Manchester United had to settle for a 1-1 draw against RSC Anderlecht in their UEFA Europa League quarter-final first leg tie at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium in Brussels after conceding an equaliser four minutes from time.
Jose Mourinho's side took the lead in the 36th minute when Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored a crucial away goal in the top corner of the net after the host goalkeeper made a great save.
They held onto this lead until the 86th minute when Leander Dendoncker powered home a header from a cross to give his side some hope going into the second leg next week at Old Trafford.
Mourinho made three changes to his United lineup for the game
Mourinho made three changes to his starting lineup from Sunday's win against Sunderland. Michael Carrick, Antonio Valencia and Marcus Rashford came into the team to replace Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw and Marouane Fellaini.
Hosts started the game well without creating any chances
The game itself started at a fast tempo with the home side more than up for the battle as they started well by forcing early pressure on the United defence but they stood strong.
After a subdued start to the game though United started to take control and should have took the lead when a fantastic cross from Rashford found Zlatan Ibrahimovic but his shot was saved by Rubén Martínez and then from the rebound, Jesse Lingard hit the post under pressure.
It looked like being one of those nights for United though as they were playing well but the final touch from the players was really letting the team down in crucial moments.
Mkhitaryan scored a crucial away goal for United before half-time
That was true until, United did take the lead nine minutes before half-time. The goal came when Valencia played a good cross into the box to Rashford, who hit his shot first time but it was brilliantly saved by Ruben but from the rebound, Mkhitaryan smashed the ball into the top corner of the net.
It was nothing more than they deserved given how many times they almost got in before but were denied by poor touches and good defending.
Therefore at the break, United were well worth their lead and the away goal is crucial in such a game but the hosts will have felt they could get back into the game.
This belief was shown by the way the hosts started off in the second half by playing with much more pace and power without creating any clear cut chances.
This was until a good move ended with Ivan Obradović getting the ball on the edge of the box but he put his shot well wide when he should have done so much better.
United were wasteful in the attacking third in the second half
As the half went on though United started to see more of the ball and they almost doubled their lead when a good cross from Matteo Darmian found Mkhitaryan but the midfielder saw his left-footed volley just go wide of the post.
United had another fantastic chance to get a second away goal when Ibrahimovic played Paul Pogba through on goal but the midfielder was denied by the impressive Ruben.
Late goal by Dendoncker gives hosts hope ahead of the second leg
This turned out to be an important moment as the home side managed to get an equaliser before the end of the game when Dendoncker powered home a fantastic header from a great cross to give the Belgium side some hope going into the second leg next week.