For a while on a foul night at Old Trafford, it was starting to feel like the next big job cut at Manchester United might actually be Ruben Amorim himself.
His team trailed third-from-bottom Ipswich Town, the gap separating United from the relegation zone was in danger of going down to 10 points, and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s worst nightmare was becoming a reality.
After a week dominated by grim news of more redundancies aimed at improving the first-team, here was more evidence of just how far United have fallen.
No matter how bad things get at this club, though, it seems they can always rely on Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese playmaker might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but through the wind and rain here last he emerged to dig United out of another mess of their own making.
Three goals from Fernandes set-pieces meant that, remarkably, he has now assisted on the last six scored by his team.
This being United, it wasn’t that simple of course. Having contributed to his team conceding a calamitous opening goal, new signing Patrick Dorgu was sent off in the 43rd minute for a sickening challenge on Omari Hutchinson.
Harry Maguire scored the winner as Manchester United edged out a 3-2 thriller against Ipswich
Man United were forced to dig deep after Patrick Dorgu (centre) was sent off before half-time
The Red Devils gifted Ipswich the lead inside four minutes after a terrible defensive mix-up
After recovering from that early setback, United surrendered the lead then regained it again, just about holding on for another unconvincing win under Amorim.
They had already made a wobbly start before Ipswich took the lead inside four minutes. There were only 35 seconds on the clock when Liam Delap, relishing running at the defence in the wet conditions, broke into the box and pulled a shot wide of the far post.
United’s fragility was all too apparent again a few minutes later when Jacob Greaves launched a ball forward from deep in the Ipswich half, and Dorgu and Jaden Philogene chased after it.
Who was more to blame for what happened next, Dorgu or Andre Onana? Hard to say other than it was a horrible mix-up.
Onana raced off his line but Dorgu didn’t appear to see him as he touched the ball past his goalkeeper, leaving Philogene to walk the ball into an empty net.
Amorim stood watching in the pouring rain with a look of incredulity. The optimism of Marcus Rashford’s second-minute goal in his first game against Ipswich at Portman Road in November must have felt like a distant memory.
Just as they did at Goodison Park on Saturday, United rallied and once again it was the set-piece prowess of Fernandes that did the trick.
The United captain was given a chance to whip in a free kick from the left in the 22nd minute when Jens Cajuste caught Alejandro Garnacho in the face with his hand.
Jaden Philogene scored twice in the first half but Ipswich left Old Trafford empty-handed
Matthijs de Ligt was also on the scoresheet with Man United’s second on Wednesday night
VAR intervened to recommend that Dorgu’s tackle on Omari Hutchinson warranted a red card
It was a cross that invited a finish but unfortunately for Ipswich captain Sam Morsy it came off him and flew into the back of the net.
Four minutes later, United were ahead. This time Fernandes sent over a corner from the same flank and Alex Palmer saved from Harry Maguire and Diogo Dalot before Matthijs De Ligt got to the loose ball first to fire into the roof of an empty net.
At that stage it felt like the drama was over, but this is not a United side that likes to make things easy for themselves.
No sooner had Dorgu been sent flying by Hutchinson than he exacted brutal revenge on the Ipswich player in almost exactly the same spot in front of the dugouts.
You could hear the sound of Dorgu’s right boot connecting with Hutchinson’s left shinpad from the stands as he lunged into an ugly challenge.
As Hutchinson writhed in pain and it became clear that VAR was reviewing the incident, it became clear that Dorgu’s forgettable night was coming to an end.
Craig Pawson advised referee Darren England to go to the pitchside monitor and United’s £29.4million signing was on his way, leaving his team to play more than half the game with 10 men.
Amorim’s decision to sacrifice Garnacho for substitute Noussair Mazraoui was a peculiar one given that the Argentina winger had once again been United’s most potent attacking threat. Garnacho certainly looked unhappy with it as he followed Dorgu down the tunnel.
The narrow win sends Ruben Amorim’s side above Everton in the table, up to 14th position
Joshua Zirkzee (above) celebrates after Sam Morsy’s unfortunate own goal draws United level
If the plan was to hold on until half-time, it didn’t work. Two minutes into added time, Delap and De Ligt fought to reach Philogene’s cross from the right, but neither made contact and he claimed his second goal of the night as the ball bounced beyond a stranded Onana and into the far corner.
Back came United again. Two minutes after the interval another corner and another tempting delivery from Fernandes allowed Maguire to stoop in front of Philogene to head Amorim’s team back in front.
This time they made a better job of defending Onana’s goal to calm any lingering concerns they could be dragged into the relegation battle. Who thought we would be saying that about Manchester United?
