PORTO: Harry Maguire’s stoppage-time header earned Manchester United a dramatic 3-3 draw at Porto in the Europa League group stage on Thursday as Tottenham Hotspur won 2-1 at Ferencvaros.

Tottenham maintained their 100 per cent start in the Europa League but Serie A side AS Roma went down 1-0 in Sweden against Elfsborg.

England defender Maguire, a late substitute, salvaged a point for his team who led 2-0 after 20 minutes before conceding three goals and having their captain Bruno Fernandes sent off to stand on the verge of another damaging defeat.

Marcus Rashford put United ahead in the seventh minute and Rasmus Hojlund added a second.

But Porto quickly narrowed the gap through Pepe’s header and Samu Omorodion equalised before halftime and put Porto ahead five minutes into the second half with a close-range strike to flip the game on its head.

United manager Ten Hag was under major pressure before the trip to Portugal after just two wins from United’s first six Premier League fixtures of the season left them languishing in 13th place in the table.

The Red Devils have also drawn their opening two Europa League games to sit 21st in the 36-team table.

“We will get there, don’t judge us in this moment,” said an optimistic Ten Hag. “Judge us in the end of the season. We will improve, we have two seasons where we achieved finals. Just wait, we will develop and progress this team.”

Earlier, Spurs claimed an away win at Ferencvaros thanks to goals in each half from Pape Sarr and Brennan Johnson.

Senegalese midfielder Sarr opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, taking advantage of a loose ball to calmly slot a precise right-foot shot into the far corner and substitute Johnson doubled the lead for the English side four minutes from time with a left-foot strike from inside the box.

Ferencvaros grabbed a consolation goal in stoppage time through Varga, but it was not enough to deny Spurs victory in their first-ever match against Hungarian opponents.

“I’m really happy. It’s never easy going away from home in Europe,” Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou told TNT sports. “You saw the atmosphere tonight, there were a lot of things to deal with and also with four teenagers (in the team).”

MATCH HALTED

Meanwhile, Anderlecht won 2-1 at Real Sociedad who took an early lead through Pablo Marin before Luis Vazquez and Theo Leoni scored for the Belgian side to turn the game around.

The match was briefly halted in the first half as visiting fans hurled objects on to the pitch from the lower stand, resulting in the arrest of two Anderlecht supporters.

In Rome, Taty Castellanos, celebrating his 26th birthday, struck twice to lead Lazio to a convincing 4-1 home victory over Nice. Pedro Rodriguez and a penalty from Mattia Zaccagni completed the rout.

Lazio is currently leading the Europa League standings with a perfect record and a superior goal difference.

Behind Lazio are Olympique Lyonnais, who hammered Scottish side Rangers 4-1, with two consecutive victories.

Malick Fofana and Alexandre Lacazette struck twice for Lyon in Glasgow. Fofana opened the scoring in the 10th minute before Tom Lawrence scored the equaliser for the hosts four minutes later.

France international Laca­zette put Lyon ahead again shortly and completed his brace in the first minute of added time before the halftime.

Fofana then complete the rout in the 55th minute as they French outfit maintained their lead to close out a convincing win.

In the Czech capital, Ajax Amsterdam were held to a 1-1 draw by Slavia Prague, with Branco van den Boomen scoring an early penalty for the Dutch team and Tomas Chory equalising in the second half for the hosts. Ajax’s Youri Baas was sent off in the closing stages.

Ahead of Ajax are now the Swedish club Elfsborg, who secu­red a surprise home win over Roma after forward Tommaso Baldanzi’s handball in the box led to a penalty which captain Michael Baidoo slotted home late in the first half.

Elsewhere, Inaki Williams was at the heart of Athletic Bil­bao’s 2-0 home win over Dutch side AZ Alkmaar while Latvia’s RFS came from two down at home to Galatasaray to snatch a 2-2 draw.

In the Conference League, Chelsea marked their first-ever appearance with a 4-2 win over visiting Belgian side Gent.

Manager Enzo Maresca utilised his large squad, naming an entirely different starting XI to the one that played in the league at the weekend.

Renato Veiga headed Chelsea into the lead in the 12th minute, which Pedro Neto then doubled one minute after the interval.

Tsuyoshi Watanabe made it 2-1 in the 50th minute but two goals from Christopher Nkunku and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in seven minutes killed off the tie before Omri Gandelman scored a consolation.

In other matches of the Europe’s third tier competition on Thursday, Cercle Brugge cruised to a 6-2 victory at home to Swiss club St Gallen as Legia Warsaw surprised Real Betis 1-0 in the Polish capital.

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.

The New Saints of Wales also made their debut in the league phase of a European competition away to twice Conference League runners-up Fiorentina where the hosts needed two second-half goals to emerge 2-0 winners.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2024