Porto 3
Man Utd 3
Harry Maguire came off the bench to save United with an injury time header in match that was practically won in the first 20 minutes and was completely lost the moment Bruno was sent off for the second consecutive match.
The Porto keeper basically gifted us a 2 goal advantage when he could not hold out Rashford’s and Hojlund’s shots. I felt somewhat confident that we could not possibly throw away a 2 goal lead. I was wrong!
Porto equalised in the span of 6 minutes which once again showed our fragile mental strength and that Martinez and De Ligt were not having a great day. With Dalot basically allowing every cross to come in the centre halves were exposed. And it got worse as Porto took the lead after HT when the Porto striker anticipated De Ligt to fire in the 3rd Porto goal. I feared the worst at this stage and Porto had the opportunity to kill us off but they didn’t and Maguire headed home in injury time to earn United a draw which seemed improbable after Porto had forged ahead.
Bruno’s red card – after 2 bookable offences – seemed more deserved than the one against Spurs but I hate to see a defender clutching his face when there was no contact with his face, and he was miraculously OK as Bruno walked off the pitch.
Many would argue that it was a typical inconsistent performance and it seems to be the norm now. A damning statistic mentioned today was that today was the 24th time under ETHs management that United conceded 3 goals or more in a match. Not good enough. The new players are being slaughtered on social media but collectively all were pretty average this season. Not one player has stood out.
At this stage I do not think that ETH can survive much longer. Villa this weekend are going to be tough and on current form, we’re gonna struggle but football can be a very unpredictable game…or so I hope…Numquam Moribimur!
