Manchester United 1 Omonia Nicosia 0

It looked as if the Reds were going to be held, until Scott McTominay tucked away a low shot with two minutes to go to break the deadlock.

United dominated a heavily one-sided affair in terms of possession and chances, but a heroic outing from the Cypriot side’s keeper Francis Uzoho kept them level until the death.

Erik ten Hag’s team sit second in the group with two games to go after leaders Real Sociedad won 3-0 against Sheriff Tiraspol to keep the gap at three points.

FIRST HALF - OMONIA HOLD OUT

Within two minutes of United kicking off, Omonia keeper Uzoho was called into action, with the Nigeria international pushing over a curing effort forged by Marcus Rashford, following an early corner.

That was the first of four top saves by Uzoho to thwart the Englishman in the opening half hour, as the Reds dominated the play. The second of Rashford’s opportunities came when Cristiano Ronaldo pinched the ball high up the field, playing in Bruno Fernandes, who laid the ball to Rashford, but he was denied by the onrushing Uzoho.

Another impressive stop followed when Rashford cut inside and swerved a powerful strike goal-bound, which was again turned behind. Casimero then went close to opening his United account from range, but the ball instead struck the bar, via a slight touch by the keeper. The Brazilian also saw a header go narrowly wide towards the end of a strong, but frustrating, first half.

SECOND HALF - GREAT SCOTT!

It was another intense start after the interval as the Reds pilled on the pressure, but as much as the chances kept flowing, so did the saves from the in-form Uzoho. First a double stop to halt Antony and then Rashford on the rebound, before foiling a Fred effort and diving at the feet of Ronaldo to shut down any chance of turning in the loose ball.

Around the midway point of the half, United had a penalty shout, when a corner was sent in and struck a defender on the arm, but a VAR check maintained the referee’s decision of no spot-kick. VAR also took a look at Moreto Cassama’s forceful challenge on Casemiro a few moments later, but didn’t intervene further. Cassama received a yellow card after striking the Brazilian high on the shin.

Ten Hag’s team continued to bang on the door throughout, but faced staunch resistance. Inside the final 10 minutes, substitute McTominay shot through the crowd, but saw his effort palmed away. With the seconds ticking down and 10 Omonia players defending in the area, McTominay then made the decisive impact in the third of five added minutes. His strike from the centre of the box, from Jadon Sancho's approach play, went through the legs of a defender and into the back of the net to the delight of the home crowd.

MATCH DETAILS

United: De Gea; Dalot, Lindelof, Martinez, Malacia (Shaw 60); Casemiro (McTominay 81), Fred (Eriksen 70); Antony (Sancho 60), Fernandes, Rashford; Ronaldo.

Subs not used: Dubravka, Heaton, Varane, Iqbal; Elanga, Garnacho, Pellistri.

Goal: McTominay 90+3.

Omonia Nicosia: Uzoho; Matthews (Psaltis 65), Lang, Miletic, Yuste, Kitsos; Panagiotou, Cassama (Diskerud 85), Charalampous (Papoulis 74); Kakoullis (Ansarifard 64), Bruno (Loizou 74).

Subs not used: Panagi, Barker, Lecjaks, Zachariou, Venizelos, Savva, Bezus.

Booked: Kakoullis, Cassama, Panagiotou.