Porto 3-3 Man United: Harry Maguire saves visitors with late equaliser

When Erik ten Hag warned that Manchester United would unleash their madness on FC Porto, this wasn't what he had in mind.

What Ten Hag wanted was a response to Sunday's limp defeat by Tottenham. What he got was another of those crazy European nights from United that became a hallmark of his second season at Old Trafford.

Think Bayern Munich, FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray (twice). Four high-scoring games in which United displayed a horrible knack for conceding goals in quick succession, losing three of them and drawing one.

They were at it again in the Estadio do Dragao on Thursday night. Two goals ahead and on course for a victory to take the pressure off their embattled manager, United somehow contrived to go behind again as Samu Omorodion led the fightback. The powerful young Spaniard only made his debut for Porto last month but has now scored seven goals in six games.

Incredibly, it was the 24th time in two-and-half years under Ten Hag that United have let in three goals or more.

As if it couldn't get any worse, captain Bruno Fernandes was then sent off for the second time in a week on his return to his hometown.

Substitute Harry Maguire headed a 91st-minute equaliser to at least spare United another defeat but there were plenty of questions for Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the new leadership structure he has put in place at United to ponder as Ten Hag heads into a perilous international break.

He talks about processes and his team being in transition, but just how much have United moved on from the madness of last season? Where is the improvement in his players? What is the evidence of another £200million spent in the transfer market?

United go to Aston Villa on Sunday and Ten Hag desperately needs to show that his team can still be top-four contenders this season. On the evidence of the last week, they are miles away.

Both these clubs have known better days in Europe than the league phase of the Europa League which saw Porto suffer a shock defeat to Bodo Glimt and United draw at home to FC Twente on matchday one.

United were Porto's first-ever opponents at the Estadio do Dragao in European competition in 2004 when Jose Mourinho famously went on to win the Champions League here.

A landmark 500th game in all competitions on Thursday night saw United return to this impressive arena for the first time since April 2009 when they were defending European champions and reached the semi-finals with a stunning goal from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Not that current Porto coach Vitor Bruno was keen to discuss the past when he spoke on the eve of this game. 'I only know one person who was recognised for going backwards and that was Michael Jackson,' smiled Bruno.

United have managed to do it quite well since back-to-back wins over Southampton and Barnsley raised hopes that an difficult start to the season was no more than that – and they were at it again here.

Underwhelming draws with Crystal Palace and Twente followed by the Spurs defeat that so enraged Ten Hag and his players put more importance on this tie than you would normally expect at this stage of the competition.

The United manager was able to give Rasmus Hojlund his first start of the season due to injury and decided to go for an experienced midfield of Casemiro and Christian Eriksen in the absence of Kobbie Mainoo, leaving new £50m signing Manuel Ugarte on the bench.

It looked like a good decision after 20 minutes as United raced into a two-goal lead with Eriksen having a hand in both efforts for Marcus Rashford and Hojlund.

Rashford struck in the seventh minute after the Dane played the ball out to him on the left. There didn't seem too much threat to Porto with Stephen Eustaquio and Joao Mario both tracking United's No 10 as he approached the box but Rashford did what he can do so well, wriggling past them both before unleashing a low right-foot shot.

Goalkeeper Diego Costa, who made a name for himself saving penalties for Portugal at the Euros this summer, didn't cover himself in glory this time as he failed to get enough on Rashford's effort to prevent it from creeping over the line.

Rashford looked in the mood and after Nehuen Perez almost nicked his menacing cross into his own goal, he and Eriksen combined to play in Hojlund in the 20th minute. The angle was tight but he fired first time to the near post where Costa blundered again, a weak right hand not enough to stop the ball going in again despite Perez's best effort to clear off the line.

Everything was going right for Ten Hag, but as is so often the case with United – especially in Europe – it didn't take long to start going wrong.

Joao Mario's crosses from the right were a real problem and when Noussair Mazraoui headed one towards his own goal under pressure from Samu in the 27th minute, Andre Onana managed to keep it out with a flying save. However, Pepe reached the loose ball faster than Lisandro Martinez to head in.

And Porto pulled level to the delight of the Estadio do Dragao seven minutes later. Matthijs de Ligt couldn't clear his lines despite two attempts and the ball was once again shifted to the right for Joao Mario to cross. Samu had been a handful from the beginning, and he muscled his way in front of De Ligt to head into the roof of the net.

For those who believe that Ruud van Nistelrooy could be a ready-made replacement for Ten Hag, it was notable that the former United striker was booked by German referee Tobias Stieler for protesting on the touchline.

It was no surprise that Samu claimed what had looked to be the decisive goal less than five minutes into the second half. Pepe accelerated away from Martinez down the right and squared to the edge of the six-yard box where the 20-year-old once again beat the hapless De Ligt to the ball to smash it into the roof of the net.

Then in the 82nd minute, Fernandes was shown a second yellow card for a high boot on Perez and off he went again.

United weren't done yet though and when Eriksen sent over a corner in the first minute of added time substitute Maguire rose to power in a header.

It was enough to save them from defeat on the night. Whether it will be enough to save Ten Hag is another matter.