Four days after their 3-0 home humiliation at the hands of Tottenham, the Red Devils put criticism of the players and their under-fire manager to the side with an impressive start in Portugal.
Goals from Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund had United in control, only for Ten Hag’s men to lose their way and their defensive faculties as Pepe scored before Samu Omorodion’s brilliant brace put the homes side 3-2 in front.
Captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off for the second straight match as Ten Hag squirmed, only for Maguire to head home a Christian Eriksen corner in stoppage time to seal a point.
The Dutchman will be grateful to the towering centre-back after he came to the rescue in what always looked to be the toughest assignment in the new-look Europa League.
The defender told TNT Sports: “When you get 2-0 up away from home at a place like this, you have to be a bit more solid and secure. There were far too many gaps, too many crosses coming into the box and they ultimately punished us for it.”
“We played really well with the ball in the first half, we just have to do more without it.”
The manner of the performance in Porto does little to help Ten Hag ahead of Sunday’s Premier League trip to Aston Villa, then the October international break.
Bu hikaye The Independent dergisinin October 04, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Independent dergisinin October 04, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Why fans will shrug at loss of Man Utd's brightest star
A couple of years ago, if the news had broken that Marcus Rashford wished to leave Manchester United and seek his future elsewhere, the effect on the club's fans would have been dramatic.
Will Usyk or Fury 'get old overnight' in their rematch?
In boxing we have an expression we use during a fight, if one of the boxers looks bad: \"He got old overnight.\"
O'Shea is loving the battles at the Republic of Ipswich
As a player who was clocked as the fourth fastest in the Premier League last season, Dara O'Shea relishes it \"when I'm up against a striker and it's me and him\".
Sliding doors moment that saw Spurs embrace chaos
Tottenham fans will wonder what could have been tomorrow as Arne Slot brings league leaders Liverpool to north London
HS2 doesn't need a 'reset'...this line never made sense
Nobody knows how much it will cost or when it will be done. With our creaking transport system, the mounting billions would be better spent elsewhere, says Chris Blackhurst
Hope for economic growth dampened by uncertainty
Fun fact: the OECD still predicts that Britain's economy will be one of the stars of the G7 during 2025 with growth of 1.7 per cent, lagging only behind the US at 2.4 per cent.
Trump's war on the press is straight from Putin playbook
The pen may not be mightier than the sword, but it still has the power to wound. How else to explain the extraordinary remarks of the former Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, this week in which he revealed how stung he'd been by an editorial in The Times?
Musk calls far-right AfD party saviours of Germany
Elon Musk has described the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as the country's saviour, sparking calls from Berlin for the US billionaire to \"stay out\" of their politics.
Macron swears in heated exchanges with crowds in cyclone-battered Mayotte
French president Emmanuel Macron swore during an exchange as he was heckled by angry residents of a Mayotte neighbourhood ravaged by cyclone Chido, telling them: “If it wasn’t for France, you’d be 10,000 times deeper in shit.”
Store guard helped uncover abuse of Pelicot by husband
When Gisèle Pelicot was called to talk to police in November 2020, she believed it was to discuss upskirting allegations made against her husband of 50 years.
