Rejected stone becomes cornerstone as Maguire, Onana spare Manchester United blushes

Manchester United emerged unscathed from their UEFA Champions League Group A meeting with FC Copenhagen, with Harry Maguire and Andre Onana combining to give them a 1-0 win at home.

After losing to Bayern Munich and Galatasaray in their opening two fixtures, Manchester United were aware that a defeat at home to Danish outfit FC Copenhagen would likely spell the end of their campaign in the UEFA Champions League.

The Red Devils had an early scare just five minutes into the encounter when Diogo Goncalves saw his shot come back off the woodwork.

Both sides had their moments in the opening 45 minutes, but neither managed to break the deadlock. The Danish side showed good quality at both ends of the pitch but failed to properly test Andre Onana.

The second half was more of the same, basically, with neither side providing a quality test for the opposition goalkeeper.

With 72 minutes on the clock, Erik ten Hag had cause to celebrate and breathe a sigh of relief as his much-maligned defender Harry Maguire stepped up to power home a header, his first goal of the season, following a cross from Christian Eriksen.

In the most dramatic fashion, Copenhagen were awarded a penalty with virtually the last kick of the game after Scott McTominay conceded a penalty in a second successive match.

Substitute Jordan Larsson, son of former Manchester United star Henrik Larsson, stepped up to take the penalty. The Swede saw his effort superbly stopped by Andre Onana, who was mobbed by his teammates immediately after.

The Red Devils held on for a huge win, their third in succession, ahead of their Manchester derby this weekend. They stay alive in the competition with the win, and are in third place in Group A.