Manchester United narrowly avoided another embarrassing defeat as substitute Harry Maguire headed in an injury-time equalizer to salvage a 3-3 draw against Porto in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday after Erik ten Hag’s team had given up an early 2-0 lead and seen Bruno Fernandes sent off for a second straight game.
Fernandes was shown a second booking in the 81st minute for a high boot that caught defender Nehuen Perez as he tried to connect with a cross into the box.
“We started the game very good, we dominated, we scored two good goals but then we lost control,” Ten Hag said.
Photo: AFP
“The middle part was no good and then we finished very good… We got the equalizer so it is good for the spirit,” he said.
Fernandes had been shown a straight read in a 3-0 loss to Tottenham in the English Premier League on Sunday that upped the pressure on Ten Hag, and the Dutch manager seemed to be in more trouble when United gave up an early 2-0 lead to trail 3-2 when Pepe produced a cross from the right for his fellow forward Samu to fire his second goal high into the net five minutes into the second half.
However, Maguire headed home a corner in the first minute of injury time to salvage a point for United, which now have two draws in the league phase and have failed to win any of their last four games in all competitions.
Earlier, a youthful Tottenham side maintained a perfect record with a 2-1 victory over Ferencvaros at the Groupama Arena in Budapest, while Lazio also made it two wins out of two by routing Nice 4-1 at home.
Pape Sarr gave Tottenham the lead midway through the first half when he reacted quickly to a loose ball in the area and slotted it into the net with a right-foot shot for his second goal in two games in the second-tier European competition.
Brennan Johnson came on as substitute in the second half and scored the second four minutes from time with a left-footed strike off the far post. It was the fifth goal in five games in all competitions for the Wales international.
Parnabas Varga pulled one back for Ferencvaros in the final minute.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou made seven changes to the team that beat United at Old Trafford. Four teenagers started for Spurs, with the 19-year-old Will Lankshear making his senior debut and 17-year-old teammate Mikey Moore making his first start.
In torrential rain at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Taty Castellano scored twice for Lazio, first making it 2-0 in the first half by lobbing the ball over goalkeeper Marcin Bulka in a one-on-one situation and then making it 3-1 in the second half with a shot into the roof of the net.
Lyon also have two wins after beating 2022 UEFA Europa League runners-up Rangers 4-1 in Glasgow, with forward Alexandre Lacazette and Malick Fofana scoring two goals apiece.
Dutch side Twente, who upset Manchester United 1-1 at Old Trafford on Thursday last week, held Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce 1-1 at home.
Hoffenheim, which are struggling in the German Bundesliga, recorded a 2-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv.
Eintracht Frankfurt, the 2022 UEFA Europa League winners, scored two first half goal within three minutes on the way to a 3-1 away victory at Besiktas.
CONFERENCE LEAGUE
Chelsea made a winning debut in the third-tier UEFA Conference League as Renato Veiga, Pedro Neto, Christopher Nkunku and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall all scored in a 4-2 win over Belgium’s Gent at Stamford Bridge in West London.
Fiorentina, which reached the final in the last two seasons, beat Welsh side New Saints 2-0.
Larne became the first Northern Irish team to play in a UEFA competition proper, but succumbed to a 3-0 defeat in Norway against Molde.
Scottish side Hearts traveled a long way to Sumgayit, Azerbaijan, to take home a 2-1 victory over Belarusian champion Dinamo Minsk.
UEFA banned Russian clubs from all its events over the country’s invasion of Ukraine, but has allowed Belarusian teams to keep playing despite the country’s support of Russia, as long as the games are hosted outside of Belarus without a crowd.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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