Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off for the second time in consecutive games as the Red Devils threw away a 2-0 lead to draw 3-3 against Porto in the Europa League. Erik ten Hag’s men were in cruise control as Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund put the visitors two to the good inside the first 20 minutes.

A typical capitulation ensued, with Porto taking the lead within the first five minutes of the second half. As the away side chased to grab an equaliser and potentially save their manager’s job, their skipper got himself in trouble as he was shown a second yellow card.With United pushing to pull the game level at the Estadio do Dragao, substitute Alejandro Garnacho whipped a dangerous looking delivery from the left-hand side into the Porto 18-yard-box. Fernandes charged in to get a touch, but in doing so collided with Porto defender Neuhen Perez with a high foot.

While replays showed that the contact was minimal, Fernandes, who was already on a booking for a similar incident earlier in the game, was dismissed.While the controversial decision will be debated much like Fernandes’ sending off for a foul on James Maddison, it will not be rescinded like was the case with the previous dismissal as United are unable to appeal against two yellow cards.

The sending off appeared to be the nail in the coffin for both United and Erik ten Hag, with defeat surely leaving him on the brink of the sack. However, in an ironic twist of fate, it was the man that the Portuguese star took the armband from who became United’s saviour, as Harry Maguire scored a thumping stoppage time header to rescue a point for the visitors.As a result of the red card, Fernandes will miss the trip to Turkish giants Fenerbahce, which will be an even more entertaining encounter with former United boss Jose Mourinho the man at the helm at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium.

While Fernandes’ red card is no doubt one of the biggest talking points from the encounter, United’s inability to hold on to a lead was once again exposed as the Red Devils were once again torn apart by another leaky defensive display.

The result means that it is the 24th time in 124 games under Erik ten Hag’s reign that his side have conceded three or more goals. In comparison, under David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho’s reigns combined, the Premier League giants suffered this fate a combined 20 times in 298 games.