69 minutes before going down after a challenge near the touchline. He stayed down in visible discomfort, immediately signalled to the bench, and was replaced by Achraf Hakimi. The 28-year-old had been one of Morocco's standout performers before the setback, solid in his duels and tidy in distribution.

United later confirmed the situation in a statement, acknowledging that Mazraoui was substituted with an apparent injury during the match. It remains unclear whether the defender will stay with the Morocco squad for Sunday's friendly against Mali in Tangier or return to Manchester for assessment.

A crisis that keeps growing

The concern for Michael Carrick is that Mazraoui's problem is far from an isolated one. Bruno Fernandes missed Portugal's Nations League win over Norway with an issue that has been troubling him for weeks, and Patrick Dorgu limped out of Denmark's victory over Wales with a hamstring problem, returning to the club early. Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo both withdrew from England duty, while Karl Darlow did the same with Wales.

Add in Benjamin Sesko, Amad Diallo, Matthijs de Ligt, Manuel Ugarte and Tom Heaton, who were already unavailable before the international break, and United are counting absentees across virtually every department. Injuries in small numbers can be managed; when they pile up across positions, they begin dictating selection, shape and rotation.

What it means for the run ahead

United have taken just five points from their opening five Premier League matches and were knocked out of the EFL Cup earlier in the campaign. The fixture list does not wait: Tottenham visit Old Trafford on 10 October, and Carrick now faces the prospect of preparing for that game without a fully fit defensive unit. The club's medical staff will assess Mazraoui in the coming days, and supporters will hope the early signs of a knock rather than a muscle injury prove accurate. Until then, the sense of a squad stretched to its limits continues to define United's season.