Harry Maguire rescues Man Utd with a late equaliser
LATE EQUALISER: Harry Maguire celebrates scoring his team's third goal. Picture: Octavio Passos/Getty Images
HARRY Maguire’s 91st minute equaliser earned Erik ten Hag a Europa League point, and possibly a reprieve from dismissal as Manchester United manager, in Porto last night.
Having been gifted a 2-0 lead with goals from Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund, United trailed 3-2 and were down to 10 men after Bruno Fernandes’s sending off as the league game entered its dying seconds.
But Maguire rose to head in a Christian Eriksen corner which means the Dutchman now takes his team to in-form Aston Villa on Sunday, still without a win in four games but with slightly less pressure on his shoulders.
After the weekend debacle, and 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham, United’s hierarchy were known to still be broadly supportive of ten Hag, but anxious to see an improvement in the next two games, going into next week’s international break.
A TOWERING HEADER! 💥
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Harry Maguire scores a crucial equaliser for the Man United 👏
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And the potential disaster was on the cards when, after 81 minutes, for the second game running Fernandes was sent off, shown a second yellow card on the night for a high boot.
Yet the game could not have started better for ten Hag and United, two goals to the good inside 20 minutes, only for the mental and football frailties which have become all too common place to rear their head.
Porto struck back, themselves scoring twice in the space of seven minutes late in the first half, and the future of United’s beleaguered manager was firmly back on the agenda.
The defensive collapse was in stark contrast to a free-flowing attacking show, sparked by Rashford in the main, which had earned United a 2-0 lead.
On seven minutes, Christian Eriksen found Rashford on the wing and he purposefully cut in, beating full-back Joao Mario and hammering a near-post shot which keeper Diogo Costa, surely, had covered only to let it slip through.
And worse was to follow for the Porto keeper after 20 minutes. Hojlund started the move on halfway, Eriksen quickly shifted wide for Rashford and he slipped in Hojlund whose near-post shot looked too close to the keeper, only for Costa to let it slip and sneak over the line.
It was a magnificent response after United had weathered a strong start from the hosts but, once behind, Porto's fightback began after 27 minutes, fuelled by a catalogue of defensive errors, starting when Diogo Dalot gave the ball away cheaply.
The Porto attack ended with Andre Onana being required to save superbly, from his own man Noussair Mazraoui, who had headed towards his own goal under pressure from Samu Omorodion. But, with Lisandro Martinez slow to react, Pepe stooped in and headed the rebound over the line.
The home crowd reacted in predictable fashion and, equally predictable, it did not take long for Porto to level.
This time, as United again failed to clear a prolonged Porto attack, Joao Mario’s cross found Omorodion, who ghosted in ahead of Matthijs de Ligt and headed in from close range.
It will have been no consolation to United, or their manager in particular, but this was a fantastic watch - no mean feat given how diluted the new, expanded Europa League has become.
United’s start to the second half was not ideal, Rashford having been replaced by Alejandro Garnacho at the interval, presumably due to injury, and Onana being forced to save from Francisco Moura.
It was only a short reprieve. On 50 minutes, Pepe sprinted away from Martinez down the right before crossing for Omorodion, who powered the ball into the roof of the net from six yards.
Onana ensured the night did not deteriorate further for the visitors, denying Omorodion a hat-trick with a smart save and stopping Galeno as he raced through.
: Costa 4; Mario 6 (Gul 78, 6), Ze Pedro 7, Perez 6, Moura 7; Eustaquio 6 (Vieira 78, 5), Varela 7, Gonzalez 7; Pepe 8 (M Fernandes 63, 6), Omorodion 9 (Grujic 78, 5), Galeno 7. Substitutes (not used) Borges, Sousa, Namaso, Djalo, Jaime, Mora, Ramos. M Fernandes, Franco.
: Onana 6; Mazraoui 6, de Ligt 5 (Evans 79, 5), Martinez 4 (Maguire 78, 4), Dalot 5; Casemiro 5, Eriksen 7; Diallo 5 (Antony 69, 5), B Fernandes 4, Rashford 8 (Garnacho 46, 6); Hojlund 7 (Zirkzee 68, 5). Substitutes (not used) Bayindir, Collyer, Gore, Heaton, Lindelof, Ugarte.
: T Stieler (Germany) 7
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