Sir Alex Ferguson caught on his phone reacting to Man Utd thriller while in Rangers crowd

Sir Alex Ferguson chose to watch Rangers rather than travel to Portugal to see Manchester United in the Europa League and was spotted reacting to Harry Maguire's equaliser

Sir Alex Ferguson was spotted reacting to Manchester United’s chaotic draw with Porto – while watching boyhood club Rangers.

Rather than travel to Portugal for United’s Europa League clash, Sir Alex made the shorter trip to Glasgow to watch the club he served as a player take on Lyon in the competition. However, he was still keeping tabs on Erik ten Hag’s struggling side.

In the closing stages of Rangers’ 4-1 defeat, Ferguson was seen in the crowd checking his phone for score updates from Porto. Having fallen 3-2 down after being 2-0 up and seeing Bruno Fernandes sent off for the second straight game, it looked like being a bad night all round for the managerial icon.

However, Ferguson was visibly relieved after news of Harry Maguire’s late equaliser came through. After the goal went in, he said to the person next to him, “3-3 to United, 3-3. Harry Maguire”.

After the clip was posted on social media, United supporters expressed their sympathy for the club’s greatest-ever manager. One wrote on X: “We have made this guy’s retirement absolute hell.”

Another joked: “He was reading my message, and I asked him kindly to come back to Manchester United.” A third bemoaned: “This man’s passion for the game and his club, at that age, is what’s missing from the players & the manager today. Especially at a club like ours. THIS Mentality & Passion.”

HAVE YOUR SAY! Will Ten Hag last the season with United? Tell us in the comments section.

Despite nicking an unlikely draw, the result has piled even more pressure on Ten Hag, who now facing a testing trip to Aston Villa, buoyed by their superb win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Ten Hag, whose position is set to be reviewed during the upcoming international break, was left with “mixed feelings” after the game as he slammed his side’s defending. He said: “When you are winning a game. We all know this is a very tough place to go and then you start so well, the players executed the plan, I would say, brilliantly.

“We scored two great goals and then we switch it off and we don’t keep so much possession as before. Defending we’re switching off.

“We concede the first goal totally unnecessarily and then you know when you light up the fire in this stadium, in this ambience, then it’s becomes really tough.

“We addressed it in a half-time and then you concede the third one, so unnecessary. It’s not good defending again. It’s also to do with some willingness in such moments. But then I have to praise the guys for how they return in the game, how they fight, how we find a way to get the equaliser.”

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