Key events
35 min Samu did very well, nosing his way in front of De Ligt and twisting to plant his header past Onana and under the bar. But United, really? No sooner have they emerged from the crisis than it’s back on.
GOAL!! Porto 2-2 United (Samu 34)
This is becoming ridiculous.
32 min And now Bruno Fernandes gets a card too – though not a red one. He went into a 50-50 with a high boot.
30 min Casemiro, not for the first time, is shrugged off the ball in midfield. We’ve seen the best and worst of him this evening. Mazraoui bails him out with a good flick-header at the far post, amd then Amad wins a foul and Samu goes into the book, possibly for dissent.
29 min Andre Onana did well to save one header, but couldn’t do anything about the follow-up from Pepe, who reacted faster than Martinez. In the build-up, the defender at fault was Dalot, who was slow to clear a loose ball. Game on!
GOAL! Porto 1-2 United (Pepe 28)
And here it is.
26 min Porto just need to score the next goal. They’re in the box again now, forcing De Ligt to head over his own bar, but they can’t do anything with the resulting corner.
25 min Crisis, what crisis?
23 min Rashford breaks free again and whips in a left-foot cross, or is it a shot? Costa beats it away wiht his biceps.
Costa is beaten at his near post again! Hojlund started the move by laying the ball off to Eriksen, who strode into the No 10 zone. He slipped the ball to Rashford, who waited for Hojluind to make his run and then played a simple through ball. Hojlund shot with his left foot, decently enough, but Costa will wonder how he let it past his right hand.
GOAL! Porto 0-2 United (Hojlund 20)
And another one!
19 min Porto on the attack again. It comes to nothing but on the evidence so far, I’d be surprised if United kept a clean sheet.
17 min United get a corner, then another. Eriksen takes them a lot better than he did against Spurs on Sunday. Porto’s defenders deal with both, without looking very comfortable.
16 min Close! And Rashford is involved again. Fed by Amad, he curls in a nice little cross which Hojlund could easily have flicked on into the far corner.
14 min Normal service is resumed as Porto work their way down the left. Samu has another shot blocked, then Joao Mario finds Row Z.
10 min United are now knocking the ball around as if the past few weeks had never happened. Their two old gents in midfield did well for the goal too – Casemiro whipping a crossfield ball to Eriksen, who flicked it on to the left wing. Rashford was about 40 yards out at that stage, but he did the business. That’s four for the season for him, half as many as he managed in the whole of 2023-24.
That was vintage Rashford – bursting between two defenders, then drilling his shot in at the near post. Diogo Costa should have done better, but United won’t care. about that.
GOAL! Porto 0-1 United (Rashford 7)
Against the run of play.
5 min United get forward at last. Casemiro is shoved off the ball rather too easily but the ball falls to Hojlund, who ahsa the chance to tee up Rashford. His pass is a yard or two behind where it needs to be, and the attack peters out.
4 min Samu making trouble in the United box again. He has been the man of the first four minutes.
3 min United deal with the corner comfortably as Bruno Fernandes heads it away, but that’s about the only thing they’ve done right.
2 min And again! Samu is the provider this time, cutting back from the inside-right channel. Galeno’s shot is on target and Onana tips it over.
1 min Porto in the United box already! Their striker Samu gets a shot in, but it’s easily blocked.
The players step out into a misty Dragao. Both sides are in their home kit – Porto in blue-and-white stripes with blue shorts, United in the old red-and-white.
An email! “Surely,” says Krish Krishnamoorthy, “you mean Desolation Row rather than Desolation Street? ‘They’re selling postcards of the hanging’ might be going a bit far for poor Mr ten Hag, but …”
Spurs hold on for another away win. They have six points out of six in the Europa League, as do Lazio and Anderlecht. Which leaves Porto and Man United needing a win all the more.
They’re into added time in Spurs’ game at Ferencvaros, and there have just been two late goals. Scott Murray has the details.
Pre-match reading
Say what you like about United, they make a good punchline. Barry Glendenning has some fun at their expense.
Teams in full
Porto (probable 4-3-3) Costa; Mario, Pedro, Perez, Moura; Varela, Eustaquio, Gonzalez; Pepe, Omorodion, Galeno.
Subs: Ramos, Fernandes, Otavio, Djalo, Grujic, Vieira, Franco, Mora, Sousa, Jaime, Borges, Gul, Namaso.
Manchester United (probable 4-2-3-1) Onana; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez, Dalot; Casemiro, Eriksen; Amad, Fernandes, Rashford; Højlund.
Subs: Bayindir, Heaton, Lindelof, Maguire, Evans, Collyer, Gore, Ugarte, Antony, Garnacho, Zirkzee.
Teams in brief: Hojlund starts
Rasmus Hojlund, the only bright light for United in the Champions League last autumn, gets his first start of the season. Erik ten Hag rotates his midfield, replacing Manuel Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo with … Casemiro and Christian Eriksen. The old firm.
Preamble
Evening everyone and welcome to the latest episode of a much-loved soap opera. This week, Bruno and Diogo go back home in an effort to find themselves, Erik tries to get out of jail again, and Sir Jim wonders whether he’s made a terrible mistake. Yes, it’s Desolation Street.
Or perhaps it’s the road to redemption. Erik ten Hag’s Man United do have it in them to bounce back from a shocker – they’ve had plenty of practice, after all. And this game looks like an opportunity to play on the counter, which often suits them. Porto have the sort of home record this season that is a distant memory for United fans: played four, won four. Opta’s algorithm gives them a 52pc chance of a win tonight to United’s 23.
Porto have two extra incentives. They’re even lower in the Europa League mega-table than United, after losing 3-2 at Bodo/Glimt last week. And they have a score to settle, as the last time they entertained United, in a second leg following a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, the tie was decided by a screamer from Cristiano Ronaldo. That was a Champions League quarter-final in 2008-09. Those were the days.
Kick-off is at 8pm BST and I’ll be back soon with the teams.
