When it rains it pours for Manchester United and manager Erik ten Hag, with the Dutchman having witnessed his side suffer a late capitulation as they slipped to yet another defeat at home to Galatasaray on Tuesday evening, leaving their hopes of securing Champions League progression in tatters.
The expectation had been that United would seek out a response following the weekend defeat to Crystal Palace, yet despite some bright moments in attack last night – with Rasmus Hojlund netting a clinical brace – it was the same old story defensively, as the backline simply wilted against the Turkish giants.
A dramatic contest was ultimately settled in the closing stages as former Inter Milan maverick Mauro Icardi clinched victory with a delicate dink over the onrushing Andre Onana, with that effort encapsulating what was yet another grim day for the latter man in the Old Trafford goal.
How did Andre Onana perform against Galatasaray?
There will likely be a huge sense of frustration for Ten Hag at the fact that things finally clicked into gear in the final third for his side, with Hojlund having been "enjoying himself" with that two-goal showing – as per The Athletic's Laurie Whitwell – yet the Red Devils walked away empty handed due to mistakes in the backline.
For the visitors' first, a simple, lofted ball over the top was simply not dealt with by Diogo Dalot as the Portuguese full-back was far too easily outmuscled by Wilfried Zaha, albeit with there perhaps having been a hesitancy from the man in the sticks to come and claim the ball himself.
It had been a rather quiet night for Onana after that point, although the Cameroonian stopper sparked unnecessary nerves inside the Theatre of Dreams just moments after Hojlund had bagged his second of the evening, having flapped at an innocuous cross into the box.
The 27-year-old summer signing was not punished for that errant act, although that was swiftly followed by a limp pass out from the back which fell straight to the feet of Dries Mertens, with an unfortunate Casemiro forced to bring down the veteran Belgian and receive a second yellow card.
Remarkably, Onana was again reprieved as Icardi lashed his subsequent spot-kick wide, although the Argentine atoned by lifting the ball over the United 'keeper soon after, with Ten Hag's new man having 'made it easy' for the striker in truth – as per journalist Samuel Luckhurst.
Despite being the obvious villain, Onana wasn't solely culpable for that dismal defeat, however, with club captain Bruno Fernandes failing to lead from the front.
How did Bruno Fernandes play against Galatasaray?
Much like for the man in the sticks, little seemingly went right for the Portugal international yesterday, with Luckhurst writing on Twitter that it had been the 29-year-old "at his worst", as he was regularly "looking to blame others" despite his own shortcomings.
While the former Sporting CP ace was shifted out onto the right flank in order to accommodate the returning Hannibal Mejbri, that should not excuse what was largely an erratic showing from the outset, as the playmaker squandered possession on 26 occasions as a sign of his woes.
That metric is usually rather misleading as the £240k-per-week maestro regularly looks to create chances for his teammates and so thus can be understandably reckless on the ball, yet in this instance there was little of his usual flair – despite making two key passes.
The unorthodox wideman failed to complete any of his nine attempted crosses and fired three shots wide on the night, having also been something of a liability defensively after winning just five of his ten total duels.
Such an uncharacteristically poor performance from the United talisman was encapsulated late on as he fired a volleyed effort straight into the arms of opposition 'keeper, Fernando Muslera, having earlier failed to convert after a clever pullback from the influential Hojlund.
In truth, on an occasion in which the hosts needed their captain to step up and take charge, he simply did not, with the Premier League outfit having now been plunged even further into crisis amid what has been a woeful start to the season.
As for their Champions League hopes, specifically, the club's prior loss to Bayern Munich has ensured that Ten Hag's men have it all to do in the final four remaining group games, with it yet to been if United can sink to even greater lows over the coming months.