BACK FROM THE RED
Porto 3 Man Utd 3: Harry Maguire rescues Erik ten Hag with vital injury-time equaliser after Bruno Fernandes red card
A former Chelsea target had wreaked havoc on their defence
ON A night when Erik Ten Hag desperately needed something to change, his team proved that they seem to be getting worse.
It tells you everything you need to know about the state of Manchester United that it is no longer a surprise when they concede three goals.
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And it is the very reason why, surely, we are coming to the end of the Ten Hag era, despite the injury time leveller from sub Harry Maguire.
Here was another 90 minutes of chaos and embarrassment.
In what threatened to be morale-boosting victory for the beleaguered Dutchman, this shambolic team, a distant relative to the one which used to represent this club home and abroad, once again caved in despite securing a point.
Leading 2-0 with goals from Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund, United conceded three times for the 24th time under Ten Hag.
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Striker Pepe headed Porto’s first and then 20-year-old Spanish striker Samu Omorodion - who is proving to be a fine summer signing from Atletico Madrid - equalised before the break and then scored the third before Maguire came to the rescue.
Ten Hag needed a captain’s performance from Bruno Fernandes but instead, he got sent off for the second game in a row.
And unbelievably, it also means that under Ten Hag, United have managed just one win in 10 in Europe.
Surely, this cannot go on much longer. Here is a team with little organisation, no characters, no leaders or backbone.
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This latest performance, after the three-goal defeat at home to Spurs four days earlier, was not even a surprise. And this is why Ten Hag surely has to go.
When United considered the second goal, assistant boss Ruud Van Nistelrooy was booked for complaining.
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But first of all, it is on to Aston Villa where Unai Emery’s side have just delivered arguably the club’s finest result for 42 years by beating Bayern Munich.
If United play like this at Villa Park, they will be lucky to get away with conceding three goals.
United could not have wished for a better start when Rashford gave them a seventh minute lead.
Picking up the ball from Eriksen 40 yards from goal, Rashford cut inside from the left, carried the ball in the area and displayed some nifty footwork to dance through Joao Mario and Stephen Eustaquio.
While his near-post shot was hardly thunderous, it was enough to catch out keeper Diogo Costa who should have done much better.
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It was from a Rashford cross which saw Porto defender Ze Pedro come close to scoring a spectacular own goal but a wild swing of his right boot saw the ball flash across the face of the goal.
On that occasion, Rashford was attempting to pick out Hojlund but the pair delivered the second goal soon after and United looked unstoppable.
Rashford slipped the ball to Hojlund and with a first-time shot, the normally reliable keeper Costa was once again beaten at his near post.
It was a first goal of the season for Hojlund in only his fourth appearance.
He immediately sprinted over to the bench to celebrate with with physio David Binningsley, who helped him recover from the hamstring which saw him miss the start of the season,
Yet the least surprising turn of events was United capitulating.
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While Onana delivered a flying save to prevent Noussair Mazraoui from scoring a headed own goal, the ball dropped in the path of Pepe who nodded the ball into the net.
He would also have been grateful that Linsandro Martinez had switched off completely and reacted far too late.
United’s defending was just as bad for the equaliser seven minutes later and on this occasion, it was all down to De Ligt.
Firstly, he delivered a hopeless clearance and 10 seconds later, he was easily beaten by Omorodion who got his head to Joao Mario’s cross.
It does seem that De Ligt is not particularly good in the air and from that type of cross, Maguire would have won the challenge without barely trying.
At half-time, Ten Hag replaced Alejandro Garnacho for Rashford.
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And he would have told his team to keep composed and avoid doing anything stupid, although they were clearly not listening.
Pepe, being played onside by Noussair Mazraoui, comfortably outpaced the sluggish Martinez and the cross was met with a fierce finish from Omorodion.
Although once more, De Ligt should have done much better
Onana stopped a total humiliation by making good saves to deny Omorodion and Fabio Veira.
Fernandes then received a second yellow for sticking out a boot on Nehuen Perez. There was little contact but it was still an idiotic challenge.
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Hated in these parts as an ex-Sporting Lisbon player, the home fans loved the sight of trooping off.
Maguire got his head to Eriksen’s injury-time corner but Ten Hag’s exit still seems inevitable. He seems incapable of turning this mess around.
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