Manchester United missed the chance to book a place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a game to spare this evening as they were held to a goalless draw by PSV Eindhoven.
Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard squandered the best of United's chances as they failed to find a breakthrough, with PSV remaining stubborn throughout.
Louis van Gaal's side must now match or better PSV's result in the final group game to ensure their place in the knockout stages of the tournament.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at whether either side deserved to come away with the victory on a frustrating night at Old Trafford.
Match statistics
MAN UTD
Shots: 13
On target: 7
Possession: 61%
Corners: 9
Fouls: 13
PSV
Shots: 8
On target: 4
Possession: 39%
Corners: 3
Fouls: 13
Was the result fair?
There is no doubt that United were in control of this match for long spells, dominating possession and dictating the tempo of the game. However, they simply did not do enough to come away with all three points this evening. In terms of shots, possession and even chances created, United came out on top, but the general performance was so lacklustre, pedestrian and uninspiring that it would have been flattering to them had they booked a Champions League knockout place on the back of such a display.
Van Gaal will point to opportunities for Lingard, Martial and Morgan Schneiderlin over the course of the 90 minutes that they probably should have taken, and they did have enough chances to have won this game, but they were rarely as a result of United's creativity. Jeroen Zoet would have expected to save all of the shots that came his way, and despite United seeing so much of the ball the PSV keeper was rarely seriously troubled throughout the entire match.
PSV didn't offer much themselves going forward, being limited mostly to long-range shots that were straight at David de Gea, but the onus was on the hosts more than it was the visitors tonight. A draw is a good result for PSV and many might make them favourites to progress at the expense of United now. The Dutch side will be expected to beat CSKA Moscow at home on the final matchday, which would leave United needing a victory away to Wolfsburg. On the basis of this performance, that does not look likely.
Man Utd's performance
Boos sounded at the final whistle tonight, and it is easy to understand the fans' frustrations. They may still be just 90 minutes away from the Champions League knockout rounds and one point off the top of the Premier League, but it can't be much fun being a United supporter at the moment. This was such a flat performance from the team, and they actually looked less like scoring the longer the game went on. They had a brief spell at the start of the second half where they tried to really take the game to PSV, but aside from that there was not much to shout about.
The criticisms that will come from this game are nothing new. Van Gaal seems to think that possession alone wins matches, but you have to do something with all that possession. United played far too much of this game at walking pace, which did nothing to drag PSV out of their defensive formation. Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger must take the bulk of the blame for that as they were continually happy to pass it side to side rather than looking to up the tempo and penetrate the visiting defence.
When a lack of pace is the problem, fans don't want to see Marouane Fellaini lumbering off the bench. He and Ashley Young were the only subs made by Van Gaal before the 85th minute and, considering the money spent by the Dutchman since his arrival, there simply has to be a better Plan B than that. They face a tough task to reach the last 16 now, but if they do qualify and come up against a side like Barcelona or Bayern Munich then United fans will want to look away, particularly if they play anything like they did tonight.
PSV's performance
PSV's gameplan for this evening was clear from the outset. They were happy to let United control possession, before looking to break quickly whenever they did win it back. That didn't exactly bear much fruit in the opening exchanges, with the visitors not offering so much as a hint of an attacking presence until after the half-hour mark, but they did grow into the match, and their defensive plan worked throughout - although that was helped in no small part by some unimaginative play from United.
PSV's sights of goal were only ever half-chances at best, with Davy Propper proving to be the biggest danger with a few long-range drives that increased in power as the match went on but which were all straight at De Gea. Even so, they did carry a lingering threat and in the final 15 minutes or so they looked just as likely, if not more likely than United to get a goal. Any goal would have been a bonus, though, as they quite clearly came here to get a draw.
Some better finishing from United may well have prevented that, but PSV defended very well for the most part and the hosts rarely looked like making the breakthrough in truth. They may still be third in Group B, but with CSKA already out of contention for a place in the last 16, they will certainly be confident of picking up a victory that would guarantee them a place in the knockout rounds. This was a very good result for them tonight, particularly considering their poor away form in Europe in recent years, so Phillip Cocu will be very pleased right now.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Jeffrey Bruma: It had to be a defensive player this evening as none of the attackers particularly stood out, and Jeffrey Bruma was the best of the bunch. His positioning throughout helped to keep United's attackers relatively quiet and he always seemed to be there to make an important interception or tackle.
Biggest gaffe
There was one slip from Zoet that almost gifted Wayne Rooney a goal in the first half, but he managed to atone for that quickly to clear the ball out for a throw. It was a relatively gaffe-free game in all, although Lingard probably does deserve a mention for leaning back to send United's best chance over the crossbar.
Referee performance
Pavel Kralovec had a relatively straightforward game this evening. There were no major decisions to make at either end of the field and the three yellow cards he dished out were all warranted.
What next?
Man Utd: Next up for United is a top-two clash with Premier League leaders Leicester City on Saturday evening.
PSV: PSV, meanwhile, are at home to AZ in the Eredivisie on Sunday.
Barney Corkhill
