Manchester United required a stoppage-time Harry Maguire header to salvage a 3-3 draw in Porto in the Europa League on Thursday night.
The Red Devils made the perfect start as they raced into a 2-0 lead inside 20 minutes through goals from Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund.
However, things soon turned sour as the home side netted twice in seven minutes to level up the match at 2-2 with goals from Pepe and Samu Omorodion.
The Portuguese giants took the lead five minutes into the second half as United’s evening appeared to unravel before their eyes.
Bruno Fernandes was harshly dismissed for the second time in a week after two bookable offences before substitute Maguire pounced in stoppage time to head home a priceless equalizer for the English team.
With much to digest, here are five talking points from a chaotic evening in the North West of Portugal.
Reds squander two-goal lead in Europe again
It’s become a worrying trend this past year or so that United have spurned leads – particularly in Europe.
This was evident in last season’s Champions League campaign when Erik ten Hag’s men threw away a two-goal advantage in Copenhagen – and did the same away to Galatasaray last November.
It happened again on Thursday, with the Old Trafford outfit falling asleep and allowing the Dragoes a way back into the game when seemingly cruising.
This mental fragility is very concerning and leaves the 20-time English champions with just one win from ten in European competition.
Rashford delivers notable performance
Rashford produced arguably his best 45 minutes of the season with a fine display on the left-hand side.
The 26-year-old opened the scoring after a vintage run from wide saw his effort squeeze through Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa – before setting up Hojlund for the second goal of the night with a lovely reverse pass.
It was a little baffling why the Wythenshawe native was substituted at the interval, having been replaced by Alejandro Garnacho, with his manager putting the decision down to rotation.
Rasmus Hojlund gets back on the score sheet
Hojlund continued his comeback from injury and put in a solid shift up front in his first start of the season.
The Denmark star peeled away from his marker before latching on to Rashford’s pass and fired past Costa to open his account for the campaign.
Joshua Zirkzee has occupied the striker position in the opening games thus far – but has only found the net on one occasion.
With the 21-year-old Copenhagen native now back to full fitness, he will hope to win his place back in the side.
Defensive lapses cost United again
It was a difficult night for the Manchester side’s defensive troops, with centre-back pairing Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez struggling to deal with the Porto attack.
Martinez, in particular, could have done more for the first goal from Pepe before De Ligt was beaten to the punch twice by the impressive Omorodion – as the Spaniard helped himself to a brace.
The United defence looked under the cosh, and they were cut open far too often – especially in the second half when things became stretched.
This has been a frustrating feature of Ten Hag’s reign for over a year, and it shows no signs of changing.
Time is very much against Ten Hag
Following last Sunday’s 3-0 embarrassment at home to top-four rivals Tottenham, another capitulation in Portugal won’t bode too well as the Dutch manager strives to retain his position.
When United went 2-0 up, the former Ajax coach would have been pleased with his side, but the all-too-familiar collapse inevitably ensued – to heap the pressure firmly back on the 54-year-old.
It was the 24th time that the three-time Champions of Europe have conceded three or more goals since the Haaksbergen native joined the club in 2022.
Undeniably, this will have to change, and it has to happen fast with time running out.
What did you make of Manchester United’s performance against Porto last night?
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