Erik ten Hag Endures Another Setback as Christian Eriksen's Fall from Grace Rocks Man Utd!

Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag spoke before the game about how painful it is to hurt something you love. 

But in the end, it was his boyhood club FC Twente, who hurt their former player and coach, the Dutch professional club the latest team to expose Manchester United’s fundamental frailty. The hosts looked to be starting their Europa League campaign with a win, courtesy of Christian Eriksen's first-half stunning strike. 

But they let the slender lead slip through as Sammers Lammers equalised for the visitors in the 68th minute to stun Old Trafford and pile further pressure on Ten Hag. 

Following a goalless draw at Selhurst Park at the weekend, Ten Hag needed a morale-boosting victory against the fourth-placed Eredivisie side. 

But it never happened, with Ten Hag left to rue yet another lacklustre performance from his team, which has already put them on the back foot in the opening stage, ahead of next week’s visit to Estádio do Dragão. 

Ten Hag before the game spoke about the emotional difficulty of competing against a club he grew up loving and supporting and where he spent 23 years as a player and coach. The Dutch international made more than 250 appearances for Twente and helped them clinch the Dutch Cup in 2001, before hanging his boots the next year, aged 32, and starting his journey as a coach. 

Had he not been in the home dugout at Old Trafford, Ten Hag would probably have joined the enthusiastic and vociferous 3,500 away fans who travelled from eastern Holland to Manchester.

It was the visitors, buoyed on by their vociferous fans, who worked out the game's first opening after only seven minutes when Lammers tried a header inches past the near post after Diogo Dalot allowed Bart Van Rooij to deliver into the six-yard box.

United, who looked curiously muted and choked in the opening 20 minutes, seemed content to sit back and allow their visitors possession. Twente, however, failed to ask any serious questions of Onana.

Ten Hag was becoming increasingly agitated on the touchline, gesturing with his hands occasionally as if to urge his players to communicate better with each other. Almost providentially, United came closest to scoring in the 25th minute when Twente defender Mees Hilgers inadvertently hooked the ball toward his goal. Goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall, however, pulled out a wonder save to keep it out.

Within minutes of the half-hour mark, United began to get into gear. Dalot surged down the flank and picked out Marcus Rashford, who splendidly delivered a cross into the six-yard box that was clawed clear by Joshua Zirkzee. Finally, in the 35th minute, midfielder Eriksen collected a loose ball and just smashed in an unstoppable shot past Unnerstall for his third of the season following his double in the 7-0 Carabao Cup defeat of Barnsley. That was to continue a revival for a player seemingly destined to spend much of this season outside the side.

Lisandro Martinez gifted a free-kick in a pretty risky spot at the hour mark, but Andre Onana did well to palm over the shot from the resultant effort from Sem Steijn.

Eriksen turned the hero into a villain with the loss of possession in the 68th minute as Bart Van Rooij broke forward and confidently placed the ball inside Onana's near post.

When the final whistle went, FC Twente fans in one corner of Old Trafford celebrated as if they had won, leaving Ten Hag with demanding questions.

United face another stiff test at Old Trafford when Tottenham visits on Sunday, followed by a trip to Porto and the visit to Aston Villa. If United doesn't pick up, Ten Hag's future will surely hang in the balance when the international break comes along.