Furious Man Utd fans miss Porto clash as flight cancelled after 10-hour airport wait

fans were left fuming on Thursday when a flight bound for Porto - which was delayed by 10 hours - was eventually cancelled.

Several travelling fans arrived early on the morning of the game in Portugal, getting to at around 6am. That left them plenty of time before the 8pm kick-off at the Estadio do Dragao. The flight was due to take off at around 7.50am.

Those travelling were then hit with an initial delay when the first scheduled plane broke down in Rome before flying into Manchester. Passengers were then told a second flight had been organised to depart at around 2.30pm, which they boarded before they were left sitting on it for hours.

An announcement was later made that the flight would be cancelled because there were no landing slots available, as per the . This left a host of fans frustrated as they were let off the plane back into Manchester Airport at around 4pm with some spending over £500 per person.

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The flight was being put on by one of United's official travel partners with 180 fans missing the game as a result. The club have since released a statement and have offered free tickets for their next European outing.

They said: “Manchester United is very sorry for the disappointment experienced by the impacted fans. They will receive a full refund from our travel partner Sportsbreaks, and as a thank you for their continued support a complimentary ticket for our home game against Bodo/Glimt.”

The Red Devils themselves had a delayed trip out to Porto, but have had sufficient preparation time as they look to respond from . United shipped three at Old Trafford as their poor start to the season continues and Erik ten Hag insists the defeat is motivating their performance.

"As always, when we are not winning, we are very disappointed," he said. "Of course, we are mad with ourselves, especially when you see a game like Sunday also, after all, we had to play so long with 10 players and, after, it's overturned, the red card.

"It gives frustration because it's such a long time to play with 10, it's never to your advantage. It had a real impact in the game. We have to deal with it. We are mad but now, from the madness, we have to get motivation and deal with the next game."

United themselves drew their last outing as in Manchester. It led to scathing criticism after as Christian Eriksen questioned the work rate of his team-mates.

Ten Hag, who is already under mounting pressure, knows that he needs results and performances to ensure that the noise surrounding his future goes away. Porto present a daunting away trip and then on Sunday the Red Devils will head to Aston Villa.

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