As the clock ticked past 90 minutes at Estadio do Dragao, Erik ten Hag seemed to be staring into the abyss.
His Manchester United side had squandered a two-goal lead against Porto, Bruno Fernandes had been sent off again, and the team were heading to a morale-sapping defeat.
Such a defeat may not have confirmed the end of Ten Hag’s time at Old Trafford but would certainly have left him teetering, closer than ever, to the edge.
But before that scenario could become a reality, Harry Maguire leapt to head an equaliser and ease the pressure, if only marginally, on his manager.
“We will get there,” Ten Hag told TNT Sports. “Don’t judge us in this moment, judge us at the end of the season.
“We are in the process, we will improve. We have had two seasons where we have reached finals, we will continue and fight.”
With United currently 13th in the Premier League table, though, and speculation following a timid 3-0 home loss to Tottenham that Ten Hag had two games to save his job, the Dutchman’s judgement is likely to arrive much sooner if there are not big improvements.
“You see the spirit and the connection between the staff and the team,” Ten Hag added.
“The players are together, they have a strong spirit and they want to achieve. We have a good mentality but in some defending parts we have to step up.
“We had three clean sheets not a long time ago so we can defend very good, but we have to go back to those habits.”
