Arsenal fans outraged by TNT Sport's praise for Man Utd's accomplishment against Porto that eluded Gunners

Amidst speculation that he only had two games left to save his job, Erik ten Hag seemed destined for the chopping block as his team squandered an early two-goal lead, allowing the home side to claw their way back into the match.

Samuel Omorodion’s second goal of the game early in the second half appeared to have completed a remarkable comeback, only for Harry Maguire to rescue a creditable point in injury time with a bullet header.

United were forced to play the closing stages with 10 men after skipper Bruno Fernandes was dismissed for the second game in a row, but in truth it was another alarmingly chaotic display summed up by Ten Hag’s confusing decision to substitute Marcus Rashford at half-time.

Despite the obvious alarm bells that continue to ring ahead of Sunday’s showdown against Aston Villa, TNT’s post after the game in Portugal praised United for achieving what Arsenal failed to do at the same stadium earlier this year, ignoring the context the Gunners’ result.

Back in February, Mikel Arteta’s men slipped to a 1-0 defeat in the first leg of their last 16 Champions League tie, before ensuring progression to the quarter finals following a penalty shootout victory in the return fixture.

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‘This message is for you Arsenal fans,’ said one enraged Arsenal fan on X. ‘If you see an obvious click bait, don’t comment or quote. Don’t give numbers to the tweet. You’re enabling the garbage.’

Another added: ‘Arsenal won the tie though anyway in the 2nd leg,’ while a third commented, with a hint of sarcasm ‘This shows you Ten Hag is doing just fine, trust the process man.’

Ten Hag, meanwhile, accepted United must do better to control games and should have taken advantage of the position they found themselves in after scoring two early goals.

‘We started the game very good, scored two good goals, but then we lost control,’ Ten Hag said on TNT Sports. ‘The start was good, the middle part was no good, then we finished very good.

‘It is a tough place to go and we are coming back from a 3-2, then get the equaliser, so it is good for the spirit.

‘You see again that the team is willing, strong character, but the middle part, the defending we have to improve. We have to be better on the ball and defend better.”

Pressed on his future, the Dutchman said: ‘We will get there. 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 two seasons now where we achieve finals, (so) just wait.

‘We have to develop and progress this team. We will work and continue and we will fight. You see the spirit and the connection between the staff and the team, the players are together and want to achieve. We have that good mentality, but some defending parts we have to step up.”