Reaction to Alejandro Garnacho moment sums up Manchester United in draw with Twente
It was the 81st minute when Alejandro Garnacho angled the ball through that corridor of uncertainty between the six-yard box and the penalty spot. A Manchester United teammate was not certain enough to meet it.
The Old Trafford roof leaked but it was not raining goals. Twente, above Ajax and Feyenoord in the Eredivisie table, were not as obliging as League One Barnsley last week and were only undone by Christian Eriksen's swift strike as half-time loomed.
After 85 minutes, United had recorded three attempts on target and one was from a Twente player. They have had a creative start to the campaign yet were devoid of innovation against a rigid team Erik ten Hag follows closer than any other in the Netherlands.
United's bluntness is hardly a surprise with a goalscorer who does not specialise in scoring goals. Joshua Zirkzee did not have a chance of note until the 76th minute and that was through his own enterprise. His tally of one goal in seven appearances is a growing issue.
It did not help that Bruno Fernandes persisted with the hit-and-hope strategy he has effectively trademarked. United supporters sounded increasingly dismayed by the sloppiness with the game deadlocked at 1-1 and Fernandes was guilty more than most.
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Fernandes must have known this for he was whining pointlessly as the clock ticked towards the 90th minute. Ruud van Nistelrooy, decisive in the penalty box, moved into the technical area rectangle, as if to give United added presence up front. He would have struggled amid the shortage of creativity and Fernandes selfishly opted for another hit-and-hope with the final kick.
United coach Darren Fletcher left his seat in the stands two minutes before full-time, resigned to the stalemate. All he missed was a potshot from Manuel Ugarte that endangered some Stretford Enders.
The Twente analysts celebrated joyously. The away end erupted and the Twente players soon charged towards them. The point felt like three.
Just over a year to the day since Christian Eriksen last started four successive United matches, he capped his fourth consecutive inclusion with a third goal of the season. His net-buster was the only attempt on target from a United player in the first half.
Eriksen is creating and scoring goals with regularity reminiscent of his pomp. As unpredictable as Ten Hag's rotation can be, the 32-year-old feels like an essential pick against former club Tottenham, averaging more than 60 per cent of possession in their Premier League contests.
Ten Hag opined last year United would "never" play like his Ajax side. With the Ajax-schooled Andre Onana, Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez and Eriksen four vertebrae in United's spine, it has given the team the backbone to play more productively.
Alas, Eriksen looked his age when he was blindsided by the alert Sam Lammers for the equaliser. European football is more pedestrian than the Premier League product but Twente were more purposeful than United for much of the evening.
The Europa League has never set the pulse racing and its new format has sapped it of any jeopardy. United could finish 24th - bottom when the Premier League began in 1992 - and still remain in the competition.
Ticket-holders still braved the third tier of the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand, occasionally empty for the odd moribund midweek match. The referee was good enough not to play any added time at the conclusion of the first half.
Ferguson was present and pitchside to present Steve McClaren with a silver shield to recognise his sterling service as his and Ten Hag's assistant. United lifted eight trophies across McClaren's two stints 21 years apart but arguably his greatest achievement was as Twente manager when they won the Eredivisie title in 2010. The Twente supporters raucously chanted his name.
Twente's phenomenal following at least amplified the occasion. The Dutch are excellent English speakers and the 3,500 'Tukkers' from Ten Hag's hometown belted out "Who are ya?" and "Is this a library?", two chants United matchgoers daren't holler.
Ten Hag, initially sanguine, snapped at United's early lethargy. Amad was within earshot to cop a stern instruction. He had already responded with some urgent pressing to spark a counter-attack.
Zirkzee and Marcus Rashford are developing a promising telepathy. There were glimpses in two very different 3-0s against Liverpool and Southampton and their interplay provided some of the more watchable snippets from United's start. Rashford's confident body language made a mockery of Jamie Redknapp's scurrilous punditry at the weekend.
The closest this goal-shy United side came to scoring inside the opening half hour was via a near-own goal from Mees Hilgers, whose sliced clearance was magnificently clawed away by Lars Unnerstall. Unnerstall did well just to react to Eriksen lashing the loose ball between the goalframe.
Ten Hag turned to Alejandro Garnacho first and later opted for a daunting triple substitution on 78 minutes, introducing Kobbie Mainoo, Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund. The closest United came was when two defenders, Harry Maguire and Martinez, almost combined.
They were more certain in the area than the forwards.