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It is a year ago this month that Harry Maguire netted the winner against Copenhagen that briefly spared Erik ten Hag’s Champions League blushes, with a huge helping hand from Andre Onana’s last-gasp penalty save.

The match was framed as a potential revival point under the manager, yet Manchester United find themselves in a worse position 12 months on. Two wins in six Premier League matches and two points out of a possible six in the Europa League this time around marks objective regression.

It was only two weeks after that Old Trafford win over Copenhagen that United gave up a two-goal lead during the reverse match in Denmark to lose 4-3. They ultimately finished bottom of the standings.

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The new formatting of UEFA competition from this season allows more wiggle room for clubs to enter the knockouts with only the bottom 12 teams in the mass table missing out. But Thursday’s 3-3 draw with Porto felt eerily similar to last season’s trip to the Danish capital, not least thanks to Maguire’s pivotal intervention.

The irony of the defender proving to be the saviour of the hour when Bruno Fernandes - who acquired the captaincy when Ten Hag stripped Maguire of it in 2023 - had been sent off for a second game in a row is not lost.

Fernandes, who may feel aggrieved at both red cards this week, is undroppable, but his recent form has hardly been unstoppable. The fact that no other regular has stepped up to take the bull by the horns shows the leadership predicament United are in when Fernandes is off-colour.

United can count their number of talismans on one hand. For all his faults of yesteryear, Maguire is one of them yet has not started a Premier League game since being prematurely dropped for Matthijs de Ligt at the start of September.

De Ligt has struggled to find a foothold in his opening outings of the season and has conceded nine goals in the five matches he has started. De Ligt is just one example of how Ten Hag’s new summer recruits have failed to make an impact thus far.

It is obvious that the United boss needs to change his approach or risk going into the international break on a five-game winless run. After Aston Villa on Sunday, Ten Hag's next opportunity to save his job does not come around for another fortnight, during which time the board will be under pressure to reassess his position.

The failed summer pursuit for a successor, a lack of suitable available alternatives and the fact Ten Hag was only recently handed a one-year extension may, in reality, deter the new hierarchy from wielding the axe. The calendar looks a lot kinder for the rest of this month.

After the visit of Brentford on the other side of the international break comes a tricky trip to Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce, but then follows an away day at the out-of-form West Ham before a home League Cup tie with Leicester City to see out October.

Results in that period may re-stabilise the rocking ship - although further adverse results will have a drastic opposite effect and force the board to consider replacing Ten Hag. In usual circumstances, a draw away at Porto is not a bad result, especially with ten men.

But this is no time to celebrate, as Maguire’s somewhat restrained reaction to his injury-time equaliser inferred. United have just three wins in nine matches this season, a ratio that could get worse on Sunday.

Further woes after the international break may corner Sir Jim Ratcliffe into a sack decision that not even a late Maguire header can get him out of.