Lammers stuns sloppy Man United as Twente secure draw at Old Trafford

Christian Eriksen was the hero-turned-villain as Manchester United kicked off their UEFA Europa League campaign with a frustrating 1-1 draw at home to FC Twente.

The Danish midfielder sizzled in a scorching first-time effort on 35 minutes to give Erik ten Hag’s men an interval lead.

However, the Dutch side were well-organised and carried a threat on the counter-attack that bore fruit when Sam Lammers dispossessed Eriksen and beat Andre Onana at his near post 22 minutes from time.

Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire both went close to a winner for The Red Devils, but the Eredivisie side held firm to secure a famous point.

Manchester United will now switch focus to a Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Given the names in this season’s competition, The Red Devils are rightly considered one of the favourites to go all the way on the Road to the final at the Estadio de San Mamés in Bilbao, Spain – so this was an early setback.

At times it was too pedestrian, particularly in the second half, and the hosts were ultimately punished for a failure to build on their interval lead.

The TNT Sports experts, Karen Carney and Owen Hargreaves, had spoken of United’s lack of killer instinct so far this season ahead of the match and it manifested here with Twente coming back to haunt Ten Hag, who had grown up loving the club and represented them during his playing days.

United’s momentum following the international break has been hampered by this lacklustre draw, but they remain unbeaten in that time with an important clash with Tottenham at the weekend perhaps offering a more realistic barometer of where they really stand in terms of progress this season.

The visiting shot-stopper produced a series of saves, including two exceptional ones in each half to help secure a memorable result for the Dutch minnows.

MAN UNITED: Onana 6, Mazraoui 6, Maguire 7, Martinez 7, Dalot 7, Ugarte 6, Eriksen 7, Diallo 7, Fernandes 7, Rashford 7, Zirkzee 6. Subs: Garnacho 6, Mainoo n/a, Mount n/a, Hojlund n/a.

FC TWENTE: Unnerstall 9, Salah-Eddine 8, Bruns 8, Hilgers 8, van Rooij 8, Vlap 7, Regeer 7, van Bergen 7, Steijn 7, van Wolfsinkel 7, Lammers 7. Subs: Kjolo 7, Rots 7, Lagerbielke n/a, Ltaief n/a, Besselink n/a.

08’ – CHANCE! The hosts are caught being too casual on the far right and the Dutch side almost punish them. It’s fed into the near-post run of Sam Lammers, who opens his body up and slides a side-footer inches past the far post.

26’ – CHANCE! Lars Unnerstall pulls off a quite marvellous reaction stop, flinging his arm up to his top left-hand corner to push away Lisandro Martinez’s heavily deflected header.

35’ – GOAL! – Man United 1-0 FC Twente: (Eriksen). The Denmark star rifles a sensational first-time strike into the far corner after Diogo Dalot was challenged out of it on the left side of the area.

68’ – GOAL! – Man United 1-1 FC Twente: (Lammers). The Dutch side have stunned Old Trafford. Lammers pinches the ball off Eriksen and surges into the right side of the area before beating Andre Onana at his near post.

90+3’ – CHANCE! Unnerstall pulls off another sensational save to keep out Harry Maguire’s deflected header.