Owen Hargreaves says Samu Omorodion gave Matthijs de Ligt ‘nightmares’ in Manchester United’s 3-3 draw with Porto and Erik ten Hag needs to land on a ‘consistent’ centre-back partnership going forward.
Harry Maguire came off the bench to head home a last-gasp equaliser after United had inexplicably managed to throw away a two-goal lead to trail 3-2 in a breathless Europa League group-stage contest.
An under-fire United had started the match brightly and went ahead through a pair of strikes from Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund before Pepe halved the deficit in the 27th minute.
The impressive Omorodion put the home team in front with goals either side of the half-time break and it appeared the writing could be on the wall for Ten Hag as Bruno Fernandes was sent off – for a second time in as many games – in the 81st minute.
But Maguire has potentially handed Ten Hag a lifeline with his late leveller, despite the Red Devils picking up just two points from their opening two games in the competition.
Next up for United is a trip to Aston Villa for what could be a crucial match when it comes to Ten Hag’s future – and Hargreaves believes the Dutchman would be wise to drop De Ligt, who was all at sea at the Estadio do Dragao.
‘Harry will play on the weekend against Villa – he’ll have to,’ the ex-United and England midfielder said in the TNT Sports studio.
‘De Ligt has struggled really badly today.
‘Obviously Samu is a super explosive and powerful player but against Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran thats not going to get any easier so he’s got some big calls to make.’
Analysing De Ligt and Lisandro Martinez’s defending for Porto’s third goal, Hargreaves added: ‘They struggled. The gaps are too big there.
‘De Ligt loses Samu who was absolutely brilliant in terms of running the channels, efficient in front of goal.
‘That kid is a player and he caused De Ligt absolute nightmares today.’
United finished the match with Maguire and Jonny Evans on the pitch – in place of De Ligt and Martinez – and Hargreaves believes Ten Hag is still a long way from finding his first-choice partnership at the back.
‘He’s got to find a consistent centre-back partnership. He took off his two starting centre-backs for two centre-backs that have been there for a really long time, Evans and Maguire,’ he continued.
‘He’s got to find goals at the top of the pitch, he’s got to find a defensive partnership and he’s got to find a partnership in midfield.
‘But he’s been there quite a while now, Erik, and a lot of that should have been sorted.
‘I think there will be a lot of questions after the game because that’s not the level they need to be consistent.’
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