When Jadon Sancho doubled Manchester United's lead against Tottenham on Thursday night, that should've been game over.
The Red Devils dominated the first half, with Marcus Rashford also scoring, and Spurs fans were starting to fear another heavy defeat after their 6-1 loss at Newcastle last time out. Yet Ryan Mason's side rallied in the second half to salvage a 2-2 Premier League draw.
It's not the first time United have thrown away a two-goal lead this month. They did the same against Sevilla in the Europa League, which ultimately led to their exit from the tournament. It's frustrating for Erik ten Hag, who is struggling to get his message across.
Ten Hag was annoyed with his players after the draw to Sevilla at Old Trafford for failing to deal with hopeful balls into the box. United were 2-0 up in that game before the 83rd minute, with late own goals from Tyrell Malacia and Harry Maguire costing them.
Ten Hag told reporters at full-time: "We had the game in our hand. We were 2-0 up and should've scored three or four - the game was totally on us."
He added: "We conceded two own goals, that's bad luck but we have to deal with it. We have to learn and have to kill the game but everything is open... we can do better with these players in the last part of the game and we needed to be more composed."
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The reason for United's collapse against Sevilla was down to their inability to deal with crosses and their failure to "kill the game". It was a case of deja vu against Tottenham, with Bruno Fernandes smashing the crossbar with the score at 2-1.
United also struggled to deal with crosses against Spurs. Pedro Porro's goal came after they failed to clear their lines, and Harry Kane picked out Son Heung-min in the box for the equaliser. Eric Dier and Son also squandered brilliant chances from crosses.
Ten Hag's disappointment at another collapse was obvious at full-time. He told reporters: "[We need to] manage the game, keep the ball. We gave so many easy balls away. Have a good defensive organisation, which we didn’t always have.
"With the goals [we conceded], it was quite obvious - we didn’t block the crosses and you have to be proactive there. You have to come out and block the shot. With the second [goal] it was a long ball and we didn’t squeeze out, it was so easy for them. They kept coming and it was so easy to score a goal then."
In fairness to Ten Hag, the United boss is missing a number of key defenders. Lisandro Martinez is out for the season, while Raphael Varane is in a race to be fully fit for United's final few games - including the FA Cup final against Manchester City on June 3.
Yet Ten Hag needs his reserves to step up in their absence, especially with huge Premier League games against Aston Villa and Brighton on the horizon. United are currently six points clear of Tottenham in fifth and Villa in sixth, and they need to ensure that buffer stays intact if they want to be playing Champions League football next term.
