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Manchester United’s centre-backs were heavily criticised for Porto’s third goal, with Matthijs de Ligt singled out as suffering “an absolute nightmare”.
Former United midfielder Owen Hargreaves was full of praise for powerful Porto forward Samu Omorodion, who bagged a brace to first pull Porto level before handing them the lead which almost won them the tie.
“He caused de Ligt an absolute nightmare today,” said Hargreaves on BT Sport after the game, with fellow pundit Karen Carney critical of the positioning of De Ligt and centre-back partner Lisandro Martinez, accusing them of “literally holding hands”.
Despite fighting back to secure a 3-3 draw thanks to a last-gasp Harry Maguire header, Hargreaves felt that Manchester United reached new levels of absurdity as they let a two-goal lead slide.
He called the opening 20 minutes “perfect” but was left “disappointed” with everything that followed.
Marcus Rashford opened the scoring and was joined on the scoresheet by Rasmus Hojlund on his first start of the season to put United 2-0 up and looking comfortable.
But all-too-familiar carnage unfolded not long after, and the teams went in at half-time tied at 2-2 with the hosts carrying all the momentum.
“Even for United that was quite ridiculous,” said Hargreaves, but while disappointed he was far from surprised: “That’s what it’s been like for a couple of years, and it was the same again tonight.”
United have now conceded three or more goals in all competitions 24 times since Erik ten Hag took the reigns in 2022 – more than any other Premier League team – and Hargreaves agreed that this is not good enough.
“There’s a lot of issues, he’s been there quite a while now and they should have been sorted. That’s not the level it needs to be.”
Carney shared his opinion, saying, “It’s frustrating, I’m not a United fan and I’m frustrated every time I watch them.”
Ten Hag was believed to have two games to save his job after United’s resounding 0-3 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.
And even with Maguire’s dramatic late leveller, Thursday’s Europa League performance will have done little to safeguard the Dutchman’s position.
United face Aston Villa at the weekend and it’s hard to see Ten Hag staying in the job with anything short of world-beating performance from his side.
Feature image Octavio Passos via Getty Images
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2024-10-03 22:10:29
