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.
Ten Hag, though, insists he still retains the faith of his players and backroom team.
Asked if he is worried the board may run out of patience, he added: “I’m not thinking about such issues because that is not a topic.
“We are in there together – the ownership, the leadership team, the staff. I appointed a new staff, we bought, again, new young players and we have to integrate them.”
