After a thrilling and chaotic match at Old Trafford, Manchester United no longer know whether to celebrate or cry, having snatched a dramatic 4-4 draw against Aston Villa in a game full of stunning twists. But the result did not hide the deep crisis the team is going through.
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Manchester United's fans did not know how to react to what they were watching. At times they whistled in anger, and at others they celebrated their team's goals, a scene that reflects the confusion and frustration gripping the club.
Portuguese defender Diogo Dalot was among the main targets of the fans' anger. He was loudly booed during the second half, particularly when he left the pitch in the 66th minute, with Patrick Dorgu coming on in his place.
The picture changed completely in the closing moments, when Dorgu scored the equaliser in the sixth minute of stoppage time, giving Manchester United a point that seemed impossible just minutes earlier.
The players ran to celebrate the goal, then went to thank the fans who had stayed in the stands, even though the match had entered stoppage time with the team trailing 4-2.
Many of those fans may have stayed to express their anger after the final whistle, but they found themselves facing a turn of events just as strange as the rest of the match.
After the game, Manchester United manager Michael Carrick appeared tense in an interview with Sky Sports reporter Patrick Davison, especially when asked about his future.
When asked whether he was thinking of leaving his post, he replied firmly: "That's not going to happen."
When the reporter suggested it was clear that talks would take place between the manager and the club's board, Carrick replied with a short question: "Are they going to happen?" He then added: "You tell me what you think." He continued: "I'm very clear about the direction the club needs to take. We have to win games."
But winning games has become the biggest challenge for Manchester United, who continue to slide down the Premier League table.
The thrilling draw with Aston Villa left Manchester United 18th, in the relegation zone, their worst league position in 40 years after at least 10 matches of the season.
With the international break now under way, the club will spend longer in the relegation zone than in any similar period since 1986.
Manchester United have not won a league match since beating Ipswich Town on 30 August.
They have also conceded 15 goals in their last five matches, a clear sign of the defensive problems they are suffering from.
The team has conceded a goal within the first two minutes in three of their last seven matches, reflecting their repeated struggles at the start of games.
Against Aston Villa, Manchester United found themselves 2-0 down after just three minutes and 40 seconds. It was the fastest time in their Premier League history that they had fallen two goals behind.
The situation looks even harder given their next match, a visit to their traditional rivals Liverpool at Anfield on 22 November.
Despite the poor results and persistent problems, one positive aspect Carrick can hold on to is his players' willingness to keep fighting until the final moments.
In their last two matches, Manchester United fell two goals behind on three occasions, but somehow managed to come away with a win and a draw.
The team also played well in the first half of their match against Chelsea on 31 October, despite losing 2-0 in a game that saw Argentine defender Lisandro Martínez sent off.
Before that match, Carrick had been given backing to continue his efforts to pull the team out of its crisis. But the question now is whether these positive signs are enough to persuade the owners and the board to keep supporting him.
Will Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazer family feel that the fighting spirit the players showed against Aston Villa deserves giving the manager more time?
And will chief executive Omar Berrada and football director Jason Wilcox, who both attended the match at Old Trafford, share that view?
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane gave an assessment that reflects the contradictions the team is living through. He told Sky Sports: "On one hand, it's horrifying to concede four goals at home, but the players kept fighting, so they deserve some credit."
He added: "But if you look at the bigger picture, watching Manchester United has become like riding a rollercoaster."
He continued: "When you come to watch the team most weeks, you have a real feeling that you don't know what you're going to get."
Despite scoring the late equaliser, Patrick Dorgu did not look happy with the result.
He said: "I'm not happy. We're in a bad situation, and we have to fight together to get out of it. Everyone needs to look at themselves and ask whether they are giving enough."
He went on: "We have to fight for the manager and for the club, and get out of this crisis together."
Manchester United's crisis is not confined to results on the pitch. It extends to the strained relationship between fans and the club's board.
The decline in form, combined with rising ticket prices and a negative feeling about how supporters are treated, has fuelled fan anger to a level the club has not seen since the retirement of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013.
Shortly before kick-off against Aston Villa, a banner was hung from the second tier of the Stretford End, carrying a clear message to the owners: "We don't want a new stadium, we want new owners."
The anger was not only directed at the board, but also extended to some players.
Dalot was booed when Carrick replaced him with Dorgu in the 66th minute, and the chants that greeted his number on the substitutions board turned into sharp shouts of protest.
Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee had faced a similar situation during a match against Newcastle around two years ago.
Ironically, Zirkzee, who scored Manchester United's third goal in the second minute of stoppage time against Aston Villa, was on the bench when Dalot left the pitch. When the Portuguese defender reached the bench, Zirkzee went over and embraced him in an effort to comfort him after the fans' reaction.
On the other side, Aston Villa manager Unai Emery could not hide his fury at his team's collapse in the closing minutes.
The Spanish coach had come close to his first win at Old Trafford, before his team allowed Manchester United to come back from 4-2 down to draw 4-4.
Emery's anger was such that he rushed towards the tunnel leading to the dressing rooms before the final whistle, but he later regained his composure and gave a positive assessment of Manchester United's potential, at a time when his name is being mentioned as one of the possible candidates to replace Carrick.
He said: "They have the ability, the strength, the players and everything they need to get out of this situation."
While the Spanish coach may well be right, the club's current situation looks bleak in many respects.
The Aston Villa match was not an isolated case for Manchester United this season.
Their matches against Everton away, Atlético Madrid away, Tottenham at home and Leeds United away, and Chelsea away, all followed similar scenarios.
In some of those games, Manchester United played well, and in others they found themselves in positions that gave them the chance to win in stoppage time, but failed to seal the result in their favour.
The inability to hold on to a lead or handle decisive moments has become a recurring problem, costing the team valuable points and increasing the pressure on the coaching staff.
Although the situation can still be fixed, Manchester United now need to get positive results, alongside slip-ups by their direct rivals, before their position in the table starts to improve.
That raises the question of how long the board can wait before acknowledging that the hoped-for improvement may not come.
Manchester United's board faces a series of difficult decisions in the coming weeks. Can the club wait until the winter transfer window opens in January to address its problems?
Does it have the financial resources to complete the signings it needs when the window opens?
And how long can support for Carrick continue, given the persistent negative results and the team's slide into the relegation zone?
These questions are expected to feature in the calculations of Ratcliffe, the Glazer family, Berrada and Wilcox when they assess the manager's future.
The appeal of potential alternatives, and how realistic it is to sign them, will also influence the decisions the board may take.
Despite mounting pressure, Carrick continues to show confidence in Manchester United's ability to overcome the crisis.
Asked whether he had seen enough from his players to believe the situation could improve, he replied: "There's more than enough. Goals change games, and you have to know how to deal with them. That's something we have to improve on radically."
He continued: "At certain moments, we make things very difficult for ourselves."
The manager refused to suggest that the problem lay in a lack of focus or commitment from his players, saying: "The players are alert and focused. There are a variety of reasons, and there's no single pattern that explains what's happening, except that these individual moments are now costing us a lot."
Source: Al-Ghad.
