Following Monday's announcement that Erik ten Hag's two-and-a-half year tenure as Manchester United manager is over, Ben Bloom selects 10 matches that defined the Dutchman's time at Old Trafford.
13 August 2022 - Brentford 4-0 Man Utd, Premier League
Less than a week after losing his opening league match in charge - a 2-1 home defeat by Brighton & Hove Albion - Ten Hag suffered further embarrassment at the hands of a Brentford team starting only their second season in the top flight.
United shipped all four goals in the opening 35 minutes, prompting Ten Hag to make a triple half-time substitution and admit: “I changed three, but I could have changed them all.”
It left United bottom of the Premier League table and caused their furious new manager to call his players in for extra fitness training the following day.
23 February 2023 - Man Utd 2-1 Barcelona, UEFA Europa League
Having recovered from that dismal start to guide United up to third place in the Premier League table, Ten Hag was given the mammoth task of facing European heavyweights Barcelona in the UEFA Europa League knockout round play-offs.
United managed a 2-2 draw in the away leg, but were in trouble when Robert Lewandowski scored after 18 minutes in the return tie at Old Trafford.
Brazilian duo Fred and Antony (below) then scored second-half goals to secure a 4-3 aggregate win that felt reminiscent of some of United’s great European nights.
They would eventually lose to Sevilla in the quarter-finals.
26 Feb 2023 - Man Utd 2-0 Newcastle, EFL Cup final
Just three days after the morale-boosting Barcelona win, Ten Hag earned his first trophy in English football when United comfortably beat Newcastle United in the EFL Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
Casemiro and Marcus Rashford each struck before half-time to earn the club’s first piece of silverware since 2017.
Having just beaten the eventual Spanish champions, banked a domestic trophy and firmly on track for a UEFA Champions League return, Ten Hag’s transformation of the club looked complete. But the joy was short-lived.
5 March 2023 - Liverpool 7-0 Man Utd, Premier League
No sooner had the celebrations from the Wembley triumph died down that Ten Hag suffered the ultimate humiliation of equalling the club’s record defeat with a 7-0 thumping at the hands of arch rivals Liverpool.
Just one goal down at half-time, United capitulated in shocking fashion as Liverpool ran riot in the second half.
9 December 2023 - Man Utd 0-3 AFC Bournemouth, Premier League
United supporters had already been forced to stomach home Premier League defeats to Brighton, Crystal Palace and Manchester City at the start of the 2023/24 season, but none compared to the ignominy of the Old Trafford loss to Bournemouth a fortnight before Christmas.
Ten Hag’s selection had raised eyebrows when he opted to recall the misfiring Anthony Martial and the Frenchman’s substitution early in the second half prompted cheers from the home fans.
The result would remain Ten Hag’s widest-margin loss at Old Trafford.
4 April 2024 - Chelsea 4-3 Man Utd, Premier League
A defeat the likes of which had never been seen before in the Premier League.
Two goals from Alejandro Garnacho and another from Bruno Fernandes had helped United overturn an early two-goal deficit to lead with 99 minutes and 17 seconds on the clock.
When Cole Palmer then struck twice to complete his Chelsea hat-trick, he also registered the latest winning goal in Premier League history.
That strike followed a 99th-minute equaliser from Brentford in United’s previous league match.
6 May 2024 - Crystal Palace 4-0 Man Utd, Premier League
With hopes of qualifying for the Champions League long gone, Ten Hag’s side were fighting for the minor European spots when they were swept aside at Selhurst Park.
A shocking defensive effort saw Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze run riot, as United's poor league run extended to just one win in seven.
Ten Hag admitted the defeat was the lowest of his reign to that point and he told United’s players they had “let each other down”.
25 May 2024 - Man City 1-2 Man Utd, FA Cup final
A week after Man City had wrapped up their latest Premier League title, Pep Guardiola’s side were expected to add the FA Cup trophy to their haul and potentially end Ten Hag’s time at the United helm.
Instead, having come within millimetres of exiting at the hands of Coventry City in the semi-finals, United claimed a second cup triumph of the Dutchman’s era.
The victory over their nearest rivals instilled some renewed sense of hope among United supporters, but there was still widespread surprise when the manager was given a one-year contract extension six weeks later.
29 September 2024 - Man Utd 0-3 Spurs, Premier League
Languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table after five matches, United suffered such a humiliating defeat in front of their home supporters that, to many, Ten Hag’s position felt untenable.
United were poor from the outset and their task was made significantly harder when captain Fernandes was sent off moments before half-time.
But it was the manner of their first-half performance that was most alarming, with Ten Hag’s side overrun, heaping pressure on a manager who looked to be on borrowed time.
27 October 2024 - West Ham 2-1 Man Utd, Premier League
What would prove to be the final match of the Ten Hag era could so easily have ended in a United victory if the visitors had taken their chances.
Rasmus Hojlund, Rashford and Garnacho all had opportunities to put Man Utd ahead in a dominant first half, but a late Jarrod Bowen penalty inflicted defeat on Ten Hag’s wasteful side.
The result was the straw that broke the camel’s back, leaving the Dutchman with only three wins in United’s opening nine league matches of the season, to go with three Europa League draws.
